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FRDM Training Hub

FRDM Training Hub


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  • Comprehensive software and tools for seamless prototyping and rapid development
  • Scale your project with modular, quick-start FRDM and expansion boards
  • Leverage our application code hub or GoPoint to access 180+ code snippets and demos

  • Leverage FRDM Training Hub to learn from the experts
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This project implements a configurable secure encrypted Ethernet communication node with the transmission of a large data image.
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Whether you're a student, hobbyist, or professional developer, the FRDM Development Platform by NXP is your gateway to building powerful embedded applications—quickly and affordably. In this beginner-friendly guide, you’ll learn: What FRDM boards are and how they compare to other NXP evaluation kits Who the platform is designed for How to buy and get started with your first board What’s new in the latest FRDM series featuring MCX microcontrollers and i.MX processors How the FRDM ecosystem supports your development with modular hardware, software tools, and ready-to-use code examples
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FRDM Training and Resources This article provide a guide of available resources for FRDM Development boards to help you to find and use available resources (Boards, Guides, Hands-On Trainings and more)
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GoPoint   GoPoint is a user-friendly application that allows the user to launch preselected demonstrations included in the NXP provided BSP and follows the quarterly release roadmap for BSP How to launch GoPoint     GoPoint Demo On FRDM-IMX93 Board Since FRDM-IMX93 board’s BSP is based on standard BSP release, GoPoint is included in FRDM-IMX93 Yocto build by default. List of 9 demos available on FRDM-IMX93 Board: Image Classification Object Detection Selfie Segmenter i.MX Smart Fitness DMS (Driver Monitor System) ML Benchmark Video Test i.MX Smart Kitchen i.MX E-Bike VIT   Image Classification Demo Image classification is a ML task that attempts to comprehend an entire image as a whole. The goal is to classify the image by assigning it to a specific label. Typically, it refers to images in which only one object appears and is analyzed. This example is using NNStreamer.            Object Detection Demo Object detection is the ML task that detects instances of objects of a certain class within an image. A bounding box and a class label are found for each detected object. This example is using NNStreamer.        Selfie Segmenter Demo Selfie Segmenter showcases the ML capabilities of i.MX 93 by using the NPU to accelerate an instance segmentation model. This model lets you segment the portrait of a person and can be used to replace or modify the background of an image. This example is using NNStreamer.         i.MX Smart Fitness Demo i.MX Smart Fitness showcases the i.MX' Machine Learning capabilities by using an NPU to accelerate two Deep Learning vision-based models. Together, these models detect a person present in the scene and predict 33 3D-keypoints to generate a complete body landmark, known as pose estimation. From the pose estimation, the application tracks the 'squats' fitness exercise.          DMS (Driver Monitor System) Demo This application showcases the capability of implementing DMS on i.MX 93 platform, and the performance boost brought by Neural Processing Unit (NPU). DMS uses four ML models in total to achieve face detection, capturing face landmark and iris landmark, smoking detection and calling detection.         ML Benchmark Demo This example is based on benchmark_model tool in Tensorflow Lite framework, which allows to easily compare the performance of TensorFlow Lite models running on CPU (Cortex-A) and NPU.   Video Test Demo This is a simple demo that allows users to play back video captured on a camera or a test source. It’s based on gstreamer pipeline.            i.MX Smart Kitchen Demo i.MX Smart Kitchen showcases the Multimedia capabilities of i.MX to emulate an interactive kitchen through a GUI controlled by voice commands. The GUI is based on LVGL (Little Versatile Graphic Library) and NXP's Voice Intelligent Technology (VIT) supports the voice commands. Usage: Keyword + command       i.MX E-Bike VIT Demo i.MX E-Bike VIT showcases the Multimedia capabilities of i.MX to emulate an interactive ebike through a GUI controlled by voice commands. The GUI is based on LVGL (Little Versatile Graphic Library) and NXP's Voice Intelligent Technology (VIT) supports the voice commands. Usage: Keyword + command         Useful Link GoPoint User Guide: https://www.nxp.com/webapp/Download?colCode=GPNTUG GoPoint repo: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/nxp-demo-experience-demos-list/tree/lf-6.6.36_2.1.0 (Including source code of demo: Selfie Segmenter, DMS, ML benchmark, Video test) Image Classification/Object Detection: https://github.com/nxp-imx/eiq-example/tree/lf-6.6.36_2.1.0 i.MX Smart Fitness: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/imx-smart-fitness i.MX Smart Kitchen: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/smart-kitchen i.MX E-Bike VIT: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/imx-ebike-vit
