MICRO ROBOTICS 5922 User manual

VM2 Application Board 3
Product code 5922
Application board 3 for the VM2 series of controllers is intended to implement as many interfaces as possible
to allow you to explore the capabilities of the VM2 controller range.
•Graphics Display interface
•U B Host: removable storage using memory sticks, etc.
•U B Device: access to internal Flash Filing ystem
•Ethernet
•Memory card socket (micro D)
•2 off R 232 serial ports
•1 off R 485 erial Port (half-duplex)
•I2C Bus (3.3V or 5V)
•CAN Bus
•Alphanumeric LCD interface (3.3V or 5V)
•Audio output (PWM 'beeps' or WAV sounds)
•EEPROM for non-volatile application settings or parameters
•4 x 4 Matrix Keypad interface, or 8 General Purpose Digital I/Os
•Power inlet 12VDC (you can use 7.5 – 28 VDC with caution)
•Every VM2 pin appears on a 0.1” breakout connector.
Some of the VM2 series can't drive some interfaces; see the table of Controller capabilities on page 11.
WARNING: Users of Micro-Robotics Control Equipment should be aware of the possibility of a system failure, and must consider the
implications of such failure. Micro-Robotics Ltd. can accept no responsibility for loss, injury, or damage resulting from the failure of our
equipment. Use of our products in applications where their failure to perform as specified could result in injury or death is expressly
forbidden.
Copyright 2002-2006 Micro-Robotics Ltd tel: [phone]
The Old Maltings fax: [phone]
135 Ditton Walk [email protected]
Cambridge www.microrobotics.co.uk
CB5 8QB
Version 2015 07 1 D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 1 of 11
Power erial 1
Reset
Display
VM2
AlphaLCD Keypad peaker I2C
I2C Bus 1
[nc] VCC GND CL DA
Ethernet
U B Device
CAN & R 485
erial 2
Contrast Volume
Vin 0V LK5 LK8 LK7
LK4
LK6 LK14
LK13 LK2
LK3
LK1
LK15
LK11
LK9
LK10
Micro D
Card
Holder
BRK1
BRK2
Upload O
Prog Mode
Default Com
Board size:
150 x 100 mm
Holes, 4 off:
140 x 90, 3.5 dia
U B Host
LK12

Unpacking
You should have:
•Application Board 3
What ou will need
To start using the application board you will also need:
•VM2 or VM2D Controller (5900 or 5907)
•7.5 - 12VDC, 4 Watt power supply. (You can use more than 12VDC with caution.)
•An R 232 serial lead to connect the 5902 to your host computer (you can use our product 5529)
•A PC running our VenomIDE development environment.
Switches
Reset button
Pressing this button shorts the VM2’s Reset input to GND, which resets the VM2.
DIP switches
There is a group of four DIP switches and a single push-button switch fitted to the Application Board. These
control basic modes of operation on the VM2. They are connected to mode selection pins on the VM2’s JP1.
Most of the time you are only likely to use the Prog Mode switch; all other DIP switches should be OFF.
Switch
number
Label Description
4 Prog Mode ON: The VM2 starts up in Program Mode. This gives you access
to the Venom2 Command Line, so you can develop your
application program.
OFF: The VM2 starts up in Run Mode. It will run your Venom2
application program at every Power On, or Reset.
3Not used
2CAN(notUSB) This switch should be left in the OFF position unless you want to
use the CAN Bus. If you use the CAN Bus then you can't use
the VM2 as a U B Device.
1 Load O This switch puts the VM2 into Upload OS mode by shorting JP1
pin 4 to Vcc. This allows you to program the VM2 with a new
version of the Venom2 Language using VenomIDE. ee IDE
Help in VenomIDE for details. (You can also use the U B port to
load a new version of Venom – see instructions supplied with
each version).
Serial Port 1 and 2: RS232
erial ports 1 and 2 are fitted with level shifters to interface to R 232 signals, such as the COM ports on a
PC.
Pin outs
Connectors: 9 way D-Type, pins
12345
6 7 8 9
RXD TXD GND
RT CT [nc]
9 way D plug: View of plug
erial 1
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Channel $1A $19 $72 $73
ignal * RXD TXD * GND * RT CT N/C
erial 2
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Channel $13 $12 $7B $43
ignal * RXD TXD * GND * RT CT N/C
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 2 of 11

