Component: API (Interface Board) (API Slave Devices)

Author	Matrix TSL
Version	1.0
Category	API Slave Devices

API (Interface Board) component

Connects to an Interface Board running the API Firmware allowing the board to become a slave to the Flowcode Embedded simulation or Flowcode App Developer. Supports: Digital IO / ADC / I2C / SPI / PWM / UART / DAC / Servo See Instructables for open source project files.

Component Source Code

Please click here to download the component source project: FC_Comp_Source_Interface_Board_Comp.fcfx

Please click here to view the component source code (Beta): FC_Comp_Source_Interface_Board_Comp.fcfx

Detailed description

A board designed to allow PC access to embedded style electronic signals at 3V3 or 5V.

Includes: ADC / DAC / I2C / IO / Servo / SPI / UART

USB Firmware allows control via a USB connection. Works with a Windows PC but should also work with other USB master based devices.

WIFI Firmware allows control via a WIFI network connection. Works with any networked device including devices via the internet. WIFI connection requires the use of the UART peripheral and so this is not available for Slave functionality when using the WIFI firmware.

Board supplied with firmware as requested. Firmware can be changed using a PICkit 3 or PICkit 4 device or similar Microchip programmer.

To setup the WIFI to work with your own network you first need to power up the board using a USB connection or by applying a 5V power supply between the 5V and GND pins. Next connect to the WIFI network hosted by the board with the network name InterfaceBoard using password all in lowercase as the Password. Visit the website at page 192.168.4.1 and then enter your WIFI network details into the form provided. On clicking ok the board will store the details in none volatile memory and attempt to connect to your network and establish a local IP address. If all goes ok here then the Interface Board network should dissappear.

Refer to your router configuration page to see the IP address of the device.

If the WIFI network is not available then the board will revert back to it's setup mode allowing the network to be changed. Once network connection is available again the board will automatically reconnect.

The latest updates can be found on github

Examples

Direct Slave Access

Here is a simple demo to switch on and off digital pin 5.

Simple Interface Board Demo

Macro reference

ADCSample10

	ADCSample10
Reads the voltage present on an Alanog pin as an 10-bit value range 0-1023
- BYTE	ADCChannel
Range: 0-5
- UINT	Return

ADCSample8

	ADCSample8
Reads the voltage present on an Alanog pin as an 8-bit value range 0-255
- BYTE	ADCChannel
Range: 0-5
- BYTE	Return

I2CInitialise

	I2CInitialise
Initialsie the I2C module ready for communications
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Baud
0=100KHz, 1=400KHz, 2=1MHz
- VOID	Return

I2CReceive

	I2CReceive
Receive a byte using the I2C bus
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BOOL	Last
Last byte to receive: Range 0-1
- BYTE	Return

I2CRestart

	I2CRestart
Put the I2C Module into Restart mode
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- VOID	Return

I2CSend

	I2CSend
Transmit a byte using the I2C bus
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	DataOut
- BOOL	Return

I2CStart

	I2CStart
Put the I2C Module into Start mode
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- VOID	Return

I2CStop

	I2CStop
Put the I2C Module into Stop mode
- BYTE	Channel
- VOID	Return

I2CTransInit

	I2CTransInit
Initialises the I2C Transaction mode with the 7-bit device address
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	DeviceAddress
7-bit Device Address
- BYTE	Baud
0=100KHz, 1=400KHz, 2=1MHz
- VOID	Return

I2CTransReceive

	I2CTransReceive
Receives an I2C Transaction on the selected I2C channel. Returns the number of bytes received.
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Data
Data variable to receive into
- UINT	Count
Number of bytes to receive
- UINT	Return

I2CTransSend

	I2CTransSend
Sends an I2C Transaction on the selected I2C channel. Returns the number of bytes sent.
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - I2C Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Data
Data to send
- UINT	Count
Number of bytes to send out, MS bit 0x8000 signifies no Stop if set
- UINT	Return

IOGetInputPin

	IOGetInputPin
Sets the selected digital pin to an input and reads the input state.
- BYTE	Pin
Range: 0-17
- BOOL	Return

IOSetOutputPin

	IOSetOutputPin
Sets the selected digital pin to an output and assigns the output state.
- BYTE	Pin
Range: 0-17
- BOOL	State
Range: 0-1
- VOID	Return

