Table of Contents
Overview
In an era, where the automotive sector is at its prime and everyone desires to make their career advancements in the Automotive field, there is a need for a Microcontroller based development board that is of automotive grade, with automotive capabilities to do hands-on learning and gain knowledge on automotive skill sets. And in such a world, ElecronicsV2 boards make a grand entrance.
ElecronicsV2 is a development Board based on NXP Semiconductor S32K144 MCU. The development board has a rich set of onboard features and interfaces to make Automotive DIY projects. It is powered with S32K144 MCU, which is based on ARM Cortex M4 Core with Automotive peripherals like CAN, LIN, FlexIO, SAE-J2602, Half HSM, and advanced Timer peripheral.
ElecronicsV2 is not just a development board for Automotive, but it is also a prime candidate for students, working professionals, and hobbyists to learn embedded projects and learning in an industrial Microcontroller out of Arduino and ESP environment. ElecronicsV2 is based on the S32K144 Microcontroller.
S32K144 MCU is part of the S32 family of microcontrollers, for which NXP semiconductors provide a dedicated IDE for embedded software development and SDK for embedded application development. What makes the S32K144 apart, is its availability of SDK with Autosar standard!! Students and working professionals can do Autosar-based and hands-on learning using the Autosar MCAL SDK. All of this is possible/done via the ElecronicsV2 board.
Elecronics V2 Development Board
Elecronics V2: is a development board that is designed based on NXP Semiconductors S32K144 MCU by Gettobyte Community.
ElecronicsV2 is a breadboard-compatible board, which has all Input/Output pins exposed via male headers and can be expanded by embedding it into the breadboard for easy use and development. S32K144 microcontroller can be used for various industrial projects like Automotive, Industrial Automation, consumer electronics, and IoT. This board is cost-effective as compared to the original evaluation board of S32K144.
Documentation on ElecronicsV2 Board: User Manual of ElecronicsV2 Board
Getting Started with ElecronicsV2 Board: Getting started with ElecronicsV2 Board
…………………………………..
The major challenge people face is a lack of resources or scattered content to learn and do hands-on such Industrial microcontrollers. For learning the Embedded basics and firmware development on this board, viewers can refer to the tutorial blog series on the S32K144 microcontroller. Refer to this link for more info.
Features of ElecronicsV2 Development Board
ElecronicsV1 is breadboard compatible development based on NXP Semiconductors S32K144 MCU. Which has following features:
Their are 2 Best Things about the design of the ElecronicsV2 Board:
- First is 2*40 male header pins, which exposes all the pins of the Microcontroller and it can be easily connected to a number of sensor/modules with neat and clean connections
- Another thing is the silkscreen present on the board. On the ElecronicsV2 you can see there is pin labeling for all the features present on the board, which makes it easy for users to do development on the board, instead of seeing pinouts/schematics again and again.
Pinout of ElecronicsV2
About S32K144 MCU
Refer to this blog, to know indepth features and specs of the S32K144 MCU:
Reasons for starting your journey with S32K144 MCU as students/hobbyiest
- The most important reason for selecting this microcontroller is it has Software stack/drivers for S32K144 MCU with Autosar complaint MCAL Layer, which will help students learn about Autosar at the college level using ElecronicsV1 by making DIY projects just like on Arduino. Autosar is one of the highly demanded skills set in embedded and automotive industry.
- S32K144 MCU has many Automotive communication protocols like: CAN, LIN, FlexIO, Motor control-based TIMER Peripheral, CSEc Hardware Security Module to implement Cryptography Application. So using this board will give students understanding and hands-on industrial level knowledge of automotive/embedded field.
- Based on ARM Cortex M4 processor running at 112MHz, students can explore and learn about ARM technology by doing hands-on via this controller and using its IDE: S32DS.
Debugger/Programmer
The board doesn’t have on-board debugger, so it has to be programmed using external debugger like: J-Link Debuggers or PEmicro OpenSDA debugger.
Original Jlink debugger and PEmicro debugger comes very expensive, so best and reliable alternate to those debuggers i to buy JLink V9 Debugger Emulator – ARM MCU Development Tool, which comes at a cost of 2.5K around and using this debugger you can debug any ARM cortex M3/M4 chip. More details and how to use this debugger is here.