* - These pins are shorted together at each port.
There is a resistor position (R5) to pull erialPort 1's CT input high if you want the VM2 to be able to 'talk'
when there is no serial lead supplying a hardware handshake signal to the Application Board. However it is
usually better to overcome this problem in software by turning off hardware handshaking.
Configuration
erial port 1 is configured for you in the default startup procedure with something like the following line.
MAKE serial SerialPort(115200,1,1)
Serial port 4: RS485
erial port 4 is fitted with an R 485 driver in half-duplex mode. LK3 must be fitted to use this driver – it
connects the driver to RX4 on the VM2.
You can’t use hardware handshaking with this hardware configuration. Instead the RT signal for serial 4
(Channel $76) is used to control the data direction of the half-duplex interface. There is software support for
this mode.
Termination and Pull up/down
You may also need to fit LK4 if this board is at the end of a transmission line – to terminate the line correctly,
and also you may need to fit LK5 and LK6 if the line needs pulling into the passive state – this should be
done only once on the whole transmission line.
Pin out
Note: the erial 4 R 485 signals appear on the CAN connector:
Connector: 9 way D-Type, pins
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ignal Reserved
(n/c)
CAN
L
GND RS485
D-
GND via
LK8
GND CANH RS485
D+
Reserved
(n/c)
Ethernet
Links: Fit LK1
Resources used: channel $34, SPI Bus 2, SPI ADDR.
The board has a 10-Base-T Ethernet interface.
To use this interface you must fit link LK1. This uses channel $34 (also used as an ADC input) for Ethernet
interrupts.
There are network Link and Activity LEDs located on the socket itself.
Example code
ee the Venom2 Help File.
Pin out
tandard RJ45 Ethernet pin out.
There is an EEPROM memory device associated with the Ethernet interface. This has been factory
programmed with a unique MAC address that is essential for Ethernet communications. If you lose this
address by over-writing it then we may charge an administration fee to replace it with a new one.
Memor Card Socket
Links: NONE
Resources used: SPI Bus 2 (4 chans), SPI ADDR (2 chans), Channel $35.
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 3 of 11
12 3 4 5
6 7 8 9

The board has a socket for micro D or micro DHC cards. The memory card is intended to provide
permanent storage for the system, and should not be removed or fitted while the system is running unless
you make provision for this in your application code.
Note that, on this board, power to the memory card is controlled by Channel $35. This will need to be turned
on (active High) before the card can be used.
Warning: If you put a memory card in the socket and don't power it, it will interfere with the operation of the
Ethernet and USB Host interfaces because it they all share SPI Bus 2.
Example code
New Digital($35, %11).O ; Tur o card power.
Make mcfs FileSystem(“FSD”)
Ke pad or Digital I/O
Links: NONE
VM2 Resources used: I2CBus 1, Address 126
This 8-pin connector allows you to easily connect a 4 x 4 Matrix keypad. The eight pins should be connected
to the rows and columns of a matrix keypad.
The interface is implemented using a PCF8574A device.
To configure it as a Keypad use the following code:
MAKE kp Keypad (0, 248) ; 4x4 keypad
To configure it as Digital I/O you can use code like the following:
Make d1 Digital(248)
Make d2 Digital(249)
Ke pad/Digital I/O Pint out
Pin VM2 Channel Number
(when used for Digital)
Ke pad function
1 248 Column 1
2 249 Column 2
3 250 Column 3
4 251 Column 4
5 252 Row 1
6 253 Row 2
7 254 Row 3
8 255 Row 4
I2C Bus
Links: LK10. Link 1-2 for 3.3V or 2-3 for 5.0V I2C Bus voltage.
Resources used: I2CBus 1
I2C Bus number 1 is brought out to a 5-pin connector. The pin out is printed on the board. You can select the
Bus voltage using LK10. Be careful if you select 5V to make sure that every device you add to the Bus can
handle 5V.
Pull up resistors
I2C Buses require pull up resistors on the bus signals. We have fitted 4K7 resistors which should be
adequate for most purposes. If you need more pull up then you can fit resistors externally via the I2C
Connector.
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 4 of 11
1