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FRDM-IMX93 Yocto Release - BSP  Based on i.MX SW 2024 Q3 release Linux kernel: 6.6.36_2.1.0 u-boot: 2024.04 Source: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm FRDM-IMX93 BSP changes: U-boot: Add basic support for FRDM-IMX93 Kernel: Add basic support for FRDM-IMX93 and add support for kinds of accessories GoPoint: Add FRDM-IMX93 support FRDM-IMX93 Yocto layer: Add Yocto layer for FRDM-IMX93 and integrate u-boot/kernel/GoPoint patches    FRDM-IMX93 accessories 7 inch Waveshare LCD: imx93-11x11-frdm-dsi.dtb 5 inch Tianma LCD: imx93-11x11-frdm-tianma-wvga-panel.dtb RPi-CAM-MIPI: imx93-11x11-frdm.dtb RPI-CAM-INTB: imx93-11x11-frdm-mt9m114.dtb MX93AUD-HAT or MX93AUD-HAT + 8MIC-RPI-MX8: imx93-11x11-frdm-aud-hat.dtb 8MIC-RPI-MX8: imx93-11x11-frdm-8mic.dtb   LCD Panel Vender Interface Size Resolution Support Touch Purchase Link dtb T050RDH03-HC Tianma 24 bit Parallel 5" 800 x 480 No Will launch with MX91 EVK in Dec'24 imx93-11x11-frdm-tianma-wvga-panel.dtb 7inch Capacitive Touch IPS Display for Raspberry Pi, with Protection Case, 1024×600, DSI Interface Waveshare MIPI DSI 7" 1024x600 Yes Click Here imx93-11x11-frdm-dsi.dtb Camera Vender Interface Size Resolution Sensor Purchase Link dtb RPI-CAM-MIPI onsemi MIPI CSI  1/4-inch 1M pixel, 1280H x 800V AR0144 Click Here imx93-11x11-frdm.dtb RPI-CAM-INTB   Parallel Camera 40pins 1/6-inch 1.26 Mpixel 1296H × 976V MT9M114 Will launch with MX91 EVK in Dec'24 imx93-11x11-frdm-mt9m114.dtb Audio Vender Interface Channel     Purchase Link dtb MX93AUD-HAT Cirrus 40pins 8     Click Here imx93-11x11-frdm-aud-hat.dtb 8MIC-RPI-MX8 NXP 40pins 8     Click Here imx93-11x11-frdm-8mic.dtb   FRDM-IMX93 Yocto Release Usage Download i.MX SW 2024 Q3 Release: $ repo init -u https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-manifest -b imx-linux-scarthgap -m imx-6.6.36-2.1.0.xml $ repo sync Integrate FRDM-IMX93 layer into Yocto code base: $ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources $ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm.git Yocto Project Setup: $ MACHINE=imx93frdm DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland source sources/meta-imx-frdm/tools/imx-frdm-setup.sh -b frdm-imx93 Build images: $ bitbake imx-image-full Flashing SD card image: $ zstdcat imx-image-full-imx93frdm.rootfs.wic.zst | sudo dd of=/dev/sdb bs=1M && sync Using uuu to burn image and rootfs to SD: $ uuu -b sd_all imx-image-full-imx93frdm.rootfs.wic.zst   FRDM-IMX93 Yocto Release – Matter support Based on i.MX Matter 2024 Q3 Usage: −Download i.MX SW 2024 Q3 Release; $ repo init -u https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-manifest -b imx-linux-scarthgap -m imx-6.6.36-2.1.0.xml $ repo sync −Download i.MX Matter 2024 Q3; $ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources/meta-nxp-connectivity $ git remote update $ git checkout imx_matter_2024_q3 −Download FRDM-IMX93 Layer: $ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources $ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm.git −Yocto Project Setup: $ MACHINE=imx93frdm-iwxxx-matter DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland source sources/meta-imx-frdm/tools/imx-frdm-matter-setup.sh bld-xwayland-imx93 −Build images: $ bitbake imx-image-multimedia     FRDM-MX93 Debian Release Debian is a free Operating System (OS), also known as Debian GNU/Linux. i.MX Debian Linux SDK distribution is a combination of NXP-provided kernel and boot loaders with a Debian distro user-space image. −Debian 12 −NXP packages are based i.MX SW Release 2024 Q3 i.MX Debian Linux SDK distribution uses Flexbuild to build system. −Debian-based RootFS; Debian Base (basic packages) Debian Server (more packages without GUI Desktop) Debian Desktop (with GNOME GUI Desktop) −Linux kernel; −BSP components; −various  applications (graphics, multimedia, networking, connectivity, security, and AI/ML); Source: https://github.com/NXP/flexbuild Introduction:  https://nxp.com/nxpdebian  Quick Start with Debian Flexbuild compiles and assembles the distro images as three parts: BSP firmware image Boot image RootFS image Creating an SD card on the Linux host Download flex-installer −$ wget http://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/sdk/lsdk2406/flex-installer −$ chmod +x flex-installer; sudo mv flex-installer /usr/bin Plug the SD card into the Linux host and install the images as below: −$ flex-installer -i pf -d /dev/sdb (format SD card) −$ flex-installer -i auto -d /dev/mmcblk1 -m imx93frdm (automatically download and install images) Plug the SD card into the i.MX board and install the extra packages as follows: −$ dhclient -i end0 (setup Ethernet network interface by DHCP or setting it manually) −$ date -s "22 Nov 2024 09:00:00" (setting correct system time is required) −$ debian-post-install-pkg desktop (install extra packages for GNOME GUI Desktop version) −or −$ debian-post-install-pkg server (install extra packages for Server version without GUI Desktop) −# After finishing the installation, run the reboot command to boot up the Debian Desktop/Server system.   