Texas Instruments EVM430-FR6043 User manual

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Quick Start Guide for Gas Flow Meter
Quick Start Guide
SLAU824–June 2020
Quick Start Guide for Gas Flow Meter
This getting started guide reviews the contents of the MSP430FR6043 ultrasonic sensing evaluation
module (EVM430-FR6043) and tells you how to quickly get started with the MSP430FR6043 device for
evaluating and developing a gas flow meter solution. For detailed information on designing a gas flow
meter, please refer to the reference design for gas flow measurement (TIDM-02003)
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Package Contents .................................................................................................. 3
1.2 What is Not Included ............................................................................................... 3
1.3 System Requirement............................................................................................... 3
2 Connect the EVM to the Gas Flow Meter ................................................................................ 3
3 Flashing the EVM and Installing the GUI................................................................................. 6
4 USS GUI ...................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 Connecting to the Platform ........................................................................................ 8
4.2 Configuration Parameters........................................................................................ 10
4.3 Capturing the ADC Signals ...................................................................................... 16
4.4 Capturing Waveforms............................................................................................. 20
4.5 Frequency Response............................................................................................. 21
5 Meter Characterization .................................................................................................... 24
5.1 Single Shot Standard Deviation ................................................................................. 24
5.2 Zero Flow Drift Testing ........................................................................................... 24
5.3 Flow Testing ....................................................................................................... 25
List of Figures
1 EVM430-FR6043 Connected to gas flow pipe (without ground can) ................................................ 4
2 EVM430-FR6043 connected to gas flow meter embedded in grounded can ....................................... 5
3 EVM430-FR6043 Jumper Settings........................................................................................ 6
4 Uniflash: Select MSP430FR6043 Device ................................................................................ 7
5 Uniflash: Load Image ....................................................................................................... 7
6 Selecting the EVM Configuration and Gas Application Mode ......................................................... 8
7 USS GUI Connected to EVM .............................................................................................. 9
8 Parameters Tab ............................................................................................................ 10
9 Configuration Timing Diagram............................................................................................ 12
10 Advanced Parameters Tab ............................................................................................... 13
11 Representative Captured Waveform .................................................................................... 14
12 Captured ADC Signal...................................................................................................... 16
13 Gap Between Pulse Start and ADC Capture Set Too Long ......................................................... 17
14 Gap Between Pulse Start and ADC Capture Set Too Short ......................................................... 18
15 Captured ADC Signal With Bad Connection ........................................................................... 19
16 Capturing Waveforms...................................................................................................... 20
17 Frequency sweep Configuration setting ................................................................................ 21
18 Frequency Sweep Peak Amplitudes..................................................................................... 22
19 Single Shot Standard Deviation.......................................................................................... 24
20 Flow Test Setup............................................................................................................ 25

