Shimmer External expansion board User manual

Realtime Technologies Ltd IMU User Manual

External Expansion Board

User Guide

Revision 1.6

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

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Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

Table of Contents

Table of Contents......................................................................................................................... 2

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3

2. General Information ............................................................................................................. 4

2.1. Pre-Requisites .........................................................................................................................4

2.2. External Expansion Board Features ........................................................................................4

2.3. Wire Connections.................................................................................................................... 5

2.4. Test Pad Connections.............................................................................................................. 6

2.5. Board Layout ...........................................................................................................................7

3. Using the External Expansion Board (Typical Applications)..................................................... 8

3.1. Connecting an Analog Output Sensor..................................................................................... 8

3.2. Connecting a Digital Output Sensor using the SPI interface...................................................8

Note for Shimmer3 users................................................................................................................ 8

3.3. Connecting to a Serial UART ................................................................................................... 9

3.4. Connecting a Parallel Bus interface ........................................................................................ 9

3.5. Connecting an External Power Battery Pack........................................................................... 9

4. Firmware Considerations .................................................................................................... 10

4.1. +/-5V DC Regulator ...............................................................................................................10

4.2. User button ...........................................................................................................................10

4.3. Multifunction pins.................................................................................................................10

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

1. Introduction

This document is an accompaniment to the Shimmer External Expansion Board (formerly known as

the Shimmer AnEx Board). Its purpose is to be used in conjunction with the Shimmer External

Expansion Board Tutorial Video to aid the user in getting started with the External Expansion Board.

The External Expansion Board Board enables an Analog Output Sensor, a Digital Output Sensor, a

Serial UART or a Parallel Bus Interface to connect to Shimmer. The External Expansion Board is

connected to a Shimmer device via the external connector and is positioned outside the Shimmer

enclosure.

The External Expansion Board enables users to incorporate additional functionality to the Shimmer

providing an outlet to develop their specific application to their own user requirements. It allows

easy prototyping of 3rd part sensors or custom sensing solutions with Shimmer.

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

2. General Information

2.1. Pre-Requisites

A Shimmer 2, Shimmer 2r or Shimmer31device programmed with appropriate firmware.

For example, LogAndStream (BtStream for Shimmer2/2r) firmware can be used to stream

data over Bluetooth and/or log data to the SD card or SDLog firmware can be used to log

data to the SD card; both are available for download from www.shimmersensing.com and

the latest version should always be used.

An External Expansion Board.

2.2. External Expansion Board Features

Easy access to Shimmer microcontroller signals using wire hole or solder pads.

+/-5VDC charge pump regulator with software-controlled enable pin2.

Software assignable User Control button.

Connect an auxiliary power supply.

1Please refer to the later sections of this document for more details on using the Expansion Board with

Shimmer3.

2The 5V regulator is not compatible with Shimmer3.

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

2.3. Wire Connections

PCB Label

Connector Pin#

hardware.h Pin Label

Shimmer2/2r Function

CLK

UCLK0

SPI0 CLK, or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

SIMO0

SPI0 SIMO or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

#RST

N/A

BSL programming, Power control and

Board Reset.

Same as Shimmer reset button.

URXD0

UART0 RXD or GPIO

A level shifter is required to interface with

an RS-232 cable

CTS

SER0_CTS

SPI0 UART CTS or interruptible GPIO

3.0V regulated voltage.

Do not exceed 50mA when using this

connection.

N/A

5.0V regulated voltage. Do not exceed

12mA when using this connection

-5

N/A

-5.0V regulated voltage. Do not exceed

12mA when using this connection

UTXD0

UART0 TXD or GPIO.

A level shifter is required to interface with

an RS-232 cable

SOMI0

SPI0 SOMI, or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

ADC_7

Analog ADC input 7, DAC output or GPIO.

Also used for MicroSD Flash Dat1

GND

Ground Connection

ADC_0

Analog ADC input 0 or GPIO. . Also used

for MicroSD Flash Dat2

Table 1 Wire Connections for Shimmer2/2r

PCB Label

Connector Pin#

MSP430 Pin / Label

Shimmer3 Function

P3.5 / SA_SOMI_RXD

USART A0 SOMI or RXD or GPIO

A level shifter is required to interface with

an RS-232 cable

P3.4 / SA_SIMO_TXD

USART A0 TXD or SIMO or GPIO.

A level shifter is required to interface with

an RS-232 cable

CLK

FLASH_SCLK_EXT

USART B1 SPI CLK, or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

P5.4 / FLASH_SOMI

USART B1 SPI SOMI, or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

P3.7 / FLASH_SIMO

USART B1 SPI SIMO or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

#RST

RST / MSP_RESET_N

Microcontroller Reset line - typically used

to reset the board

P6.6 / ADC6_FLASHDAT2

Analog ADC input 6 or GPIO

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

(wired to MicroSD)

P6.7 / ADC7_FLASHDAT1

Analog ADC input 7 or GPIO

(wired to MicroSD)

CTS

P7.7 / ADC_15_RADIO_DC

ADC Input 15 or GPIO

Alternate function is reserved for

coprocessor Spy-Bi-Wire

3.0V regulated voltage. Do not exceed

100mA when using this connection.

N/A

5.0V regulated voltage. Do not exceed

12mA when using this connection. NOT

compatible with Shimmer3.

-5

N/A

-5.0V regulated voltage. Do not exceed

12mA when using this connection. NOT

compatible with Shimmer3.

GND

Ground Connection

Table 2 Wire Connections for Shimmer3

2.4. Test Pad Connections

PCB PAD

Location

Connector Pin#

(name)

hardware.h Pin Label

Function

Center above

Shimmer

Connector

14 (BSL_TX)

PROG_OUT

Programming pin or interruptible GPIO

Right of

Center below

Shimmer

Connector

11 (BSL_RX)

PROG_IN

Programming pin. Do not use this pin for

GPIO.