Configuration
This is done for you in the default startup procedure, so you don' t have to put it in your code:
MAKE et I2CBus
This command shows what's connected to the I2C Bus:
PRINT et ; pri t out a list of all devices co ected to the I2C Bus.
EEPROMs
Links: LK10. Link 1-2 for 3.3V or 2-3 for 5.0V I2C Bus voltage.
Resources used: I2CBus 1
There are two EEPROMs fitted to the board. They are both T24C02AM1 or equivalent, holding 256 bytes
each.
The first EEPROM is at address 162. This device is intended for storing non-volatile settings and parameters
for your application.
Configuration
MAKE s SafeData(1, 1, 162)
The second EEPROM (at address 164) is intended for dedicated use by the Ethernet system. You may also
use it for other purposes at your own risk – if you over-write the Ethernet MAC address then you may have to
pay a small administration fee for us to issue you with a new one.
USB Host: External USB Drives
Resources used: SPI Bus 2, SPI ADDR.
You can plug a U B Mass torage Device (such as a U B Flash Drive) into the U B Host socket. The VM2
can use this is either permanent or removable storage. ome memory sticks extend only a few millimetres
beyond the U B socket and so are more suitable for permanent storage.
Configuration
Make usbfs FileSystem(“USB”)
USB Device: VM2's Flash Filing S stem
Links: LK2: link. LK13 and LK14 – link pins 2-3 on both
Resources used: CAN(notUSB) switch set to OFF (enables USB device subs stem, disables CAN
Bus)
The USB Device and CAN Bus cannot be used at the same time.
The VM2 can be a U B Drive using the Type B ('Device') U B connector on this application board. This
allows you to read and write files in the VM2's Flash Filing ystem via U B, and also allows 'production
programming' of VM2s with their finished application code.
To enable the U B system you have to do these things:
1. et the CAN(notUSB) switch to OFF
2. Make link LK2
3. Links LK13 and 14: link pins 2 & 3 on both (Pin 1 is marked with a dot)
4. Connect the Application Board to a U B port on a PC or other Host.
When the VM2 is waiting at the Clear RAM prompt, or when U B access is enabled by your Venom code,
the U B Host (usually your PC) will see the VM2 as a Mass torage Device, allowing you to read and write
files in the VM2's flash memory.
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 5 of 11
I2C Bus 1 [n/c] VCC GND CL DA
1

CAN Bus
Links: LK13 and LK14 – link pins 1-2 on both. LK 7: Bus Termination
Resources used: CAN(notUSB) switch set to ON (disables USB subs stem, enables CAN Bus)
The USB Device and CAN Bus cannot be used at the same time.
This board is fitted with a N65HVD230 CAN Bus driver device allowing the VM2's CAN module to interface
with CAN Bus systems.
Configuration
MAKE ca CANBus(1000000) ; CAN bus at 1MHz, ot exte ded IDs
MAKE ca CANBus(125000, 1) ; CAN bus at 125KHz, exte ded IDs
CAN Waveform edge speed
This device uses a resistor to set the speed of edges on the CAN Bus waveforms. A 10K resistor is fitted,
but you can change this by clipping it off, or soldering another resistor in parallel. Note: this will void the
warranty.
CAN Bus Pull Up/Down and Termination
No CAN Bus pull up/down resistors are fitted to this board. They will need to be fitted externally if needed.
All transmission lines should be terminated with the correct impedance at each end of the line. This is made
easier on this board: LK 7 links in a termination resistor.
Only fit LK7 if the board is at one or other ends of the CAN Bus transmission line.
CAN Bus Pin Out
Connector: 9 way D-Type plug
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ignal Reserved
(n/c)
CAN
L
GND R 485
D-
GND via
LK8
GND CANH R 485
D+
Reserved
(n/c)
Alphanumeric LCD
Links: LK11 – link pins 1-2 for 3.3V LCDs or pins 2-3 for 5V LCDs. LK9 connects the back-light to
LCD_VCC.
Resources used: VM2 Channels $60-$65.
Note: VM2D can't drive an Alphanumeric LCD on this connector. You will either need a VM2 or VM2L, or you
can use a VM2D to drive the LCD via the I2C Bus.
There are two connectors on board for direct connection of Hitachi and Hitachi-compatible alphanumeric
LCD's. One is IL and the other a reverse DIL connector. The reverse DIL connector allows a transition
connector to be used on the back of LCD's with DIL connections.
Note that only one Alphanumeric LCD may be attached directly to the board, using either one or the other
connector. Additional Alphanumeric LCDs may be connected via PCF8574 ICs on the I2C Bus.
The LCD contrast voltage is set using the trim pot near the connectors. Most LCDs seem to operate with the
contrast voltage at or near 0V.
Configuration
MAKE lcd AlphaLCD (40,2,0) ; 40 x 2 LCD
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 6 of 11

