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MSP GANG Serialization

MAC Engineering
Expert 1460 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP-GANG

I hope someone can help me?  I purchased an MSP-GANG for production programming, I have had some issues, but the hardware works.

I waited to the last minute to setup writing of unique serial numbers to each MSP programmed, and to the memory location of my choice.

I see if I want a product that can do this without programing the MSP-GANG, I have to buy this product:

http://www.elprotronic.com/gangpro430.html

I am not happy :/

Does anyone have a GUI that will preform all the functions that the MSP-GANG will, in addition do serialization like the GangPro430 for the MSP-GANG?

There is a code example that comes with the MSP-GANG, I just do not write in C++, nor can I seem to get it to work for my needs.  In addition, it appears to be only for 1 control without memory address input.

  • 0
    TI__Guru* 79301 points

    Hi,

    There is also a DLL programming example in C instead of C++, that shows how to do serialization. Do you think that is something you would rather work with? It can be found in the folder MSP-GANG/Examples/C_Applications_MSP_DLL. It doesn't create a GUI but makes an automated process that can just be run to program all units, and will notify you of errors. It also puts a serial number in each device, and you should be able to modify the code to modify the address where the serial number is stored.

    I also know that there are two different C++ DLL examples that come with the software. One of these is called CPP_Interactive_MSP_DLL - if you run it (under the folder MSP-GANG/Examples/Output/Interactive-demo.exe) it runs an interactive GUI similar to the one that comes with the MSP-GANG, but this GUI includes serial number generation. You might not be able to change the address that the serial number writes into unless you modify the C++ source code that comes with it however.

    It should be a simple change to make however - looking in the file at MSP-GANG/Examples/CPP_Interactive_MSP_DLL/Interactive-demo-Dlg.cpp, it looks like the only thing you would need to change is the #define for SerNumAddress at the top of Interactive-demo-Dlg.cpp - and then just rebuild the project. That should be the only change you would have to make I believe, in order to set the address where you want the serial numbers to be written.

    Regards,

    Katie

  • 0 in reply to Katie Pier
    Expert 1460 points

    I'll give it a try.

    I was thinking there should be a method on this C++ GUI to see each serial number per 8 controls loaded and control the initial serial number.


    Guess I will have to play with it and see what I can get done?  Has TI thought of adding this to the MSP-GANG for folks that do not like to program :)  Seems it would be easy for someone at TI to do this, it takes me a great deal of time, I'd rather be doing other things :)

  • 0 in reply to MAC Engineering
    TI__Guru* 79301 points

    Hi,

    Right now unfortunately the only path is really to use the DLL.

    Thanks for the feedback on adding this to the GUI - this is something I am talking to our MSP-GANG developers about and I have highlighted your concern to them. The difficulty in adding a feature like this is that often the user has specific things in mind about how they want their serial numbers to be (length, location, method of generation), which can make it hard to add a feature that will work for everyone, so the DLL really does provide the most flexibility. In addition the real difficulty comes in maintaining some sort of database in a production environment, where all written serial numbers are saved in the database and this is controlled (so the number will never get reused, and the number is always unique). This can be difficult to manage when people are using multiple MSP-GANG units across workstations, and every customer's production flow can be a bit different. Serialization in the GUI is something we are considering, but I would suspect if we decide to do it, it will unfortunately be a bit late in time for you since it sounds like you are going to need a solution more near-term.

    Sorry that I don't have better news at the moment for your current situation, but your feedback is helpful and adds to our discussion on this topic for what we'll do in the future.

    Regards,

    Katie

  • 0 in reply to Katie Pier
    Expert 1460 points

    Hi Katie,


    Thank you for your informative feed back.  Would it be possible to work with you to develop a GUI that meets our needs?  Seems that a CSV file data base would be the ticket.

    Some quick thoughts after reading your message:

    1) The serialization program could use a CSV file as a reference.  Thus, it never writes the same number, always starts off at the last entry. Possibly stores the ID of the GANG so that the work station that produces the serial numbers is known.


    2) 2 input fields, each 8-bits that divides the 16-bit MSP memory in two.  One may use HEX or DEC input (units toggle), in addition one can use ASCII to produce a combination of letters and numbers such as:  MAC256 or 65535

    3) The GUI displays the serial numbers so that the operator has feed back before blowing the fuse.

    We are sorry to say that our last production run had a 10% failure rate of circuit boards due to sloppy workmanship!  Needless to say we are using a new board contractor.  But, each and every control we are producing had to go through function testing as a result.  We have zero product return due to our diligence :), but this added labor has us wanting to automate as much of the programming as possible.  We would be very pleased if we could partner with TI on this matter.

    Many thanks for your excellent customer service!  It is great to work with a company that has the same objective we have, the best product for the greatest value :)

  • 0 in reply to MAC Engineering
    TI__Guru* 79301 points

    MAC Engineering said:
    Would it be possible to work with you to develop a GUI that meets our needs? 

    MAC Engineering said:
    We would be very pleased if we could partner with TI on this matter

    Unfortunately this isn't something I can personally sign us up for - I would recommend going through your local TI sales contact or distributor with this request. Alternately you could also try to contact Elprotronic, whom we have partnered with on the MSP-GANG (as you can see on the GANG's case it says both Texas Instruments and Elprotronic) to see if this is something they would be interested in doing. I think these would be the best ways for you to try to request this kind of help. Worst case you may have to try partnering with a third party to help you develop this, but your local TI or distributor sales contact may be able to help you determine the best course.

    MAC Engineering said:
    Many thanks for your excellent customer service!  It is great to work with a company that has the same objective we have, the best product for the greatest value :)

    Thank you for the high praise! :-)

    Regards,

    Katie

  • 0 in reply to MAC Engineering
    Prodigy 210 points
    Hi,MAC Engineering .I want to know how you eventually solve the problem about MSP GANG Serialization.Serialization is very useful for our production.Looking forward to your reply.THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
  • 0 in reply to shang du
    Expert 1460 points

    So far there has been no solution, please respond to the post below if you have a solution.  I wrote a letter to Elprotronic and posted it to the below E2E posting:

    MSP GANG Production Programmer Serialization

    Date: Thu, Jun 16 2016 12:17 PM

    URL:  e2e.ti.com/.../1899495

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