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Original question:

TMP468: I need support for the TMP468 board. Drivers and libraries. I'm looking to use a python program to read and record...

TMP468: API for accessing TMP468 and TMP468EVM from Windows PC

Stuart Jackson
Prodigy 30 points
Part Number: TMP468
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: , MSP430F5528, ENERGIA

We are building a custom board using that will contain a TMP468. I will need to communicate with the chip from a Windows PC. While the board is being built I plan on developing our custom application using a TMP468EVM. Is there a Windows API that I can use to communicate with the part? If not, are there any suggestions on how to proceed?

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 43995 points

    Hi Stuart,

    The EVM employs a TI MSP430F5528 as a USB-to-I2C bridge. The provided GUI application connects to this USB-to-I2C bridge. We don't support using other software to connect to the USB-to-I2C bridge.

    I recommend connecting a TMP468 device's I2C to LaunchPad/Arduino hardware and using Energia/Arduino software for your firmware. You can issue I2C commands to the TMP468 and easily report back to PC through a USB Virtual COM Port. All software languages on the PC side should have a method of sending/retrieving data to/from a COM port. 

    thanks,

    ren

  • 0 in reply to Ren Schackmann
    Prodigy 30 points

    Thank you for the quick reply and the suggestion.

    It seems like I have two different issues...

    For our initial prototype we are going to use the EVM and the GUI to make sure everything is working correctly. I was hoping to use the USB-to-I2C bridge from the PC. Maybe using something like the Microsoft UWP I2C library: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/api/windows.devices.i2c?view=winrt-22621.

    But it sounds like that would not be the correct long-term solution because we will not have the USB-to-I2C chip on our board. So I would have to do something different for the real board.

    Is there a way to modify the EVM board to bypass the bridge?

    As an alternative to writing custom code, do you think something like this would work: https://store.ncd.io/product/i2c-converter-with-dual-serial-16-port-hardware-i2c/

  • 0 in reply to Stuart Jackson
    TI__Mastermind 43995 points

    The Microsoft library is most likely targeted at embedded applications of Windows. Your PC undoubtedly has I2C on its motherboard, but you won't find an I2C port. The Linux Kernel has similar support for onboard I2C. You will only find an I2C header on a RaspberryPi, for example, which supports Linux on its ARM processor. Microsoft is starting to support running Windows on devices like the RaspberryPi. I don't expect to find any third-party USB dongles on the market supported by the Microsoft library (or the Linux Kernel, for that matter.) 

    The TMP468EVM is designed to be broken at its perforations. When the USB-I2C bridge is broken off at the perforation, you can connect the TMP468 to your own I2C controller.

    Looking at the NCD website, it seems you would be better served by this simpler product: https://store.ncd.io/product/usb-to-i2c-converter-adapter/ 

    The only similar product I've used is the Total Phase Aardvark.

    thanks,

    ren