MCF8316A: Communicating with a custom board (MCF8316A) using MSP-EXP430FR2355

Hi Joshua,

Q1. The MSP-EXP430FR2355 also has an external oscillator. Can I use this to communicate with Motor Studio at a baud rate of 460800?

Q2. I want to debug in the latest environment, so I would like to write using Motor Studio. Please tell me how to debug using Motor Studio using the MSP-EXP430FR2355. (E.g., installing a highly accurate external oscillator, changing the baud rate between Motor Studio and the firmware, etc.)

Thanks,

Conor

Hi Conor,

Please allow me some time to look into this and review the firmware code. The launchpad using an ez-FET debugger may cause issues with communication between the MSP430 and the Motor Studio GUI since the firmware was created with only a FTDI chip being used not an ez-FET debugger.

I will aim to get back with you by next Wednesday.

Regards,

Joshua

Hi Joshua,

Yes, I'm waiting for your reply. I have one more question about connecting to the GUI.

When I connected the MCF8316A_EVM board and started MotorStudio, it did not recognize the MCF8316A, as shown in the screenshot. At this time, D6 on the board was flashing rapidly and D7 was lit. Previously, it was recognized and used normally.

When I pressed the "Proceed" button and looked at the serial information from the options, it was grayed out and could not be connected.

It seems that the driver is recognized in the device manager.
The situation did not change even if I changed the USB port or reinstalled MotorStudio.

However, the confirmation with MCT8329A_EVM and MCT8329A_GUI 1.1.3 was OK.

Thanks,

Conor

I'm in a bit of a hurry, so if you could reply by the end of today, that would be very helpful.

Hi Joshua,

Joshua Horlander Cruz said:

Despite testing some edits to the firmware to enable communication between the MSP430 on our EVMs and Motor Studio, I was not able to get the communication to work. A major change to the function for enabling communication between the MSP430 and GUI would need to be made due to the EZ-FET debugger.

There is an I2C problem with "MCF8316A GUI", and communication may not work properly. I understand that the above problem is solved by increasing the baud rate in Motor Studio.Also, the following FAQ answered that Motor Studio and MSP-EXP430FR2355 are compatible, so I purchased MSP-EXP430FR2355.
https://e2e.ti.com/support/motor-drivers-group/motor-drivers/f/motor-drivers-forum/1281363/faq-motor-studio-gui---evm-firmware-compatibility

If there is no firmware for ez-FET-based MSP-EXP430FR2355, can TI create it for us? Since the gang for MCx series has not been released yet, it is necessary to write it using MSP-EXP430FR2355.

Joshua Horlander Cruz said:

Can you try unplugging the USB cable and re-plugging it into the computer with the Motor Studio selected. After re-plugging in the USB wait at least 5 seconds and click Re-scan, the EVM should be detected.

OK, I'll check and let you know the results later.

Thanks,

Conor

Conor said:

Also, the following FAQ answered that Motor Studio and MSP-EXP430FR2355 are compatible, so I purchased MSP-EXP430FR2355.

In the linked FAQ, the MSP-EXP430FR2355 is referenced since it has an ez-FET debugger. This debugger is needed to flash either of the linked firmware onto the MSP430FR2355 on the EVM board. Once the board is programmed, you need to use the micro-usb on the EVM to connect the EVM to the GUI.

The programming process in that FAQ is the same as the process described in our EVM User's Guides: https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/sllu373/sllu373.pdf#page=11

Conor said:

If there is no firmware for ez-FET-based MSP-EXP430FR2355, can TI create it for us? Since the gang for MCx series has not been released yet, it is necessary to write it using MSP-EXP430FR2355.

I think there maybe some confusion on my part with your use case. It is my understanding that you want to use a MSP-EXP430FR2355 with the motor studio GUI for tuning a motor.
If you are instead looking to only load a register configuration onto a MCF8316A, then you can use the code example in the following E2E FAQ to program MCF8316A devices with a desired register configuration using a MSP-EXP430FR2355: https://e2e.ti.com/support/motor-drivers-group/motor-drivers/f/motor-drivers-forum/1246892/faq-program-mcx-bldc-motor-driver-through-i2c-using-msp430-launchpad

Regards,

Joshua

Joshua Horlander Cruz said:

In the linked FAQ, the MSP-EXP430FR2355 is referenced since it has an ez-FET debugger. This debugger is needed to flash either of the linked firmware onto the MSP430FR2355 on the EVM board. Once the board is programmed, you need to use the micro-usb on the EVM to connect the EVM to the GUI.

It's possible that your answer differs from the information we want to know.
Below is a restatement of what we want to do.

- We want to use MotorStudio to write and read registers on our custom board.
- The custom board is only equipped with an MCF8316A, and does not have an MSP430.
- Therefore, we intend to use the MSP-EXP430FR2355 to communicate with the custom board and write.

Please tell us the procedure and firmware for writing using MotorStudio under the above conditions.
At the very least, it is sufficient to be able to use the following menus in MotorStudio.

Joshua Horlander Cruz said:

I think there maybe some confusion on my part with your use case. It is my understanding that you want to use a MSP-EXP430FR2355 with the motor studio GUI for tuning a motor.

This problem was apparently caused by some sort of damage to the MSP430 on the MCF8316A_EVM board.
Replacing the MSP430 got it to work properly.

Thanks,

Conor

Hi Conor,

Unfortunately, until we are able to create custom code for the MSP-EXP430FR2355 to work with motor studio only a system with USB -> FTDI -> MSP430 will work with the current firmware for the MSP430FR2355.

You can use the MSP430 on the EVM to use Motor Studio with a MCF8316A on a custom board. This can be done by removing all the jumper shunts on J6 and connecting the SCL, SDA, and AGND pins (circled in red in image) on the MCU side of the header bridge to the MCT8316A I2C pins and GND plane on the custom board. Would this solution work for your case?

Regards,

Joshua

Hi Joshua,

To clarify the situation, let me ask the following questions.

Q1.
Your current suggestion for using MotorStudio to write to a custom board is to use the MCF8316AEVM. Is this understanding correct?

Q2.
Do you plan to provide firmware that can communicate between MotorStudio and the MSP-EXP430FR2355 (ez-FET debugger)? If so, please let me know when this will be available.

Q3.
Can I write "MCxEVM_MSP430FR2355_Firmware.out" to the MSP430 on the MSP-EXP430FR2355, write it to a custom board using the MCF8316A GUI, and then perform read operations? If the above is possible, is there any difference between what can be done using MotorStudio and the MCF8316A GUI? As I understand it, there are many I2C communication problems with the MCF8316A GUI, and these problems are resolved with MotorStudio.

To summarize Q1-3, MCF8316AEVM is a bit expensive, so I would like to use MSP-EXP430FR2355 as much as possible and use it in the latest environment. I would appreciate any cooperation so that I can use it in the latest environment.

Thanks,

Conor