Arduinos on the Raspberry Pi

2013 Solution


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    Proof of concept that threads in a Real Time Operating System for the Raspberry Pi can emulate various Arduinos with help of a library that mimics the Arduino API. This will maximize the efficiency of the ArduSat platform by allowing multiple Arduinos to use dynamically asigned sensors. Please turn on the captions in the video for english subtitles.

    This project is solving the ArduSat challenge.

    Description

    This project solves the Ardusat hardware level 3 challenge by using a Raspberry Pi running ChibiOS (a Real Time Operating System for embedded systems). Inside ChibiOS threads runs Arduino code with help of a library that mimics the Arduino platform. The RTOS can be configured to map pins and devices betwen the Raspberry Pi and the virtual Arduinos allowing the maximum use of the sensors in Ardustat. The code and configuration running on the Raspberry pi can be uploaded via serial console for remote management.


    Build & Run

    1. Wire the prototype

    See Arduinos on the Raspberry Pi schematics

    2. Install the GNU ARM toolchain

    In MAC OS X you can use Yagarto and in Linux you can use yol.

    3. Get ChibiOS for the RPi

    git clone https://github.com/steve-bate/ChibiOS-RPi

    4. Get Arduinos on the Raspbery Pi

    git clone https://github.com/manuel-rabade/arduino-chibios-rpi

    5. Build

    cd arduino-chibios-rpi && make

    cd arduino-chibios-rpi/bootloader && make

    6. Setup SD card

    Copy arduino-chibios-rpi/bootloader/kernel.img to the SD card. Download bootcode.bin and start.elf and copy them to the SD card.

    7. Serial console

    Install minicom and configure it:

    • Serial Device: /dev/ttyUSB0

    • Bps/Par/Bits: 115200 8N1

    • Hardware Flow Control: No

    • Software Flow Control: No

    8. Boot

    Power your Raspberry Pi and upload arduino-chibios-rpi/build/ch.bin using XModem.


    Serial console

    Once ChibiOS has been uploaded the following commands are available in the serial shell:

    status get virtual Arduinos status

    pause [arduino #] pause operation of a virtual Arduino

    resume [arduino #] resume operation of a virtual Arduino

    log [arduino #] get the serial buffer of a virtual Arduino

    mem get ChibiOS memory usage

    threads get ChibiOS threads status

    info get ChibiOS build information

    systime get system time

    reboot reboot ChibiOS


    Pin configuration

    This project map the following Raspberry Pi pins to virtual Arduino pins:

    Raspberry Pi    Virtual Arduino   Arduino pin
    GPIO22          arduino0          13
    GPIO7           arduino1          13
    GPIO25          arduino1          12
    GPIO17          arduino2          13
    GPIO24          arduino3          13
    


    Hack

    arduino-chibios-rpi/main.cpp it's the entry point that spawns the threads.

    arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino0.cpp , arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino1.cpp, arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino2.cpp and arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino3.cpp are the code for each virtual Arduino.

    arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino0.h , arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino1.h, arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino2.h and arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino3.h are the configuration for each Arduino.

    arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino.h and arduino-chibios-rpi/arduino/arduino.cpp is the library that "emulates" the Arduino plataform.


    References

    Ardusat challenges

    ChibiOS-RPi port and demos by Steve Bate

    Raspberry Pi bootloader by David Welch

    Arduino languaje reference and source code

    Raspberry Pi Low-level peripherals

    Project Information

    Resources


  • The following projects are solving this challenge:

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