MCUs and MATLAB / Simulink

[phil74]

Hello,

We are currently in the process of setting up a development platform (consisting of MCU Eval Kit, motor driver, motor and encoder) for a field-oriented control (FOC) of a stepping motor (NEMA 8).

The following chip fits very well for our requirements:
Kinetis KV4x-168MHz High Performance Motor / Power Conversion MCUs based on Arm® Cortex®-M4
We use the following Eval Kit: TWR-KV46F150M: Kinetis KV4x Family Tower System Module

The FOC is created in Simulink and then played on the target platform (TWR-KV46F150M - Kinetis KV4x Family) using the Motor Control Toolbox for Kinetis V Series.

Previous experience:
- Using MATLAB 2017b, a hotfix (see https://community.nxp.com/message/987756) had to be run first to use the "Motor Control Toolbox for Kinetis V Series".
- Unfortunately, only the commercial compiler from IAR Systems works to generate executable code for the target platform. The GCC compiler does not work as expected despite the hotfix (see https://community.nxp.com/thread/467529). Meaning that the generated code can not be played on the target platform.
- It seems (my judgment) as if no further developments for the "Motor Control Toolbox for Kinetis V Series" are planned for MATLAB / Simulink. By comparison, the equivalent "Model-Based Design Toolbox" for the S32K144 Evaluation Board is always kept up to date.
- Currently we are able to load the generated code directly to the target platform via OpenSDA. However, we have not been able to present the signals in Simulink in real time, for example with scopes. For this it would have to be possible to switch to the external or the processor in the loop (PIL) mode.

I would be interested to know if, according to their experience, there are alternative MCUs that can be used in combination with MATLAB / Simulink.

Philippe

[Daniel_Popa]

Hi Philippe,

First off all, thank you for evaluation the tool and sharing your feedback here - It's very much appreciated.

- Currently we are able to load the generated code directly to the target platform via OpenSDA. However, we have not been able to present the signals in Simulink in real time, for example with scopes. For this it would have to be possible to switch to the external or the processor in the loop (PIL) mode. 

Have you tried to use the FreeMASTER ? Is not working ?

- It seems (my judgment) as if no further developments for the "Motor Control Toolbox for Kinetis V Series" are planned for MATLAB / Simulink. By comparison, the equivalent "Model-Based Design Toolbox" for the S32K144 Evaluation Board is always kept up to date. 

Indeed, we have no plans for updates on that toolbox. FYI, to understand better my statement, that is an older toolbox that has been created for a different NXP division (Microcontrollers) within NXP. Any updates for that toolbox should be triggered by the corresponding business owner from that group. If customer needs updates - typically their request should go via official support channels in order to trigger an official request to our group.  

I would be interested to know if, according to their experience, there are alternative MCUs that can be used in combination with MATLAB / Simulink.

We are actively investing in Automotive parts that will be supported in Simulink. In general, MATHWORKS are a strong presence in Automotive area, hence it makes sense to sync with them.

As alternatives to Kinetis, we have S32K1xx (same ARM cores) and MPC57xx (Power Architecture cores) that will be release very soon.

In your particular case, i think S32K144 or MPC5744P might be a very good alternative. Also, all these are based on active SDK drivers support and free-of-cost toolchains based on GCC.

Hope this helps!

Daniel