Left of Center

below

Shimmer

Connector

9 (PV_REG)

N/A

Board pre-regulator voltage after isolation

diode.

When used as an output, this will be the

battery voltage. Typically 2.8-3.7V. Do not

exceed 200mA when using this

connection.

A DC power source (bench or battery) can

be connected to this connection. To

prevent damage to the power source a

series diode is recommended when the

Shimmer battery is also in use and the

power supply is <4.0VDC. Do not exceed

5.5V or 200mA.

Table 3 Test Pad Connections for Shimmer2/2r

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

2.5. Board Layout

Figure 1: External Expansion Board Top View

Figure 2: External Expansion Board Bottom View

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

3. Using the External Expansion Board (Typical Applications)

3.1. Connecting an Analog Output Sensor

Using the sensor specification, chose either +3, +5, or +/-5V3as the power supply connections to the

sensor (in order of preference). The output of the sensor should be tied to either the A0 or A7 ADC

inputs4. If the output is outside of the range of the Shimmer ADC (3V max) an attenuator must be

added.

Note: For Shimmer2/2r there is an issue with crosstalk on the accelerometer signals when the ADC is

provided with an un-buffered moderate to high impedance signal. To avoid such issues signals

should be buffered with an appropriate voltage buffer.

If the sensor uses the bipolar power supply, the output must be AC-coupled via a series capacitor to

an appropriate DC bias resistor network connected to the ADC input pin.

Example: A sensor requires +/-5V supply, and has a output of +/- 1.25V. A 10µF capacitor is used to

couple a signal such that 1.5V = zero-signal by connecting a 100k resistor from A0 (ADC0) to +3

(3.0V) and a 100k resistor from A0 (ADC0) to G (GND).

Any remaining GPIO pins can be used to configure control pins on the sensor. Verify the

configuration of any of these pins in the Shimmer application code.

3.2. Connecting a Digital Output Sensor using the SPI interface

Paying attention to the required master-slave relationship in your application (Shimmer is usually

master), connect up the SI,SO, and CLK pins. Use another GPIO pin as a Chip Select to complete the

digital interface. The UART0 module will need to be configured for SPI mode-- there are examples for

Shimmer2/2r in the TinyOS reference code library. For power supply connections chose either +3,

+5, or +/-5V as the power supply connections to the sensor (in order of preference).

Remember that the Shimmer's microSD storage is also connected to the SPI bus. An internal

expansion board may also use this signal. The application must ensure that the bus is correctly

multiplexed using the SPI0 chip-select signals.

Any remaining GPIO pins can be used to configure control pins on the sensor. Verify the

configuration of any of these pins in the Shimmer application code.

Note for Shimmer3 users

When using the External Expansion Board with Shimmer3, the SPI bus is shared with the microSD,

making the interface much more complicated than that for the PROTO3 Deluxe Expansion Board,

which uses the dedicated internal bus. For that reason, Shimmer recommends use of PROTO3 Deluxe

Expansion Board wherever possible. Furthermore, Shimmer recommends that the External

3Do not choose +/- 5V for Shimmer3.

4Note that for Shimmer3, the pin marked A0 on the Expansion Board is tied to the A6 ADC channel.

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

Expansion Board should only be used in cases where MicroSD will not be used, and noting that this

use case will receive limited support from Shimmer.

3.3. Connecting to a Serial UART

Similar to the SPI directions above, the UART0 module must be configured for UART operation. The

output signals will be digital at a 3.0V reference. A level shifter IC or RS-232 level shifter may be used

to interface with instrumentation or other computers.

3.4. Connecting a Parallel Bus interface

To use a parallel bus interface, most pins will need to be configured as GPIO instead of the default

functionality. Up to a 9-pin bus can be configured.

3.5. Connecting an External Power Battery Pack

The PV_REG pad can be used to solder on a battery pack or power supply. This power supply will not

charge the Shimmer battery and must be isolated by a Schottky diode when the Shimmer battery is

also in use. This Schottky diode should be included in the users circuitry.

Note: Do not exceed 5.5VDC.

Note: Do not exceed 200mA.

When operating without a Shimmer battery, the recommended input voltage range is 3.1-5.0V

When operating with a Shimmer battery, the recommended input voltage range after an isolation

diode is 4-5.0V

For example, a battery pack consisting of 3 "D" alkaline cells in series is used instead of the stock

Shimmer battery. The resulting voltage will be 4.5V at start. The resulting battery pack will have over

18000mAh capacity. A Shimmer application burning 25mA will run for over 2years.

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

4. Firmware Considerations

4.1. +/-5V DC Regulator

The signal, SER0_RTS from the processor is used as an enable signal on the 5.0V regulator on

Shimmer2/2r5. When driven low (clear) the regulator will be shut down. The power consumption of

the regulator in shut down state is 10µA.

4.2. User button

For Shimmer2/2r, the user button is pulled down on the Shimmer board. Pressing the button will

result in a high signal that can be used as a polled or interruptible signal on Shimmer applications.

For Shimmer3, the user button on the External Expansion board is tied to P1.5 of the MSP430 (GPIO

External).

4.3. Multifunction pins

The MSP430 processor uses multifunction pins. The functionality of the pin depends on firmware

configuration. For example the pin A7 (ADC input 7) can be configured an ADC input or GPIO pin.

For more information please refer to the MSP430 programmers guide and TinyOS reference code.

Also, developers can post a question on the shimmer-users mailing list or

support@shimmersensing.com.

5Note this is not available on Shimmer3.

Realtime Technologies Ltd External Expansion Board User Guide

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