JlinkV9 Debugger is Chinese clone of the original Jlink Base Debugger which is best to use by students/hobbyists and affordable too.
Viewers can buy the debugger from here: Buy JLink V9 Debugger Emulator – ARM MCU Development Tool – KTRON India.
It comes at a cost of 2.5K around. Buying this debugger once and then it can be used with any ARM Cortex M based Microcontroller.
Other alternative for debuggers:
Target Audeince for the board
The board can be used by variety of audience and applications as follows:
- It can be used by students and practise enginners for learning Embedded systems on Industrial Microcontrollers like that of NXP Semiconductors to come out of Arduino and ESP environment and making DIY projects for different Industries, giving them industrial exposure and skillsets. Thus, this microcontroller is perfect start for students to get hand-on exposure on industrial technologies.
- Not only for DIY projects but this board can be used for fast prototyping and development by automotive/EV based startups/companies for their product development. As S32K144 MCU is ARM cortex M4 based and has rich set of peripherals with automotive certified standards for developing products for body & control, powertrain and electrification domains of the car.
Buy the board
The board is priced at INR 4,999(Excluding GST and Shipping Charges).
For college students, ElecronicsV2 is of 2,999. For students, there is a discount of INR 2000. They have to submit their student ID and government ID, after the verification from our end, their order will be processed.
The Kit will include, Jlink V9 debug Users can buy from above link:
- One ElecronicsV2 Development Board
- JTAG-SWD Debug Adaptor
- 10 Pin JTAG debug connecting wire
Getting Started with Board
For using the S32K144 MCU, NXP semiconductors provides S32Design Studio IDE and S32K1 Software Package. S32K1 Software package has all the peripheral drivers, example codes, middleware stacks for starting development/learning on S32K144 MCU. on Refer above video to get started with ElectronicsV1 board and how to setup S32K144 SDK.
Further viewers can refer to blog series on S32K144 MCU, to do hands-on learning on all of its peripherals and then do sensor-module/DIY Projects interfacing with using ElecronicsV1 board.
Chronological order to start with this board:
- Getting Started with S32Design Studio.
- Getting Started with Elecronics V1: S32K144 MCU Development board.
- Peripheral driver tutorials on ElecronicsV1.
- Sensor/Module Interfacing with ElecronicsV1.
- DIY projects using ElecronicsV1.
Kunal Gupta
Automotive Microcontroller programming training session at DTU College
We have successfully conducted a 10-day training program on Automotive Microcontroller Programing at Delhi Technical University from 6th December to 15th December. The training program was attended by Btech Students of ECE branch and some students of Mtech branch. List of attendance as per dates are: 06/12/2024:25 07/12/2024:25 08/12/2024:23 09/12/2024:22 10/12/2024: Holiday by students 11/12/2024:23 12/12/2024: 22 13/12/2024:19 14/12/2024:15 15/12/2024:10 The 10 day training program session start by introducing students with the Microcontroller Technology. On day 1 of the training session students were made to taught microcontroller technology. General overview of what is semiconductor industry, how does semiconductor industry works and different kind of companies in semiconductor industry. Followed by in depth exploration of microcontroller technology, which is one of the kind of semiconductor chip. Diving into Building block, Functional block, Hardware Development Kit and Software Development Kit of Microcontroller Technology. In the end we conclude the day by discussing about Industrial Microcontroller like that of NXP, Renesas, Infenion giving students exposure to MCU’s apart from Arduino/ESP frameworks. We very much focus on NXP S32K144 MCU which is an automotive MCU and get handson feel with Its Development Board ElecronicsV3 and SDK of S32 Design Studio On Second day we followed by exploring and diving deep into automotive technologies. How Automotive Industry works, Different companies involved in it and overview of Automotive technologies like Functional Domain, E/E Architecture and Autosar Software Tech Stack. On this we very much deep dive into Autosar Software Tech stack and give stduents overview on how to start with it. We start by exploring the MCAL Layer technology of Autosar Software Tech Stack and set up its Software environment using S32 Design Studio IDE and its software package installation. On Day 3-4 we started with Handson experiment after getting initial overview of technologies. On Day 3 & 4 students explored the GPIO/PORT peripheral in Microcontroller technology, students