Building Debian Images with Flexbuild Run the following commands for the first time to set up the build environment: −$ git clone https://github.com/nxp/flexbuild −$ cd flexbuild && . setup.env −#Continue to run commands below in case  you need to  build in Docker due to lack of Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12 host −$ bld docker (create or attach a docker container) −$ . setup.env   Flexbuild usage: −$ bld -m imx93frdm (build all images for imx93frdm) −$ bld uboot -m imx93frdm (compile u-boot image for imx93frdm) −$ bld linux (compile linux kernel for all arm64 i.MX machines) −$ bld bsp -m imx93frdm (generate BSP firmware) −$ bld boot (generate boot partition tarball including kernel, dtb, modules, distro bootscript for iMX machines) −$ bld multimedia (build multimedia components for i.MX platforms) −$ bld rfs -r debian:base (generate Debian base rootfs with base packages) −$ bld apps -r debian:server (compile apps against runtime dependencies of Debian server RootFS) −$ bld merge-apps -r debian:server (merge iMX-specific apps into target Debian server RootFS) −$ bld packrfs (pack and compress target rootfs)   Related Documentation   FRDM-IMX93 Documents: FRDM-IMX93 Quick Start Guide FRDM-IMX93 Board User Manual FRDM-IMX93 Software User Guide  More information about i.MX productions can be found at(http://www.nxp.com/imxlinux) i.MX Yocto Project User’s Guide​ i.MX Linux User’s Guide​ i.MX Linux Reference Manual​ i.MX Porting Guide Debian documents at http://www.nxp.com/nxpdebian i.MX Debian Linux SDK User Guide
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  The RW61x is a highly integrated, low-power tri-radio wireless MCU with an integrated MCU and Wi-Fi ®  6 + Bluetooth ®  Low Energy (LE) 5.4 / 802.15.4 radios designed for a broad array of applications, including connected smart home devices, enterprise and industrial automation, smart accessories and smart energy. The RW612 MCU subsystem includes a 260 MHz Arm ®  Cortex ® -M33 core with Trustzone ™ -M, 1.2 MB on-chip SRAM and a high-bandwidth Quad SPI interface with an on-the-fly decryption engine for securely accessing off-chip XIP flash. The RW612 includes a full-featured 1x1 dual-band (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) 20 MHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) subsystem bringing higher throughput, better network efficiency, lower latency and improved range over previous generation Wi-Fi standards. The Bluetooth LE radio supports 2 Mbit/s high-speed data rate, long range and extended advertising. The on-chip 802.15.4 radio can support the latest Thread mesh networking protocol. In addition, the RW612 can support Matter over Wi-Fi or Matter over Thread offering a common, interoperable application layer across ecosystems and products. Hands-On Trainings Introduction to RW61x and FRDM-RW612 Quick introduction to RW61x family, module offering and FRDM-RW612 evaluation board FRDM-RW612 Out of the Box Experience Wi-Fi CLI (Command Line Interface) demo provides the user with a menu with different commands to explore the Wi-Fi capabilities of the FRDM RW612 board. When the board is powered on for the first time, the green RGB LED should be blinking indicating that the demo is loaded into the board. FRDM-RW612 Getting Started. Wi-Fi CLI on VS Code This lab guides you step by step on how to get started with FRD-RW612 board using Visual Studio Code  FRDM-RW612 BLE Sensors over Zephyr This demo shows the temperature from the i2c temperature sensor integrated in the board. This demo is based on Zephyr RTOS. The information can be monitored in the UART terminal or in the IoT Toolbox app. FRDM-RW612 Kitchen Timer using Low-cost LCD This lab shows how to modify a Kitchen Timer graphical application using LCD-PAR-S035 display Changing the date and button colors. The timer can also be viewed on a serial terminal.   Community Support If you have questions regarding this training or RW61x series, please leave your comments in our Wireless MCU Community! here 
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Unlike MCXW 71 MCU, MCXW 72 supports an Open NBU. This means that NBU firmware source code is exposed to user. On MCXW 71 MCU, NBU firmware is NXP proprietary; it is not user customizable.