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Quick Start Guide for Gas Flow Meter
21 Flow Rate Testing ......................................................................................................... 26
Trademarks
Code Composer Studio is a trademark of Texas Instruments.
IAR Embedded Workbench is a registered trademark of IAR Systems.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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1 Introduction
This getting started guide reviews theEVM430-FR6043 and provides an overview on how to quickly get
started with the EVM430-FR6043 for gas flow meter solution.
1.1 Package Contents
The package includes:
a. USS evaluation module (EVM) version 2.0 hardware that has the MSP430FR6043 device with
interfaces to a transducer pair: http://www.ti.com/tool/EVM430-FR6043
b. A downloadable SW that runs on the MSP430FR6043 on the EVM430-FR6043: http://software-
dl.ti.com/msp430/msp430_public_sw/mcu/msp430/USSSWLib/USSSWLibGas/latest/index_FDS.html.
This has three different components:
a. The graphical user interface (GUI) to control the configurable parameters of the transducers and
view the results including the Delta Time of Flight (dToF), Absolute Time of Flight (aToF),
measured Flow Rate and ADC waveforms. This is part of the USSSWLib windows installer.
b. The USS Library and supporting documentation of the APIs that are available in the library. This is
available as part of the USSSWLib windows installer.
c. An application example project that is supported by Code Composer Studio™ IDE (CCS) or IAR
Embedded Workbench®IDE. This project uses TI’s Ultrasonic Sensing Solution (USS) Library and
interfaces to the GUI. This is part of the Gas Demo Application installer.
1.2 What is Not Included
A 3D printed plastic pipe with 200-kHz transducers from Jiakang that are placed in a face 2 face
configuration is used as an example in this document. This sensor is available from Jiakang at their
Ultrasonic Gas Flow Transducers product page. The specific transducers used is the product
PN:PSC200K018102H3AD6-B1.
1.3 System Requirement
The system requires the latest Java and Uniflash. If it is not already installed, it can be installed from
https://java.com/en/download/ and http://www.ti.com/tool/UNIFLASH, respectively.
2 Connect the EVM to the Gas Flow Meter
This section describes the hardware connections. For more details of the hardware connections, see the
EVM430-FR6043 Hardware Guide.
1. The gas pipe configuration and the transducer connection to the EVM pins prior to insertion in the can
is shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 1. EVM430-FR6043 Connected to gas flow pipe (without ground can)
2. Connect the EVM430-FR6043 to the gas flow meter (see Figure 1). The pipe needs to be inserted in a
metallic can to minimize noise. The can also needs to be grounded using one of the ground pins on
the EVM.

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Figure 2. EVM430-FR6043 connected to gas flow meter embedded in grounded can
3. Ensure the ends of the pipe are taped to ensure zero air flow during the initial bringup. That tape can
be removed when the flow tests are conducted.
4. Connect the jumpers as shown in Figure 3. The COMM_IRQ, COMM_SDA, and COMM_SCL jumpers
on the J1 header are required for communication with the GUI. TEST and RST jumpers on J3 are
required to program the board. The POWER SELECT switch S5 should be in the middle
position(ezFET), J4 in the right position, and both J2 jumpers set to use USB power. The jumper
locations are highlighted in Figure 3. The USB power can be used for quick bringup but for best
performance, it is recommended that an external power supply is used.

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Figure 3. EVM430-FR6043 Jumper Settings
5. Connect a USB cable from the PC to the EVM and verify that LED D201 (power good) is illuminated
and LED D202 (HID enumeration) blinks on the EVM.
NOTE: If LED203 is lit, this indicates an error. Connecting to the GUI will show the error in the errors
tab. If the error is "No signal detected in up and downstream channel", refer to Section 4.3 to
ensure a proper signal is obtained.
6. More details on hardware configuration can be found in the Ultrasonic Sensing Metrology Subsystem
Reference Design for Gas Flow Measurement design guide and an overview video at Ultrasonic gas
flow meter EVM overview.
7. With an external power supply, connect the jumpers as shown in . You will still need the USB cable
interface to download image to teh MSP430 device and also communicate to the Design Center GUI.
Connect the jumpers as shown in.The COMM_IRQ, COMM_SDA, and COMM_SCL jumpers on the J1
header are required for communication with the GUI. TEST and RST jumpers on J3 are required to
program the board. The POWER SELECT switch S5 should be set to the "EXT" position. Jumpers J2
and J4 should be left open.
3 Flashing the EVM and Installing the GUI
After you connect the EVM to the PC, flash the latest version of the gas flow metering software to the
EVM. You can use the Uniflash tool to flash the EVM.
1. Install the Uniflash tool on your PC.
2. Install the latest gas flow metering firmware, which can be downloaded from
a. http://software-
dl.ti.com/msp430/msp430_public_sw/mcu/msp430/USSSWLib/USSSWLibGas/latest/index_FDS.ht
ml
3. Open Uniflash and select MSP430FR6043 device.

