Any Unique MSP432 Project Ideas?

[artium 2]

I used the free shipping week in TI store to buy an MSP432 launchpad. I bought it out of curiosity as well as to be able to play with an RTOS. 

 

Now I want to build a small demo project with it, but I am unable to think of practical ideas that would demonstrate the difference between 430 and 432.

 

I understand the "datasheet" difference between the two MCUs, but I am unable to translate this to functionality level. 

 

I am interested to see references to existing hobby projects that were built with MSP432 and are not possible do achieve with MSP430.

 

Thank you!

[spirilis 1,265]

I am going through the edX/UT Austin RTOS class using the MSP432 and it's been fun. A great idea for the latter half of the Flash is to implement a simple filesystem.

 

The Cortex-M4F's big break relative to the MSP430 is probably the possibility for DSP work. Some day I want to do rapid sampling of something (accelerometer probably) and apply some DSP filters to condition the data on the MCU before reporting it. Having an onboard filesystem would allow you to store a good bit of aggregated data remotely and then dump it via USB UART later (perhaps build a command line interface thread for the RTOS which can manage the filesystem).

[enl 227]

What orientation do you have for a project? The capabilities of the processors differ so much that it is difficult to answer your question without knowing where you are going. No sarcasm is intended in the following suggestions:

 

Robotics? You can do multiaxis control in real time.

 

Audio? You can do signal processing within the limits of the ADC resolution.

 

Video? I would guess that you could produce VGA output to run 640X480 VGA at 8 color (one bit per color), or possibly better with some careful programming, and have no major issue producing a videogame. Certainly 320X240 should be straightforward. Using R-2R chains, you could easily produce interesting video output, though anything requiring a frame buffer would likely be out due to RAM limitations. It would probably not be too hard to produce NTSC in the same vein as an Apple II.

 

The gains you get with the 432 include speed, memory, and processing per cycle. With a 430, serious audio isn't really practical. Real video is superstar territory. With the 432, both are straightforward, though not necessarily trivial.

 

Specific ideas in audio: A guitar multi effect, maybe distortion, Wah (a pot on an ADC for bandsweep), flange, and reverb. All are moderately straightforward, but explore different algorithms.

 

Video: One of the coolest thins I saw at a trade show in the late 70's was a video dazzler. Just cool patterns, but really, really cool. An audio input to control an arithmetically produced pattern as VGA output?

 

Robotics: An 8 channel, I2C command servo controller?

 

Do you ride? One of the things I did years ago with a PIC was an electronic ignition for a 1975 Honda CB400F (4 cylinder). Maxed out at about 12000RPM. The unit was tight to about 8000, but had a bit of jitter above that. Drove an output for the tach as well. The 432 can cover other things at the same time, and not lose it's place for the ignition timing.

 

Got a cat? Using the ADC and DSP capability, an ultimate class cat toy? Detect appropriate stimulus (Meow, scratching, othe r) using a microphone, and do something interesting, like turn on a laser pointer mounted on servo's to entertain the cat, and when it gets to a certain point, release a treat?

 

Ok... my mind runneth over. Several of these are things I don't have the time to do. There are many, many more. All of these take more than the 430 can reasonably do (except ignition timing), but none fully explore the capability of the 432.