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This document is intended to guide you in the installation of the necessary tools and repository for start running Zephyr examples and development. Zephyr is a lightweight, open-source real-time operating system (RTOS) designed specifically for microcontrollers (MCUs) and other resource-constrained embedded devices. Unlike general-purpose operating systems, Zephyr is built to run on systems with limited memory, low power consumption, and strict real-time requirements. It provides the core software foundation that allows an MCU to run multiple tasks reliably, respond to events on time, and interact with hardware in a structured way.
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This document is intended to guide you in the installation of the necessary tools and repository for start running matter examples and development. Matter (previously known as Project CHIP) is a single, unified, application-layer connectivity standard designed to enable developers to connect and build reliable, secure IoT ecosystems and increase compatibility among Smart Home and Building devices. Backed by major brands and developed through collaboration within the Connectivity Standards Alliance (previously known as the Zigbee Alliance), Matter is an open-source royalty-free connectivity standard built with market-proven technologies using Internet Protocol (IP) and compatible with Thread and Wi-Fi network transports. Building solutions and leading standards efforts, NXP provides scalable, flexible and secure platforms for the variety of use cases Matter addresses – from end nodes to gateways – so device manufacturers can focus on their product innovation. NXP’s Matter solutions go beyond just the connectivity with comprehensive capabilities for the compute and security requirements for IoT devices.
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Goal of this lab is to show the SDK example implementing the Bluetooth LE Ranging profile, how to flash it and run it, as well as looking into the code to extract meaningful information for applications that use ranging Guide
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This document is intended to guide you in the installation of the tools and let you know the material required for the FRDM-MCXW72 Channel Sounding Hands On 
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In this lab we make some experience with the FRDM-MCXW72 board using the SDK project to implement a simple LED blinking. Once we will get familiar with the example project, we will integrate simple modifications
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In this lab we will first import the MCUXpresso SDK for the MCX W72 Freedom board into MCUXpresso IDE and then we will build, flash and debug the hello world project to make sure the environment is set for the following Labs  
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This hands-on describes how to run the Low Power Reference Design demo on FRDM-MCXW72. Two low-power reference design applications are provided in the reference_design folder: Low power peripheral application, demonstrating the low power feature on an advertiser peripheral Bluetooth LE device. Low power central application, demonstrating the low power feature on a scanner central Bluetooth LE device. These applications aim at providing: A reference design application for low power/timing optimization on a Bluetooth Low Energy application. These can be used in first intent for porting a new application on low power. A way for measuring the power consumption, wake-up time, and active time in various power modes. The default low-power mode used in different modes are shown as follows: Default power mode App core Radio core Advertise mode Power Down mode Deep sleep mode Connected mode Deep Sleep mode Deep Sleep mode Scanning mode Deep Sleep mode WFI or Deep Sleep mode For complete documentation please visit: reference_design — MCUXpresso SDK Documentation
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Goal of this lab is to show the SDK example implementing the wireless UART profile and we will move forward in making some meaningful modifications to the example itself with the goal to show where in the code the end user should enter the relevant application software for the application. Run Wireless UART IoT Toolbox Demo
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The MCX W72 family features a 96 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 core coupled with a multiprotocol radio subsystem also called Narrow Band Unit (NBU) supporting Matter, Thread, Zigbee and Bluetooth LE. The independent radio subsystem, with a dedicated core and memory, offloads the main CPU, preserving it for the primary application and allowing firmware updates to support future wireless standards. On MCXW72, only boot ROM has access to the NBU flash. The ROM bootloader provides an in-system programming (ISP) utility that operates over a serial connection on the microcontroller units (MCUs) The objective in this hands-on, is to learn how to recognize when the NBU firmware does not match with the SDK version.
