With the “MSP430 Launchpad”, TI offers a very inexpensive development board for their Value Line microcontrollers that includes everything you need to get started.
This tutorial will show you how to connect the Launchpad’s built-in push button to Helios.
This tutorial assumes you are using the “MSP430 Launchpad” development board.
It is assumed that you are using Code Composer Studio and know how to compile code and run it on your microcontroller. If you don’t, check out the excellent Getting Started with the MSP430 Launchpad Workshop, especially Lab 2 starting at 10:25, or read Blink your first LED on the TI wiki.
If you cannot upload code to the Launchpad and are using TrackIR, try closing the TrackIR software and reconnecting the Launchpad.
The recommended way is to install git on your computer and clone the repository. For this tutorial, use the getting-started branch. That way you can develop your own changes to the firmware under version control (you will most likely have to adapt the firmware to reflect your specific panel).
If you don’t want to bother with that right now, just download the current getting-started branch as a ZIP file.
Make sure you have plugged the MSP430G2553 into your Launchpad (it should already be plugged in out of the box).
Open the master firmware project, which is located in the eos430-master subdirectory, in Code Composer Studio.
Compile and run the code on your Launchpad.
If you have not already done so, download and install Helios now.
Open the Helios Profile Editor and create a new profile.
Click “Profile” -> “Add Interface”, select EOSBus (Direct Serial) and click Add.
At the top of the screen, select the (virtual) COM port that your Launchpad is connected to.
The text “Scanning Bus…” appears in red. After it disappears again, you should see your EOS device showing up under the name 1
Button in the list on the left.
Under “Bindings” (at the bottom of the screen), select the “Output” tab. In the left tree, navigate to “Interfaces” -> “Keyboard”. On the right side, open the 1 Button node.
Drag the “release key” item onto the “Digital Input 0 Off” entry in the list on the right. Under “Properties”, enter “k” into the text field.
Save your profile.
Close the profile editor and start the Helios Control Center
Select your profile using the arrow buttons
Click “Start”.
Open a text editor such as notepad and verify that every time you press the left button on your Launchpad, the letter “k” is typed.
Congratulations, you have built your first custom hardware for Helios.