DIL Pinout
Note: Pins 15 and 16 are the back-light power pins. BKLT, the +ve back-light supply is connected to
LCD_VCC via LK9.
SIL Pinout
GND N/C 5V Cont. R R/W E N/C
14-way IL 0.1" pitch
N/C N/C D4 D5 D6 D7
Graphic Displa s
Graphics Displays of various types may be connected to this board. ome display devices have their own
controller IC built in to the display, and others need an external controller.
The standard VM2 can generally drive displays with built-in display controllers that use indirect addressing.
For TFT displays that need an external controller you can use the VM2D, which has a TFT controller built in
to it.
Because just about every display connector interface is different we provide a standard connector on this
board, and will provide 'display adaptor' boards to connect each type of display we support. An adaptor board
carries these things:
•a connector for the display – often a fine-pitch FFC
•a back-light controller – allows on/off or dimming control of the back-light
•any extra voltage conversion devices as necessary
(If you design a custom application board for the VM2 you don't necessarily need to use this intermediate
display adaptor board, though it may be a useful guard against the relatively short production lifetimes of
many displays).
Configuration Example Code
ee the Venom2 Help File, and code snippets on our website.
Audio output
Links: LK15 – link pins 1-2 for WAV sounds, or pins 2-3 for PWM sounds.
Resources used: VM2 Channels $14 or $18
This board carries a miniature loudspeaker and audio amplifier which you can use to generate beeps or play
WAV files. There is a volume control located near the loudspeaker.
There are two ways to generate audio output. Firstly you can use a PWM 'square wave' generated from one
of the VM2's timer outputs – using the PulseWidthOut object
; This is our beeper. Li k LK15 pi s 2-3 a d tur pot up.
MAKE sou der PulseWidthOut($18,500,250,1, 100)
pwm . O ;tur it o
econdly you can play certain types of WAV file, where the file is stored in the Flash File ystem:
MAKE audio Analogue($14,1)
audio.Send(file_name)
ee the Venom2 Help file for more details.
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 7 of 11
12 34 56 78 910 1112 1314
RCont.
GND
D5 D7 N/C
N/C N/C
E N/C
R/W
D4 D6
15
GND
16
BKLT
LCD_VCC

Note: The speaker is too small to reproduce lower frequency sounds unaided, but the addition of a baffle of
some kind improves it considerably. Given the layout of the PCB, the simplest baffle you can make is a small
paper cone (25 to 50mm long), with some Blutak or similar to seal the narrow end to the speaker. The
bigger the baffle the better the low frequency sound will be.
Power Suppl
Caution! Suppl this board with 12VDC, unless ou know that attached subs stems (such as a
Displa Adaptor/Displa Backlight) are compatible with a different suppl voltage.
The board may be powered from a supply voltage range of less than 7.5V, up to 28 volts unregulated DC.
The current consumption depends on the input voltage, what is attached to the unit and whether the
processor is idle, but power consumption is usually around 1 Watt when the VM2 is idle and with no external
devices attached or subsystems configured, and perhaps 3 - 4 Watts with a typical configuration including
graphics display.
The board has two regulators - a switch mode regulator to generate a 5V supply, and then a linear regulator
to drop the 5V to 3.3V.
The main (switch mode) regulator is efficient over a wide input voltage range. There is a silicon diode before
the regulator to protect against reverse polarity on the supply input.
Power Connector
2 way pluggable screw terminal. Plug provided.
Breakout connectors
The two breakout connector positions are provided at each end of the VM2, labelled BRK1 and BRK2. These
are two sets of pads that exactly reproduce the connectors on the VM2, but on a 0.1” pitch. Note that the
VCC and GND pads are marked with + and – signs.
You should refer to the table of channel usage on page 9 and the circuit diagram of this board before using
the signals brought out here.
Table of links
This table details the function of each of the links on the board. The positions of all the links are shown on
the diagram of the board.
Link Open Link pins 1 & 2 Link pins 2 & 3
LK1 Chan $34 free Chan $34 used for Ethernet
interrupt.
LK2 U B pull up circuit not controlled U B pull up circuit controlled
by Dflt Comm signal
LK3 Chan $3B is free Chan $3B used for erial Port
4 RX.
LK4 R 485 not terminated R 485 terminated
LK5, LK6 R 485 not pulled to idle state R 485 pulled to idle state
LK7 CAN Bus not terminated CAN Bus terminated
LK8 CAN shield pin open CAN shield pin grounded
LK9 Alpha LCD back-light pin open Alpha LCD back-light
connected to Alpha LCD Vcc
LK10 I2C Bus not powered I2C Bus Vcc is 3.3V I2C Bus Vcc is 5V
LK11 Alpha LCD not powered Alpha LCD Vcc is 3.3V Alpha LCD Vcc is 5V
LK12 Back-light on/off signal open Backlight controlled by Chan
$26
Back-light controlled by
BacklightPWM signal
(VM2D2 / 5920 only)
LK13, LK14 CAN, USB not connected:
Chans $1B, $1C are free
CAN Tx, Rx connected: uses
Chans $1B and $1C
U B data connected:
uses Chans $1B and $1C
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 8 of 11