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The MCX W72 family features a 96 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 core coupled with a multiprotocol radio subsystem also called Narrow Band Unit (NBU) supporting Matter, Thread, Zigbee and Bluetooth LE. The independent radio subsystem, with a dedicated core and memory, offloads the main CPU, preserving it for the primary application and allowing firmware updates to support future wireless standards.   The ROM bootloader provides an in-system programming (ISP) utility that operates over a serial connection on the microcontroller units (MCUs)  This hands-on describes how to update the code in NBU and the User firmware using the ISP.  
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Introduction This document is intended to guide you in the installation of the tools and let you know the material required for the FRDM-MCXW72 Hands On.  Required Materials The material and the software requirements will depend on the hand on, but the next is what it is required in most of them. Hardware Requirements FRDM-MCXW72 Board Personal Computer Type C USB Cable Software Requirements IDE: Visual Studio Code 1.107.1 or later SDK: v25.12.00 MCUXpresso extension for VS Code version v25.12.48 BLHost Tool or LinkFlash tool (Linkflash is included with LinkServer installation) Windows OS (It was used Windows 11 for this hands-on) NXP IoT Toolbox (For an Android or iOS device) Serial Terminal program, like PuTTY or Tera Term Environment Setup Note: In order to make downloads in NXP website, it is necessary to have an account. Register and log-in for moving forward. MCUXpresso for Visual Studio Code                                                                                                                                                                         MCUXpresso for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) provides an optimized embedded developer experience for code editing and development. The extension enables NXP developers to use one of the most popular embedded editor tools and provides an easy and fast way to create, build and debug applications based on MCUXpresso SDK or Zephyr projects.   Install it following the next steps: Download Visual Studio Code from Microsoft Store or visual studio code web page Download Visual Studio Code - Mac, Linux, Windows Access to vscode for MCUX wiki and download MCUXpresso Installer  Dependency Installation · nxp-mcuxpresso/vscode-for-mcux Wiki · GitHub Run MCUXpresso Installer and for MCXW72 Hands On install at least MCUXpresso SDK Developer Matter Developer Arm GNU Toolchain Standalone Toolchain Add ons Linkserver PEmicro Installing the FRDM-MCXW72 SDK V25.12.00   Each MCU has its own SDK that includes driver, examples, middleware, docs and other components. To get and build the demo, let’s install the SDK into VS Code. Install the NXP’s GitHub SDK: Once MCUXpresso for Visual Studio Code is installed, open VS Code. Go to MCUXpresso for VS Code extension that is on the tools column at the left.    Look for INSTALLED REPOSITORIES option and press ‘+’ (Detail steps are described in wiki page. Working with MCUXpresso SDK · nxp-mcuxpresso/vscode-for-mcux Wiki · GitHub).                                               Search for the remote option of the Import Repository window. Select the MCUXpresso SDK in the repository option to download the GitHub SDK, then in the Revision tab you can select either the “main” revision (which corresponds to the latest version available) or to select an specific version (we’ll be using version v25.12.00 for these series of labs), optionally you can change the repository name and location.     Finally click on the “Import” button. Blhost Installation The blhost application is used on a host computer to issue commands to an NXP platform running an implementation of the MCU bootloader. The blhost application with the MCU bootloader, allows a user to program a firmware application onto the MCU device without a programming tool. Please go an download the tool in the next path and make sure to placed in a known location. BLHost Download page.