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Figure 4. Uniflash: Select MSP430FR6043 Device
4. Choose Connection.
5. Choose image to load. Default image is installed in
C:\ti\msp\UltrasonicGasFR6043_02_30_00_01\image where 02_30_00_01 corresponds to the latest
version of the release at the time of this publication.
6. Click Load Image.
Figure 5. Uniflash: Load Image
7. Install the Ultrasonic Sensing Design Center GUI, which can be downloaded from http://software-
dl.ti.com/msp430/msp430_public_sw/mcu/msp430/USSSWLib/USSSWLibGas/latest/index_FDS.html
A shortcut named USS is installed to the Texas Instruments folder in the Windows Start menu to
launch the Ultrasonic Sensing Design Center GUI.

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4 USS GUI
4.1 Connecting to the Platform
After you have installed the GUI and flashed the image to the EVM, run the USS GUI. The version of the
GUI used for this guide is 2.30.00.03 which is the latest GUI version available at the time of this
publication.
First select the correct EVM: EVM430-FR6043 & meter option of Gas using the Menu item: "Options"->
"Meter Options" as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Selecting the EVM Configuration and Gas Application Mode
Connect to the platform by clicking "Connect" in the "Communications" menu. The GUI reports the
connection as shown in Figure 7.

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Figure 7. USS GUI Connected to EVM

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4.2 Configuration Parameters
4.2.1 Basic Configuration Parameters
Figure 8 shows the primary configuration parameters.
Figure 8. Parameters Tab
The F1, F2, Gap, and Gain parameters are the only parameters which should be initially adjusted. All
other parameters should be set to their default values for 200 kHz transducers. These parameters control
the excitation, amplification, and ADC capture time between the ultrasonic transducers connected to the
platform.

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Set the "Transmit Frequency" "F1" and "F2" to the lower end and higher end respectively of the nominal
frequency of the transducers in kHz (for example, set to 180 and 230 for 200kHz transducers). Tune this
parameter after the frequency sweep (described in Section 4.5) is conducted. After the other parameters
have been properly determined, tune the transmit frequency to give a better signal response as described
in Section 4.3.
Set the "Gap between pulse start and ADC capture" based on the anticipated ultrasonic time of flight for a
given flow tube with enough additional capture time to address signal shifts due to temperature variations.
The "GUI Based Gain Control" controls the gain of the integrated PGA. Set this parameter to give an ADC
capture of no more than ±900 ADC counts in the ADC capture tab. Although the system should be
operable with signals down to ±150 ADC counts, setting the gain to give higher ADC counts reduces the
standard deviation in measurements.
For example, a 1" diameter pipe might have an ultrasonic path which corresponds to a time of flight of
approximately 165 µs. This is based on an ultrasonic path between transducers of approximately 5.5 cm
and the speed of sound in air (330 m/s). An appropriate "Gap" that would ensure there is enough time
before the signal to accommodate shifts due to temperature variations might therefore be 150 µs. The
ultrasonic distance between transducers will affect how much additional margin is required to address
shifts in the signal due to temperature and flow variations. For example, a pipe with an ultrasonic path of
11 cm might require 30 µs of additional capture time preceding the signal.
The "Number of Pulses" affects the strength of the signal and the standard deviation of the dToF
waveform at zero flow. An increase in the number of pulses should give a lower standard deviation in
dToF. There is also a tradeoff with respect to power consumption and interference. As the number of
pulses is increased, earlier parts of the excitation signal can interfere with the latter part of the transmitted
signal when traveling along alternative ultrasonic paths. The default setting for this parameter should be
used as a starting point.
The "UPS and DNS gap" is the time between upstream and downstream measurements. The time
required between measurements is governed by the ultrasonic propagation time. Larger pipes require a
larger gap. There also needs to be enough time between UPS and DNS excitations to ensure the DNS
signal does not have interference from residual reflections of the UPS signal. The default setting for this
parameter should be used as a starting point.
The "UPS0 to UPS1 Gap" is the time between the end of a set of measurements and the beginning of the
next set of measurements. Power consumption is directly affected by the measurement rate. A UPS0 to
UPS1 gap of 1 second consumes roughly twice as much power as a UPS0 to UPS1 gap of 2 seconds.
The default setting for this parameter should be used as a starting point. A value of 65 ms indicates a
measurement rate of approximately 15 Hz (15 measurements each second) and allows to quickly obtain a
single shot STD performance estimate. This can be increased to 1000 ms for a 1 Hz measurement rate.
Set the "Meter Constant" to give a volumetric result that is consistent with a reference meter under flow.
The default setting for this parameter should be used as a starting point.
After the desired set of configuration parameters has been set, you should click the "Request Update"
button to send these parameters to the platform. The "Save Configuration" button will save the current set
of parameters to a file. The "Load Configuration" button loads a previously saved set of configuration
parameters from a file. The timing diagram for the configuration can be seen at the bottom of the GUI
screen (see Figure 9). The timing diagram represented in this figure is representative and is not exact.

