CCS6 / GUI Composer running incredibly SLOW for Stepper Motor Booster Board App

You description seems to indicate that you may be using the JTAG or Debug interfaces rather than the standard USB / Serial ports

If a user desires to send commands to the launchpad to get the board to step forward or backwards for example there does not seem to be a way to do this without this direct variable manipulation in the current provided example code

What I was hoping for was a library for the stepper controller that I can then build upon for say a CNC router

this is common on the Arduino and other platforms for a large range of stepper boards, basic chip functionality in the library and the user builds up the actual app leveraging the libraries

I have the board to review from Element 14 and was really excited to get going with it but as it stands I can not use it either through the GUI Composer Runtime, CCS as it is way too slow, or from my own code without having to write a library for it myself

Am I missing something (I really hope so :) )

the other issue I face is the example code is not well documented, as a learning tool (Example Code), this is not very helpful, I spent quite a significant period of time trying to figure out if there was a command syntax of sorts I could use to drive the library. I Failed to find one. Providing a description of how the example works would be very useful for example code considering the consistent lack of in line useful comments. Can you please pass this request on to the authors of the example code sets.

Thanks for the help and putting me in the right thread :)

Peter

Let me address you concerns one at a time.

1. Interface: You can take a look at the GUI Composer documentation for more information on this. GUI Composer does support interface over a JTAG but not for the MSP430. On the MSP430 we use a USB/UART interface that talks to a monitor on the MSP430. This link outlines the interface and structure.

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/ProgramModelUart_GuiComposer

2. Libraries/API: We aren't there yet unfortunately. We eventually hope to release what you have described for Energia but it is still a ways out. I wish I had a better answer for you here.

3. Demo Application: My biggest concern is that we need to get you up and running with the current application so you can start looking at the board. The app is provided as a way to evaluate the DRV8711 and Stepper Motors in general. I can run just fine with my Win7 PC and have seen the app running on various machines, so we need to get to the bottom of this. The GUI Composer team is looking at it right now.

4. Code Outline: Noted and passed on. We will get the User Guide updated with a flow diagram and a more generic description of the software structure. Appreciate all the feedback as this is a relatively new tool. If you have any questions on the example application at the moment, feel free to post here. The main.c file provides a very basic outline of the project structure.

Hi Peter,

Some questions to debug the slow app response...

Which method did you use to flash the LaunchPad (compile and build the CCS project or load the .out file)?

Do you have any other TI FET tools connected to your PC? The GUI Composer team mentioned that they have seen sluggish response when multiple devices are connected to the PC.

So eventually the GUI connects to the correct COM PORT (MSP430 Application Uart), but remains very, very sluggish?

Compile and Build

When multiple devices are connected its a lottery which one is even selected, you can not have more than one connected if you want any chance of hitting the right one... I learned that a while back.. the hard way lol so yes I only had the one device connected

Yes, eventually is does connect, maybe 3 minutes from starting the GUI to having the red "X" disapears, it can take over 5 minutes between clicking a button and having the board respond, if it even responds

I have actually managed to get the Motor to turn but then could not stop it in a timely manner so had to pull the power, also when it comes out of standby it locks the motor when not moving it and of course after a few minutes it starts to overheat so again I have to pull the power or risk damaging the motor

I have not been able to find the button on CCS to upload a runtime to the board :(

Correct, it will pick the first "MSP" Com Port. You can check the device manager to see the specific Com Port numbers.

Can you try Method 1. (loading the .out file) and see if this makes any difference. Just trying to rule things out

The GUI Composer Runtime is not loaded on the MSP430. It is a tool that allows the GUI to be run outside of Code Composer Studio.

Are you currently running the GUI in CCS? Try downloading the Runtime and running the GUI independently of CCS. This is outlined in the User Guide. I have a possible theory here.

Again, thanks for the cooperation.

Understood.

Thank you for the information.

Let me know if you have any questions on loading the .out file.

I have tried both methods on several Win7 machines and had no issues. I am looking for a Win8 machine to test.

Hi Peter,

Thank you very much for the feedback. This will be immensely helpful for debugging future issues. I will relay this to the development team. Perhaps they can implement a fix for this issue.

 the Project and GUI are both for 5.5, how did you get the GUI project of the BOOST-DRV8711 imported into the CCS 6.0 ?