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Objectives In this lab, you will learn: How to use the MCUXpresso Installer to obtain NXP Software (FreeMASTER) How to use Application Code Hub to import an example into the VS Code workspace How to build, clean, debug, and run the example. How to connect the Serial Monitor for UART console How FreeMASTER can be used as a real-time debug monitor and data visualization tool Hardware Requirements Personal Computer FRDM-MCXA153 Board Heart Rate 4 CLICK Module (MIKROE 5547) USB type-C cable   Software Requirements MCUXpresso for VS Code FreeMASTER v3.2 or latest FRDM-MCXA153 SDK Application Code Hub The Application Code Hub (ACH) repository enables engineers to easily find microcontroller software examples, code snippets, application software packs and demos developed by NXP in-house experts. This space provides a quick, easy and consistent way to find microcontroller applications. Find more information at www.nxp.com/ach.   Installing Prerequisites - Launch MCUXpresso for VS Code - Launch the MCUXpresso Installer from the QUICKSTART PANEL   - Install MCUXpresso SDK Developer, LinkServer, and FreeMASTER   Heart Rate Monitor Lab The NXP Application Code Hub provides a complete example of how to use the MCXA-153 microcontroller in a Heart Rate and SPO2 monitor application. This lab will walk through the steps to import, build, program and debug the example. The final section of the lab shows how to use FreeMASTER as a data-visualization tool for the acquired sensor data on the FRDM-MCXA153 development board. 1. Go to the Quick Start Panel 2. Select Application Code Hub 3. Filter Visible Examples (MCX + Sensors) - Go to the filter section next to the Search bar and select two filters. - Select MCX in the Device Families Section and Sensor in the Categories section of the filters   4. Search for Keywords in Examples - Search for the keyword 'heart rate'. - Select the demo "frdm mcxa153 freemaster heart rate". 5. Read Overview of Heart Rate Demo The Application Code Hub provides a consistent Readme Overview for every project. The FreeMASTER Heart Rate demo overview is previewed after clicking on the application card. Scroll through the readme to become familiar with the available contents like required hardware, software and setup instructions. 6. Select Destination for Project The wizard automatically provides a prompt to browse to a desired destination folder. Create the destination C:\NXP_ACH to store the project here. Or you can specify a custom location. 7. Import Project into Workspace Select Import Project(s) after entering the desired location. If a valid project is not available, the wizard only displays Import Repository, to allow a code repo, without a project, to be added to workspace. 8. Select Detected Project(s) The import wizard will scan the example repo and list valid projects that were discovered. This allows the user to select only the projects they want created. Select the mcuxpresso project listed at the top of the VS Code window. 9. Associate a Toolchain The last selection is to identify the Compiler toolchain to be used for the project. GCC will be used for this project. Select Arm GNU Toolchain 12.3.Rel1 (Or latest version available from MCUXpresso Installer prework) The scan may locate Compilers associated with MCUXPresso IDE. Verify the path and version between listed compilers. At this time the wizard will complete the project import. A Successful Conversion notification is displayed at the bottom of the screen. It is important to recognize that the selected Heart Rate example is a working project within the MCUXpresso IDE (Eclipse based). The VS Code extension has the ability to convert an existing MCUXpresso IDE projects for development in VS Code. 10. Navigating a Project in VS Code The MCUXpresso for VS Code extension includes a PROJECTS section to help users access useful project information. Users can review and modify project information with the following steps. Review Project Details Project details are shown in the Dropdown menu of the Projects Section in the MCUXpresso Extension Navigation Pane. • Settings: Workspace settings specific to the project • MCU: Targeted device. • Build Configurations: Select build configuration from available list (i.e. Debug or Release). • Debug Configurations: • Repository Information • Project Files 11. Working with Source Files There are two ways to view and modify the project's files: • Click on the Explorer Icon at the top of the VS Code left navigation pane.  • Expand the Project Files section from the PROJECTS view 12. Build the application The MCXA153 FreeMASTER Heart Rate project needs to build the application image. After the code builds without any errors, the application can be run on the FRDM board. The following steps require that you return to the MCUXpresso perspective by clicking the MCUXpresso for VS Code X icon in the Activity bar Build the project by clicking the Build Selected icon. After a successful build, the Terminal console displays the memory usage (or compiler errors if any). 