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Figure 9. Configuration Timing Diagram

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4.2.2 Advanced Configuration Parameters
The "Advanced Parameters" tab provides access to a variety of more advanced configuration parameters
(see Figure 10).
Figure 10. Advanced Parameters Tab
Set the "Signal Sampling Frequency" to 1 MHz (1000 kHz) for 200 kHz transducers and 2 MHz (2000
kHz) for 400 kHz or 500 kHz transducers. At this time, the SW releases do not support any other sampling
frequencies.
The "Delta ToF Offset" is an adjustment to the differential ToF during the calculation of volume flow rate
inside the ultrasonic flow meter library. Developers can optionally make their custom calculation of the
volume flow rate based on the ToF values provided by the library.
The "Abs ToF Additional Delay" is an adjustment to the absolute ToF to account for any additional delays.
The value depends on the shape of the signal and the envelope threshold. Developers can optionally set
this value to zero and make their own adjustments of the absolute ToF in the application layer.

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Increase the "Capture Duration" for configurations with a larger number of pulses, or decrease it for
configurations with smaller number of pulses but ensure the signal is fully captured with enough margin for
shifts over the intended operating temperature range.
The "Algorithm Option" determines which algorithm is used. Only the "Hilbert Wide" algorithm is currently
available for gas metering. A detailed explanation of how this algorithm works can be found in the
Ultrasonic Sensing Subsystem Reference Design for Gas Flow Measurement design guide.
The "Envelope Crossing Threshold" determines at which amplitude level the AbsToF algorithm will lock
onto. The threshold is the percentage of the amplitude compared to the peak amplitude. Set this threshold
to lock onto the amplitude level that is in the middle of the steepest portion. In the example shown in
Figure 11, this lobe peak corresponds to a threshold of approximately 50%. This figure is shown for
explanation of the concept of choosing the threshold. The actual threshold value internally uses the
correlation output. We also recommend to not modify the 50% threshold setting.
Figure 11. Representative Captured Waveform

