Have feedback for TI? Please share here.

[cubeberg 540]

@@zeke - looks like there are three in that family that come in BGA - 5524, 5526, 5528

[USWaterRockets 57]

I second the motion for a small cheap value line MCU with USB. A MSP4302553 with USB would be awesome, even if it were limited in function to being a USB Serial device, of a HID only device, that's a step in the right direction.

 

A cheap BLE device would be amazingly amazing as well.

[yyrkoon 250]

Doesn't the CC2650 cover the BLE bit? It's not an MSP430, but there's a launchpad available. A little bit more in the way of guidance (especially if you want to go 6LoWPAN) could make it just as easy to use.

Does the CC2650 only cost $2.47 in single quantities ?

 

Anyway, I do not think my logic is flawed. Either TI starts producing a competitive BLE MCU package, or I just start using Atmel for that application. That's pretty simple, and smart thinking. But I'd rather use TI products when I can.

[jazz 209]

You have me wondering if the msp430f5529 has a small package version. A BGA package maybe?

 

Is this the best USB capable MSP?

Are there any other options?

 

All MSP430 devices are with the same USB hardware module (with 2 KByte of USB RAM). And they have same performance regarding USB. 550X in QFN is small too. 

[LIJsselstein 9]

• Do you have any critical feedback for them?(They would appreciate this)
• Any Energia inputs/concerns.

I've started this week using CCS to debug and analyse power consumption of my battery powered device using the Energia framework. CCS/EnergyTrace is a powerful tool when it works, however, I have one really really annoying problem with it: debugging does not work most of the time.

 

When it works, pressing the debug button will break the code on the first line in setup() and EnergyTrace is running during debug. When it doesn't work, the device seems to be running and debugging seems to run, but it won't stop in setup() or other breakpoint I set, Pauze button is greyed-out and EnergyTrace is not working. Stopping and starting debug many times will eventually lead to a functional debug session but it may take 10+ attempts. I've tried removing the debug configuration, restarting CCS, powercycling the launchpad....

 

Nothing seems to help consistently, but detaching/attaching during debug and then performing a soft reset is most consistent to resolve the breakpoint problem for one debug session, but then EnergyTrace still does not work.

 

There are no errors in the console. CCS 6.1.1 is completely up to date. Windows 7 Pro x64. FET on FR6989 launchpad used for programming G2553 device.

[PTB 27]

Hi,

 

Just wondering if there is any errr... Feedback from Ti on our feedback.

 

Cheers

 

Ptb

[Fred 453]

I was wondering that too.

[dubnet 238]

Looks like they may have incorporated one of the suggestions. TI store now shows free shipping on orders over $150. Threshold is a little higher than I'd like to see, but a nice step in the right direction.

[tripwire 139]

I've started this week using CCS to debug and analyse power consumption of my battery powered device using the Energia framework. CCS/EnergyTrace is a powerful tool when it works, however, I have one really really annoying problem with it: debugging does not work most of the time.

 

[...]

 

Nothing seems to help consistently, but detaching/attaching during debug and then performing a soft reset is most consistent to resolve the breakpoint problem for one debug session, but then EnergyTrace still does not work.

 

This is one of my pet hates too. I find energy profiling to be an incredibly powerful debugging tool, it's like an ECG for your MCU! Unfortunately the UI in CCS has a lot of bugs and missing features that make it inconvenient to use and a lot less reliable than I'd like.

 

I used to have a long list of requests for features that would make EnergyTrace more informative, now I just be happy with CSV export of the recorded data for offline analysis.

 

This week I looked into using DSS scripting which does support CSV output, but the EnergyTrace DVT API is completely undocumented. I think my next step may be to forget about the EnergyTrace support in CCS and try this instead: http://forum.43oh.com/topic/9674-casio-watch-rebuild-w-msp430/#entry72969

[Fmilburn 446]

Hi @@bluehash,

 

Was there any feedback from TI on the suggestions and comments here that you can share?

[bluehash 1,581]

Hello All,

Here is some feedback. Apologies on the late reply.

 

There was approximately an hour to field our questions/requests.
On a few questions that were not asked, I have an open channel with them.