Link Open Link pins 1 & 2 Link pins 2 & 3
LK15 No audio source, Chans $14,
$18 are both free
Audio from DAC output, uses
chan $14
Audio from PWM output,
uses chan $18
Table of channel usage
This table details each of the VM2 channels and what it is used for on this Application Board. Each of the
channels also appears on the 'breakout' connectors labelled BRK1 and BRK2. The table describes what you
must to do to free a channel so you may connect to it on a breakout connector. If this column is blank then
the channel may be used immediately.
VM2
Channel Use on 5922 Application Board To use for other purposes
$10 Backlight control when LK12 pins 2-3 linked Unlink pins 2-3 on LK12
$11
$12 erial2 Tx Can be used as output
$13 erial2 Rx Not easy to free up
$14 DAC: Audio output [& PI bus on GLCD connector] Unlink using LK15 & Don't use
PI on GLCD connector
$15 [ PI bus on GLCD connector] Don't use PI on GLCD
connector
$16 [ PI bus on GLCD connector] Don't use PI on GLCD
connector
$17 [ PI bus on GLCD connector] Don't use PI on GLCD
connector
$18 PWM Audio output Unlink using LK15
$19 erial1 Tx Not easy to free up
$1A erial1 Rx Not easy to free up
$1B CAN Rx & U B Unlink using LK14
$1C CAN Tx & U B Unlink using LK13
$26 Back-light ON/OFF/PWM Don't use GLCD
$28 I2C Bus 1 CL Not easy to free up
$29 I2C Bus 1 DA Not easy to free up
$2A
$2B
$2C PI Bus 2: Ethernet, Memory Card Can add more devices to the
bus if PI ADDR decoded
$2D PI Bus 2: Ethernet, Memory Card [same as above]
$2E PI Bus 2: Ethernet, Memory Card [same as above]
$2F PI Bus 2: Ethernet, Memory Card [same as above]
$30
$31
$32
$33
$34 Ethernet interrupt Unlink using LK1
$35 Memory card power enable Not easy to free up
$36
$37
$38
$39 U B Pull-up Control Not easy to free up
$3A erial4 Tx Can be used as output
$3B erial4 Rx Unlink using LK3
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 9 of 11

$3C
$42
$43 erial2 CT Not easy to free up
$52 GLCD Bus Don't use GLCD
$56 GLCD Bus [same as above]
$60 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$61 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$62 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$63 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$64 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$65 GLCD Bus, Alpha LCD Bus [same as above] or ALCD
$66 GLCD Bus [same as above]
$67 GLCD Bus [same as above]
$68 GLCD Bus [same as above]
$69 GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6A GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6B GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6C GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6D GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6E GLCD Bus [same as above]
$6F GLCD Bus [same as above]
$70 PI Bus 2 Address 0 (Ethernet, Mem card)
Can be used as output so long
as Ethernet and mem card not
used
$71
$72 erial1 RT Not easy to free up
$73 erial1 CT Not easy to free up
$74
$75
$76 erial4 RT Can be used as output
$77
$78
$7B erial2 RT Can be used as output
$7D GLCD Bus Don't use GLCD
$7E GLCD Bus Don't use GLCD
$7F
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 10 of 11

Controller capabilities
The table below shows which controllers are cable of driving which interfaces on this board.
Interface VM2 VM2D
VM2-D2
VM2L
2 off R 232 serial ports ● ● ●
1 off R 485 erial Port (half-duplex) ● ● ●
Ethernet interface – 10 Base T ● ● ●
Memory card socket (MMC or D) ● ● Х
I2C Bus (3.3V or 5V) ● ● ●
CAN Bus ● ● ●
U B connection to the VM2's Flash Filing ystem ● ● Х
Graphics Display interface 1 2 Х
Alphanumeric LCD interface (3.3V or 5V) ● Х ●
Audio output: play WAV sounds ● ● Х
Audio output: PWM 'beeps' ● ● ●
EEPROM non volatile parameter storage memory ● ● ●
Matrix Keypad interface (4 x 4) ● ● ●
Power inlet (7.5 – 34 VDC) ● ● ●
Every VM2 pin appears on a 0.1” breakout connector. ● ● ●
Notes:
1: The VM2 can drive displays with on-board display controllers and 8 or 16 bit interfaces.
2: The VM2D (or VM2-D2) can drive controller-less displays that are compatible with the built-in display
driver, e.g. TFTs at up to WVGA resolution.
D050_5922_VM2_App_Board3 Page 11 of 11