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The “Search Range” parameter can be used to control the maximum volume flow rate that can be
supported by the system. This is equal to the difference of the upstream (UPS) and downstream (DNS)
Absolute Time of Flight (AbsToF) expressed in terms of the number of samples. This also has a direct
impact on the amount of time taken for algorithm processing as well as the current consumption which
increases with increase in the value of the search range. We suggest keeping it at 20 or above for initial
evaluation. This can be optimized later for reducing computation time and current consumption. This
parameter limits the change in flow rate in tracking mode of AbsToF estimation. If the flow rate change
exceeds this value, the algorithm switches to AbsToF acquisition mode.
"User Param #8" is used to enable or disable Additional Trill pulses that are used to excite the transducers
at the end of the standard pulses. These are used to gracefully reduce the energy of the transducer
response. A setting of "128" disables the Additional Trill pulses while a setting of "384" enables them. All
other values are reserved for future use. We also recommend enabling these additional trill pulses.
"User Param #10" is reserved for future use.
4.2.3 Conditional Parameters
We recommend not modifying the default settings of these parameters for initial evaluation.
The “Start PPG Count” determines when the PPG is started. The timing diagrams for the operation of the
ULP bias circuit can be found in the MSP430FR58xx, MSP430FR59xx, and MSP430FR6xx Family User's
Guide. For low current consumption, the recommended value is 200000 nanoseconds.
The "Turn on ADC Count" determines when the ADC is turned on. The relevant timing diagrams for the
operation of the ULP bias circuit can be found in the MSP430FR58xx, MSP430FR59xx, and
MSP430FR6xx Family User's Guide. Do not modify this parameter.
The "Start PGA and IN Bias Count" determines when the PGA and in Bias Circuit is turned on. The
relevant timing diagrams for the operation of the ULP bias circuit can be found in the MSP430FR58xx,
MSP430FR59xx, and MSP430FR6xx Family User's Guide. Do not modify this parameter.
The “USS XTAL Settling Count” determines how much time is allowed for crystal or resonator settling.
Based on internal experiments, 120 µs is suggested for resonators, and 5000 µs is suggested for crystals.
The "External Amplifier Count" parameter specifies when the external amplifier is enabled prior to starting
the USS module timer. The default setting of 10 µs (10000 ns) is suggested to be used with OPA838 or
OPA836 on the EVM430-FR6043.
4.2.4 Configuration Tuning
After a working configuration has been set, you can experiment with changes to that working set to tune
the system for optimum performance and power. Table 1 indicates how changes in specific configuration
parameters change system performance.
Table 1. Configuration Tuning
Parameter Change to Parameter Affects...
Power
Consumption Flow Performance Standard Deviation Zero Flow Drift
Number of Pulses ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
UPS0 to UPS1 Gap ✔
GUI Based Gain Control ✔ ✔
Transmit Frequency ✔ ✔ ✔
Envelope Crossing Threshold ✔
Capture Duration ✔ ✔ ✔

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4.3 Capturing the ADC Signals
To capture the ADC signal, go to the "ADC Capture" tab and click the "Capture" button. If you are using
theJiakang 200 kHz transducers in a face-to-face configuration meter, you should see a signal that looks
like Figure 12 at zero flow.
Figure 12. Captured ADC Signal
If the capture looks different, check these items first:
• Increase or reduce the "Gain Control" in your configuration parameters based on the observed ADC
output codes
• Adjust the Gap between pulse start and ADC capture. Figure 13 shows an example where the gap is
set too long. Figure 14 shows an example where the gap is set too short.

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Figure 13. Gap Between Pulse Start and ADC Capture Set Too Long

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Figure 14. Gap Between Pulse Start and ADC Capture Set Too Short
• If no signal is observed, check the transducer connections to the platform. Connect the transducers as
shown in Section 2.
• If the transducers are not connected properly to the EVM, the captured signal may look similar to
Figure 15.

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Figure 15. Captured ADC Signal With Bad Connection
To save the capture, click the "Save Capture" button and provide a filename. To continuously capture to a
file, click the "Continuous Capture" button and provide a filename.

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4.4 Capturing Waveforms
After you have a good ADC capture, go to the "Waveforms" tab to capture some waveforms. In the
"Waveforms" tab, click the "Start" button to start capturing waveforms. The GUI displays the Delta ToF,
Absolute ToF, and Volume Flow Rate waveforms (see Figure 16). Real time statistics are also available
below each waveform. A typical standard deviation value of Delta ToF can be seen in the red box shown
in Figure 16.
Figure 16. Capturing Waveforms
The frequency of measurement updates can be increased (or decreased) by reducing (increasing) the
"UPS0 to UPS1 Gap" in the "Configuration" tab.
After capturing waveforms for some time, you can save them to a file using the "Save Waveforms" button.
The "Lock All" button stops updates, and the "Reset Graphs" button erases all previously captured data.