Runtime Software for Hercules™ TMS570 ARM® Cortex™-R Safety Microcontrollers
The Hercules Software Suite is designed to simplify and speed development of Hercules-based microcontroller applications. All TI Hercules software is royalty-free and is licensed to support easy adoption into customer projects.
Hercules Peripheral Drivers Library
Hercules peripheral drivers are configured and created using TI HALCoGen GUI-based chip configuration tool. HALCoGen provides a graphical user interface that allows the user to configure peripherals, interrupts, clocks, and many other microcontroller parameters. Once the device is configured, the user can generate peripheral initialization and driver code, which can be imported into CCS, IAR Workbench, or Keil uVision. HALCoGen also includes several example projects for using many of the key peripherals.
A real-time operating system (RTOS) is a multitasking operating system which uses specialized algorithms to schedule and guarantee deadlines of tasks. Key features of an RTOS include minimal latency for task switching and the number of tasks it can handle. Below is a list of RTOS available for the TMS570 devices from various providers.
SMX® is a no-royalty, modular, multitasking RTOS for embedded systems developed by Micro Digital. It is characterized by small footprint, high performance, ease of use, and integration with popular development tool suites.
CoDeSys (Controller Development System) is a comprehensive software tool for industrial automation technology. Basically it consists of two parts: the programming system CoDeSys and the runtime system CoDeSys Control.
RTA-OSEK provides a production real-time operating system , implements the AUTOSAR-OS V1.0 (SC-1) and OSEK/VDX OS V2.2.3 standard, and is fully MISRA compliant.
TI's Cortex-R4 DSP library conforms to ARM's Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS), a standardized hardware abstraction layer for the Cortex processor series. The CMSIS DSP library includes source code and example applications, and saves time by including common DSP algorithms such as complex arithmetic, vector operations, and filter and control functions. The DSP Library takes targets the DSP SIMD instruction set and floating-point hardware of the Cortex-R4F when possible thus providing more optimal use of the core's capabilities. Available in C source form, the library delivers higher performance for digital signal processing and control applications than can be achieved typically by compilers. CCS5, CCS4, Keil and IAR projects are supported.
Including many examples of testing the hardware safety features of the Hercules family, this application note and example source code presents a basic sequence for initialization and configuration of critical hardware services on a Hercules Safety MCU.
The Hercules Example Software wiki site is a handy central directory of snippets, applications, stacks and drivers. TI provides these examples royalty-free so that you can condense your development time and quickly bring your projects to market.
Lightweight IP TCP/IP Stack Example
The Open Source lwIP 1.3.2 TCP/IP stack has been ported to the HALCoGen Ethernet MAC driver in this example that leverages the full-featured Ethernet interface of the Hercules MCUs. The integrated application demonstrates a webserver application on a Hercules Safety MCU.
μC/TCP-IP is a compact, reliable, high-performance TCP/IP protocol stack, optimized for embedded systems. Developed according to Micriμm's renowned coding standards, μC/TCP-IP enables the rapid configuration of required network options to minimize time-to-market.
MISRA Compliant TCP/IP: efficient, embedded stack developed using a verifiable, MISRA compliant process. HCC's TCP/IP stack brings new levels of performance, quality and reliability to the embedded networking market. The stack provides a significant range of protocols as well as support for both IPv4 and IPv6, providing flexibility and long-term network compatibility
ssCAN is an extreme performance ISO11898 hard real-time CAN device driver with low interrupt latency optimized for the Hercules family. It supports single and multiple CAN channels across the entire range of Hercules devices.
ssCANopen is a high-performance CiA hard real-time CANopen protocol stack supporting a data throughput of 15 Mbps. This product is optimized specifically for the Hercules family of devices.
ssJ1939 is an extreme performance SAE J1939 protocol stack supporting a data throughput of 20 Mbps. This product is optimized specifically for the Hercules family of devices.
ssI15765 is an extreme performance ISO 15765 protocol stack supporting a data throughput of 20 Mbps. This product is optimized specifically for the Hercules of devices.
ssNMEA2000 is an extreme performance NMEA 2000 protocol stack supporting a data throughput of 20 Mbps. This product is optimized specifically for the Hercules of devices.
Development Tools for Hercules™ TMS570 ARM® Cortex™-R Safety Microcontrollers
Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
Texas Instruments and our partners offer Integrated Development Environments (IDE) and compilers to make it easy to get started developing software for Hercules.
The High End Timer Integrated Development Environment (HET IDE) is a windows application that can be used to configure and simulate the High End Timer Co-processors on Hercules Safety MCUs.
The NHET Assembler translates programs written in the NHET assembly language into multiple output formats for use in code generation tools such as TI's Code Composer Studio.
The F021 Flash Application Programming Interface (API) provides a software library of functions to program, erase, and verify the Hercules on-chip Flash memory.
The Hercules Safety MCU Demos are designed to highlight key safety, data acquisition and control features of the Hercules platform of microcontrollers. The demos are designed to be run on a PC in conjunction with either a Hercules USB Development Sick or a Hercules Development Kit (HDK).
Universal emulator, supported by almost all ARM tool chains. The standard emulator for IAR Embedded workbench. Multiple flavors with USB / Ethernet interface.
Development Kits for Hercules™ TMS570 ARM® Cortex™-R Safety Microcontrollers
Hercules offers a variety of hardware platforms to help speed development. From low-cost USB sticks to full featured application developer platforms for motor control, Hercules provides a breadth of hardware development tools designed to aid development and get customers to market faster.
Hercules USB Sticks
Hercules USB Sticks are a low cost way to evaluate the Hercules platform of safety microcontrollers. The USB Sticks feature an integrated XDS100v2 JTAG emulator, access to several key peripheral pins and is completely powered by a PC’s USB port. The kits also include software installation DVDs that contain Code Composer Studio IDE, HALCoGen, nowFlash, demo software and code examples.
Hercules Development Kits or HDK are ideal for getting started developing with the Hercules platform of safety microcontrollers. The development boards include an on-board XDS100v2 JTAG emulator, access to connectivity peripherals (like Ethernet, USB, CAN) and access to all other peripheral pins. The kits also include a DC power supply, cables, and software installation DVDs that include Code Composer Studio IDE, HALCoGen, nowFlash, demo software and code examples.
Hercules controlCARDs from Texas Instruments are complete board-level modules that utilize an industry-standard DIMM form factor to provide a low-profile single-board controller solution. controlCARDs use the same 100-pin connector footprint to provide the analog and digital I/Os on-board and are reasonably interchangeable. The host system needs to provide only a single 5V power rail to the controlCARD for it to be fully functional. The control card can be used as part of a motor control kit and offers additional control, connectivity and safety evaluation features.
The Hercules DRV8301 motor control evaluation kits are ideal for spinning three phase brushless DC and brushless AC (BLAC) – often referred to as permanent magnet synchronous (PMSM) motors and come with examples of both sensored Field Oriented / Vector Control (FOC) and TI’s InstaSPIN-BLDC sensorless BLDC solution. The Hercules DRV8301 motor control kit is a high-performance, power-efficient, cost-effective platform that speeds development for quicker time to market.
This product is designed as an aid for customers of Texas Instruments. No warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this third party software (if any) or with respect to its fitness for any particular purpose is claimed by Texas Instruments or the author. The software (if any) is provided solely on an "as is" basis. The entire risk as to its quality and performance is with the customer.
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