Energia
- This was my primary focus. I am aware most of you don't care much about it, but there are alot of users coming in from the Arduino world to the TI family.
A couple of others in the room and myself were concerned about the future of Energia and its support. We were assured that more was being done and we'll know
more in some time.

Higher RAM chips on the value line
- Let them know that higher RAM on the chips shipped with the Launchpad is invaluable. It keeps us from implementing the cooler stuff.

USB on MSP on the lower end devices
- Let them know about it. They are aware about the lack of this feature. From my view, low power and USB do not go hand in hand... it may be a challenge.

EDIT: Just wanted to confirm... that it is my view that USB and low power may be a challenge... not TI's.. They may already have something in the works. I don't know.

MSP432 DMA
- Feedback given. They will take this back to the chip architechts.

Driverlib
- This is becoming mainstream in a lot of their devices and is quite popular. I left this discussion off.

TI EStore International Shipping
I was not able to get to the person incharge of the Store. But they do know of the issue. I'll push this again.

Energy Trace requests
- The team would like a list. I'd suggest someone start with a list in the forum and build up on it.

CCS bugs
- A list would be good. I'll have someone from TI look at it and post it in their CCS forums.

MSP software
- More improvements

Grace
- Something new/revamped.

 

Other comments. They were interested in how we used the TI site, the forums and social media. They were looking for feedback on their datasheets, block diagrams,examples and newsletters. There was also a chat with the calculator group and the TI-Innovator system.

If you have an issue with TI's tools, the best place to put them is in their E2E forums. If it is a long list/request list post it here.
 

[Fmilburn 446]

Thanks @@bluehash - appreciate the feedback.

 

 

Energia
- This was my primary focus. I am aware most of you don't care much about it, but there are alot of users coming in from the Arduino world to the TI family.
A couple of others in the room and myself were concerned about the future of Energia and its support. We were assured that more was being done and we'll know
more in some time.

 

I normally avoid debates on topics like this because they are seldom fruitful but can't help myself today.  Getting started with embedded electronics is difficult for a hobbyist if they don't have the background.  It requires knowledge of software, microcontrollers at the register level, electronics, mechanical interfaces....  Pretty daunting if you don't have at least some background and access to a community of people willing to help you learn.  Energia / Arduino / Wiring has done a lot to give that access.

 

I don't think it is any different than gardening, woodworking, or hobbyist astronomers using amateur tools and the skills they have to do something they enjoy.  Besides with that head start you can always dive deeper.  And lots of valuable contributions have been made by enthusiasts using amateur tools in all kinds of fields.

 

My thanks to TI for their support - it is much appreciated.

[USWaterRockets 57]

USB on MSP on the lower end devices

- Let them know about it. They are aware about the lack of this feature. From my view, low power and USB do not go hand in hand... it may be a challenge.

 

 

USB and Low Power are indeed a very much desired set of coupled features. For example, making a portable device that runs from a small battery or solar cell that you want to configure or extract logged data from at the end of the day or something. Perhaps the battery recharges via a USB connection as well. So, having USB to communicate to the device when charging is a definite feature worth having. It can be low power when not connected to USB.

[abecedarian 330]

USB and Low Power are indeed a very much desired set of coupled features. For example, making a portable device that runs from a small battery or solar cell that you want to configure or extract logged data from at the end of the day or something. Perhaps the battery recharges via a USB connection as well. So, having USB to communicate to the device when charging is a definite feature worth having. It can be low power when not connected to USB.

I'd think that since USB host provides +5V, using either an ADC or a simple GPIO pin on the MCU to sense if that's present would be enough to tell you the device is connected to a USB port and can choose power mode accordingly.

 

USB OTG is another story though.

[chicken 630]

@@abecedarian No worries, the MSP430 USB peripherals and libraries handle that nicely. You can query the USB status (connected, suspended, enumerating etc.).

 

The main request is, that TI offers more MSP430/432's with USB peripheral. I think right now USB is only available in the MSP430F55xx family. It seems that with all the IOT hype, some manufacturers assume that USB is becoming obsolete.