1. Disconnect everything but power: remove the expansion connector and unplug the motor.
2. Power up your circuit. It’s safer to use a current limited power supply, and to ramp-up from 0V up to your application voltage.
   1. Are all power LEDs ON?
   2. Any flashing LEDs? Please refer to LED conventions & codes
3. Connect your programmer/debugger (MiniProg3) and make sure that you can program the microcontroller.
4. Open main.h and check your project configuration. This is what I have as a starting point (see Understanding main.h for more details):

The first step is to disable as many modules as possible. To debug with the GUI, I would keep USE_USB, USE_COMM & USE_I2C_1 only. Program the board and make sure that you can launch the GUI and see some of the sensor values (you should be able to read voltages and temperature). Add USE_I2C_0 and USE_IMU, but do not enable external I2C sensors (comment out USE_EXT_I2C_STRAIN, USE_MINM_RGB and USE_AS5048B). Try it: gyroscope and accelerometers should work.
At this point you can connect the Expansion connector and enable external I2C modules one by one. Once you are done with I2C sensor you can do the same procedure for SPI sensors, and any other peripherals. Hopefully this will allow you to identify what’s preventing your code from working. Please take a look at Debugging FlexSEA-Execute with the MiniProg3 for another debugging strategy that can be used by itself, or in combination with what is covered in this post.
 
 

• FlexSEA-Execute: PWR_STG_0_1 (2013), PWR_STG_0_2 (2014), FlexSEA-Execute 0.1 (2014), FlexSEA-Execute 0.2 (2016)
• FlexSEA-Manage: MiddleMan 0.1 (2014), Manage 0.1 (2014)

PWR_STG_0_1 (2013):

• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files

PWR_STG_0_2 (2014):

• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files

FlexSEA-Execute 0.1 (2014):

• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files (PCB, simulations, references, etc.)
• FlexSEA-Execute 0.x Specifications

FlexSEA-Execute 0.2 (2016):

• This is the only active and supported Execute board.
• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files (PCB, simulations, references, etc.)
• FlexSEA-Execute 0.x Specifications

MiddleMan 0.1 (2014):

• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files

FlexSEA-Manage 0.1 (2014):

• This is the only active and supported Manage board.
• Schematic (PDF)
• Design files

Manage Prog Adapt 0.1:

• Schematic (PDF)
• PCB files

Execute Prog Adapt 0.1:

• Schematic (PDF)
• PCB files

Source code:

• FlexSEA on GitHub

Note: WordPress doesn’t allow me to upload zipped files. Please change the extension from .txt to .zip when needed.

FlexSEA-Execute 0.x:

FlexSEA-Manage 0.1:

Getting started, launching the program:

• We do not have an installer for the GUI; you have to compile it from the sources. All the details are in Installing the FlexSEA GUI Development Tools. All of the info below assumes you are using Linux.
• Open a terminal and navigate to your build/release directory (in my case it’s ../FlexSEA-Git-Exp/FlexSEA/execute-gui-1/build/). You should see ‘execute-gui-1’.
• To avoid COM port permissions issues we launch the program in root mode: sudo ./execute-gui-1. Keep the terminal open and visible, it will display useful information.
• You should now see the config tab:

Connect your board:

• Connect a FlexSEA board to your computer via USB. If you are using a VM, make sure that it sees your device. dmesg -T should list it. Note the COM port (typically ttyACM0). Example:
• 
• Make sure that the right COM port and Slave are selected. Click Open COM and wait for ‘Success’
• At this point you are ready to use the GUI. Explore the different tabs!

When it doesn’t work… and other pieces of advice:

• In the current software version the PSoC only tries to connect to USB at boot. It’s easier to get it to properly work with your VM if you are in it when you connect the USB cable.
• Always keep the terminal open to see what’s happening.
• If you can’t connect, or you keep getting “No bytes”: 1) Make sure that you selected the right slave, 2) Make sure that you are using the same software version on the two devices and 3) power cycle (turn off battery power, disconnect and re-connect USB).
• Sometimes it takes a few seconds for Stream to start. Monitor the terminal window; if you see at least one “48 bytes read” be patient and it’ll start working.
• The Plot window refreshes at 35Hz. Keep that in mind while analyzing signals.
• Always close the GUI before disconnecting USB.

Example #1: read Execute’s sensors:

• Connect Execute to your Linux computer via USB. No battery power at this time.
• Launch the GUI (sudo ./execute-gui-1)
• Open the COM port. Make sure it says ‘Success’
• Click on the Execute tab and click on Stream ON. You should see values refreshing. Execute’s RGB LED should also be steady Green.

• Apply battery power if needed (please note that many analog readings are wrong on USB power, as we are not getting exactly 5V)
• You can plot variables in the Plot tab.

If you start with a brand new Execute board you’ll need to solder wires for the power supply and motor (Preparing the FlexSEA-Execute 0.x board (Hardware)). Any AWG16 wires can be used, but we typically use high-flex wire. The connectors you use depend on your requirements. For our prototypes we often use Anderson Powerpole® Stackable Connectors with 15A contacts (we buy them from Powerwerx). Hobby/RC style Bullet connectors can also be used.
To program the board you’ll need a MiniProg (CY8CKIT-002 PSoC® MiniProg3 Program and Debug Kit, 83$ on Digikey) and a ProgAdapt. To connect to your computer use a USB Micro-B cable.

FlexSEA-Manage:

To program the board you’ll need an ST-Link (ST-LINK/V2 in-circuit debugger/programmer for STM8 and STM32, 22$ on Digikey) and a ProgAdapt. To connect to your computer use a USB Micro-B cable.

Common:

Both Manage & Execute use the same Molex Pico-Clasp™ connectors. The connectors and crimps are dense (1mm pitch), easy to use, support 1A per contact, and are economical (Digikey part numbers: WM7931-ND & WM10136CT-ND). The only issue with them is the expensive tool needed to crimp the wires: Molex 63819-1500 (296$ at Mouser, 345$ at Digikey). Please let us know if you find a cheaper alternative for this tool.
Full 63819-1500 datasheet (includes details about how to use the tool)
For wire I like to use the 6710 series from Alpha Wires, also available at Digikey.
 

• The default 12GB virtual hard drive is too small for the full installation. Use 20GB when you create your VM to avoid issues later.
• I needed to install VBoxLinuxAdditions to permit the output display (monitor) to be re-sized.
• Virtualbox Ubuntu was extremely slow (running on Windows 8.1)  I needed to enable 3D Acceleration in the virtual machine settings.  This will be available after VboxLinuxAdditions is installed.
• Here is the Qt version we used: Qt x86 offline version 5.5.1. However, I think the reason the version gave me trouble is related to the bullet below.  So, I think any x86 5.x+ version of Qt would’ve worked.
• IMPORTANT: Qt will not open if 3D Acceleration is enabled.  The 3D Acceleration must be disabled during opening and compiling of project in Qt.  Without this, it will not open, and the terminal will show a bunch of OpenGL errors.
• Confirmed: The build file will launch from the terminal when 3D Acceleration is enabled.