were given in depth overview and understanding on how this peripheral works, why is it used, how to use it and its applications. Students were made to taught about this peripheral from Microcontroller datasheet and made to understand different specs/features of this peripheral from MCU documents. After that students were made to taught how to use this peripheral in Automotive Microcontroller by making them understand on its peripheral stack using Autosar MCAL Driver specs. Students were made to taught how to use Autosar Code configurator tool for GPIO/PORT peripheral. They were taught how to use Software API’s, what parameters to send on those API’s an in which chronology those API’s need to be used. In the end students were given time to learn and have Handson with Embedded Softwrae Debugging of microcontroller. They were made to develop different functional demo codes on GPIO/PORT peripheral and taught how to do embedded software debugging for it. Day 5 was holiday: After continous 4 days of technical learning and information, students asked for day off. Number of students on that day have interviews and assessments so day off on this day was taken. Day 6-7: we started with Handson experiment of ADC peripheral of microcontroller technology. We started by getting overview on what is ADC peripheral, how does it work, why is it needed and different specs/features of ADC peripheral in MCU’s. After that we deep dive into NXP S32K144 concentric ADC peripheral. We explored how ADC peripheral works in S32K144 MCU using its datasheet and exploring its peripheral register’s. After that students were made to taught how to use ADC peripheral in Automotive Microcontroller by making them understand on ADC peripheral Driver using Autosar MCAL Driver specs. Students were made to taught how to use Autosar Code configurator tool for ADC peripheral. Understanding and exploring its different menu sections, sub menu sections. Which sections to configure, how to configure and why to configure. They were taught how to use Software API’s of ADC Driver stack, what parameters to send on those API’s an in which chronology those API’s need to be used. In the end students were given time to learn and have Handson with Embedded Softwrae Debugging of microcontroller for ADC Peripheral. They were made to develop simple functional demo codes of reading POT values using ADC peripheral and taught how to do embedded software debugging for it. Day 8-9: On these 2 days students were made to taught PWM Peripheral of Microcontroller technology. How PWM signals are generated, how they work , different sepcs/features of PWM Signals. Students were made to introduce the concept of TIMER peripheral in MCU’s which is used to generate PWM signals via it. In these 2 days students were also made to get familarize with Logic Analzer tool which is used to capture PWM Signals. Students were made to understand TIMER peripheral of NXP S32K144 Automotive MCU, how it works and how to use it for generating PWM signals. Followed by theory and hardware overview of PWM signals, students were made to do Handson exploration by generating PWM signals of different frequency/duty cycle using PWM Driver stack of Autosar MCAL Layer. After that students were made to taught how to use TIMER peripheral in Automotive Microcontroller by making them understand on PWM peripheral Driver using Autosar MCAL Driver specs. Students were made to taught how to use Autosar Code configurator tool for PWM Driver. Understanding and exploring its different menu sections, sub menu sections. Which sections to configure, how to configure and why to configure. They were taught how to use Software API’s of PWM Driver stack, what parameters to send on those API’s an in which chronology those API’s need to be used. In the end students were given tasks to generate PWM signals of different frequencies and duty cycle. On the last day, students were instructed to do Integration of What all thinsg they have learned so far. They were given task to Combine all Peripheral of Automotive MCU which was taught as if now in a single project. They did a task of using GPIO, PORT, ADC & PWM Peripherals
SPI Peripheral in S32K144
Explore this blog to know about SPI peripheral in NXP S32K144 MCU
UART Peripheral in Microcontroller
Explore this blog to know about UART peripheral in Microcontroller for doing UART communication
SPI Communication in Microcontrollers
Explore this blog to know about SPI peripheral in Microcontroller for doing SPI communication
TIMER Peripheral in Microcontroller’s
Explore basics of TIMER Peripheral in Microcontroller!!
ADC Peripheral in Microcontroller’s
Explore about ADC peripheral in Microcontroller from foundational and functional level
Add Your Heading Text Here
Author: Kunal Gupta