13. Connect Serial Monitor to the board To use the Serial Monitor integrated into VS Code: - Connect the USB-C cable to J15 to power the FRDM board. The onboard debugger provides a USBUART bridge to interface with the Serial monitor. - Click on the SERIAL MONITOR found as a tab in the Terminal window at the Bottom of VS Code Window. NOTE: The default COM settings are valid for NXP eval boards: "115200, None..." - Click Start Monitoring to connect the monitor to the FRDM board’s auto-detected COM port. VS Code in light theme 14. Flash/Debug the Application This section uses the on-board debugger to connect to the MCU, and program the flash. LinkServer from NXP manages the GDB server for communicating with the NXP MCULink on-board debug probe. It includes support for flash programming. - Click the play icon to Debug the application: The application is flashed to the FRDM board and VS Code switches to the Debug perspective. Return to the SERIAL MONITOR tab under the Terminals. It switches to the OUTPUT terminal when a Debug session is started.  VS Code in light theme - The execution will be paused on a breakpoint. Click Continue/Play icon to continue execution. The application will advance to the start of main().   - Click Continue/Play icon a 2nd time for the Heart Rate application to launch inside main(). 15. View Heart Rate Values in Serial Terminal The Heart Rate application using the serial port to display information. The following should be displayed in the SERIAL MONITOR tab after main() starts. Place a finger on the sensor near the Heart silkscreened on Heart Rate 4 click board. The following should be displayed in the SERIAL MONITOR tab after a finger is placed on the sensor: A heart rate value will be calculated and displayed after 16. FreeMASTER Data Visualization FreeMASTER is a standalone application provided by NXP to help developers visualize, monitor and manipulate data available from their projects. The Heart Rate example includes a /freemaster folder that helps users get started using the tool. The settings in the Application Code Hub were established for an MCUXpresso IDE based project. There are a few changes that need to be made after the project is converted to a VS Code project. The following steps will properly configure FreeMASTER to work with the Heart Rate example project: Launch FreeMASTER Application There are two options for launching FreeMASTER. • Click on the heart_rate.pmpx using File Explorer. The FreeMASTER application should be associated with .pmpx file extensions. This will also automatically load the included project settings.   • Launch FreeMASTER by searching Windows Applications. • This will not load project settings. You will be required to Open Project using the FreeMaster menu as shown. Open the .pmpx project file. • Verify Project Options FreeMASTER has a few key settings to verify once a project is opened. A user should verify they are correctly set for the type of Debug Probe and location of the project output files. - Click Project -> Options from the menu bar. - Verify that the correct method is set for communicating with the board. The on-board Debug Probe for the FRDM-MCXA153 is by default shipped with NXP CMSIS-DAP firmware. Select FreeMASTER CMSIS-DAP Communication Plug-in found under the Comm tab, for Plug-in module:   - Verify that the correct Default symbol file is targeted for the VS Code project. The symbol file in VS Code projects is output under an /armgcc folder. Select the /armgcc folder within VS Code project MAP Files tab. The window will autodetect the Binary ELF File, and display this under File format:   - Visualize Data From Heart Rate Project The NXP software team has included a default visualization for the Heart Rate project. The demonstration showcases the different styles for project data to be shown. The following visualization settings are preset for the Heart Rate project: Welcome HTML Page: The HTML Pages (Under Options) points to welcome.html file. This provides structured web view for displaying elements. Beyond scope of this lab, but .html file can be reviewed to see how target values/charts are referenced in html. Oscilloscope Visual: View plots the values of a project variable. The plot axis are configured for scale and color. Heart Rate, SPO2 and ECG are configured. Variable Watch Table: After variables are configured to be tracked, they can be added to this table view.   Make sure that the debug probe is not in an active debug session in the IDE or VS Code. Click GO icon on the menu bar to initiate the project data visualization! The following points are highlighted for the FreeMASTER output. 1. Clicking on the elements listed under the Project Tree changes the view to the specific Oscilloscope Visual. 2. View the captured values for the variables in a Table view. 3. Visualization of data organized based on the layout defined in the Welcome.html.  
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