Initialise

	Initialise
Initialise the comms to the Arduino board ready for commands to be sent.
- VOID	Return

PWMDisable

	PWMDisable
Disable a PWM output
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-1
- VOID	Return

PWMEnable

	PWMEnable
Enable a PWM output
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-1
- VOID	Return

PWMSetDuty8

	PWMSetDuty8
Sets the duty for the PWM output
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-1
- BYTE	Duty
Range: 0-255
- VOID	Return

PWMSetPrescaler

	PWMSetPrescaler
Sets the prescaler for the PWM output
- BYTE	Prescaler
- VOID	Return

SPIInitialise

	SPIInitialise
Initialsie the SPI module ready for communications
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - SPI Bus Count - 1
- VOID	Return

SPIPrescaler

	SPIPrescaler
Modify the speed of the SPI bus
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - SPI Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Prescaler
Range: 0-2
- VOID	Return

SPITransfer

	SPITransfer
Transfer a byte using the SPI bus
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - SPI Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	DataOut
- BYTE	Return

SPITransferTrans

	SPITransferTrans
Transfer an array of bytes using the SPI bus
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - SPI Bus Count - 1
- UINT	Count
Number of bytes to send and receive
- BYTE	DataOut
Outgoing data
- BYTE	DataIn
Incoming data
- VOID	Return

ServoDisable

	ServoDisable
Disable a Servo output
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-5
- VOID	Return

ServoEnable

	ServoEnable
Enable a Servo output
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-5
- VOID	Return

ServoSetPosition8

	ServoSetPosition8
Sets the position as an 8-bit value
- BYTE	Channel
Range: 0-1
- BYTE	Position
Range: 0-255
- VOID	Return

UARTBaud

	UARTBaud
Control the communications rate of the UART module
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - UART Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Rate
0=1200, 1=2400, 2=4800, 3=9600, 4=19200, 5=38400, 6=57600, 7=115200
- VOID	Return

UARTCheckRX

	UARTCheckRX
Check to see if the UART module has received any data
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - UART Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Return

UARTInitialise

	UARTInitialise
Initialise the UART module ready for communications
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - UART Bus Count - 1
- VOID	Return

UARTReceive

	UARTReceive
Receives a data byte from the UART. Recommend calling the UARTCheckRx function first to ensure data is available.
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - UART Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Return

UARTSend

	UARTSend
Send a byte via the UART module
- BYTE	Channel
Channel Index: Range 0 - UART Bus Count - 1
- BYTE	Data
Data Byte to send. Range: 0-255
- VOID	Return

WIFIGetIP

	WIFIGetIP
Gets the IP address of the board. Allows you to setup and get the assigned address via USB before using over WIFI, Use the WIFIIsConnected first to check the WIFI is active.
- STRING	Return

WIFIIsConnected

	WIFIIsConnected
Checks to see if the WIFI is active and connected
- BOOL	Return

WIFISetSSID

	WIFISetSSID
Assign the SSID and password for the network you wish to connect the board to. Stores the parameters into ROM for later USB free setup.
- STRING	SSID
Name of the network you wish to connect to
- STRING	Password
- VOID	Return

Property reference

	Properties
	Connection Type
	Connection Properties
	Auto Detect Port
Allows the component to auto detect the interface board COM port. Requires the latest Flowcode serial comms DLL to function correctly.
	Scan Results
Lists the IP addresses found during the last scan, Overwrites the selected WIFI IP property when changed.
	Scan Start
Address to set the scan start point. For example 10 might generate 192.168.1.10 depending on your IP setting. Scan then proceeds from there so for example 11, 12, 13, ..., 254, 255. Default 0
	End Scan
Decides how the scan is terminated
	API Peripherals
	Digital IO
	Analog Input
	Analog Output
	PWM Output
	I2C Bus
	SPI Bus
	UART
	SERVO
	Logging
	Console Log
Create an automatic console log of the commands sent to the device
	Log Mode
Controls how the console data is formatted. Fixed statistics gives an easy to read overview of the IO, Analog and PWM functionality Command Log gives a more in depth analysis of the outgoing commands and incoming returns ASCII mode allows serial data to be shown in raw text form, other commands are shown as in the Command Log mode
	Show Raw
Shows the raw data stream via a console window