Microcontrollers, Sensors, ZigBee
®
Freescale Tower System
Tower System mechatronics board and robot
Drivers Available in the Toolkit
• General purpose 16-bit timers (GPT):
input capture, output compare
and PWM
• PWM 16-bit controller
Less than 1µS resolution for
RC servo control
• I
2
C master mode
Xtrinsic 3-axis accelerometer
Xtrinsic
touch sensing
Xtrinsic 3-axis magnetometer
Overview
The Tower System mechatronics board combines 32-bit computing, sensors, actuator control
and wireless into a single stand-alone board with an on-board battery supply. The Tower System
mechatronics board has a 32-bit ColdFire microcontroller with 64K of RAM, 512K of flash and supports
the full range of Freescale Xtrinsic sensors via plug-in daughter boards. The board can directly control
up to eight actuators (PWM-controlled RC servos) via the eight industry standard 3-pin connectors.
In addition to stand-alone operation, the Tower System mechatronics board can be plugged into
the Tower System to become a controller module, capable of interfacing with all peripheral modules
available in the Tower System family to expand its capabilities.
Freescale’s robot is a sensor development kit in the form of a four degrees of freedom (DOF)
bipedal walking robot, controlled by the Tower System mechatronics board. Included are simple
development tools that will help you learn to write software for sensors, while making a robot
walk and respond to touch, motion, vibration, tilt and other external stimuli.
• QSPI master mode
• UART buffered and un-buffered
• Analog-to-digital converter
• Interrupt controller
• DMA controller
• FlexCan controller
• Periodic interrupt timers
• DMA timers
Tower System Mechatronics Board Features
MCF52259 32-bit ColdFire processor
with 64K RAM, 512K flash
Control up to eight RC servos
(compatible with VEX 3-wire servos)
10 pin on-board
RS232 connector
USB OTG
connected to
MCF52259
Dual 5V regulators
to power external
hardware
Optional
plug-in
for sensor
daughter
cards
Freescale 3-axis
accelerometer on
the daughter card
MPR121 capacitive
touch sensor on
main board under
daughter card
Power/OSJTAG
Mini-B USB
connector
4x battery holder on
back of board
Extra output signals and
touch sensor inputs
Software Enablement
The Tower System mechatronics board is
supported with a full range of software. StickOS
is an entirely MCU-Resident interactive BASIC
language programming environment, which
includes an easy to use editor, transparent
line compiler, interactive debugger and flash
file system. When used with the Freescale
robot, StickOS makes it easy to learn about
electromechanical designs using sensors.
For the more advanced programmer, C is
also supported. Using the on-board OSBDM
debugger and CodeWarrior Special Suite
integrated development studio (IDE), the board
can easily be programmed in either C or
assembly (C++ is available with the CodeWarrior
Professional Suite). CodeWarrior Special
Suite plus OSBDM is a complete debugging
solution that includes flash programming, run
control (source level single step) and trace.
Code samples make getting up and running
easy, and both the robot and the Tower
System mechatronics board are backed up
with many samples in both C and StickOS.
Basic StickOS examples are available to make
the robot walk, access various sensors, and
even reconfigure the MCU. A complete C
CodeWarrior project is available with examples
of how to make the robot walk and access
its sensors. The goal of the Tower System
mechatronics board and Freescale robot is to
help you create innovative projects as quickly
and easily as possible.
Sensor Robot Features
Expressive face with
12 touch pads and
seven LEDs for user
interaction
Tower System mechatronics
board with MCF52259 32-bit
ColdFire processor and
3-axis accelerometer
Expandable with additional
plug-in sensors (pressure,
magnetometer, touch)
4x AA battery holder
powers servos and logic
Custom
mechanical
hardware
4x PWM controlled
RC servo motors
Development Tools
Kit Number
Price
Includes
• Tower System mechatronics board
• 4x PWM controlled RC servos
• Leg mechanics and associated hardware
• Bipedal 4DOF walking robot assembly instructions
• Tower System mechatronics board user guide
• Quick Start Guide
• Xtrinsic MMA8451Q 3-axis accelerometer
• MCF52259 32-bit ColdFire processor
• MPR121 touch sensor
• Xtrinsic MAG3110 3-axis magnetometer
The LFDA8451 is a device adapter for Freescale’s MMA8451Q 14-bit, 3-axis accelerometer
The LFDA3110 is a device adapter for Freescale’s MAG3110 3-axis magnetometer
The 1320XRFC daughter card supports direct connection to ColdFire MCU development
boards, providing an ideal platform for developing wireless applications
FSLBOT
$199
TWR-MECH
LFDA8451
LFDA3110
1320XRFC
$99
$25
$25
$79
Documentation
Document Title
Tower System Mechatronics
Board User Guide
Tower System Mechatronics
Board Quick Start Guide
Bipedal Four Degrees of
Freedom Walking Robot
Assembly Instructions
About element14
Launched in June 2009, element14 is the first
innovative information portal and eCommunity
specifically built for electronic design engineers.
It now has over 65,000 members from around
the world and enables members to consult
experts, discover trends, post blogs, articles
and comments in this worldwide forum. It
provides product data, design tools and
technology information, while incorporating
Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate communication,
interaction, collaboration and information
sharing between colleagues around the world.
Visit
element14.com for
more information.
Description
This user guide explains how to use the TWR-MECH board to write software for
sensors to control the robot.
This quick start guide will help you use the Tower System mechatronics board
as quickly and easily as possible.
The assembly instructions will guide you in putting together the physical robot
pieces. The robot will ship with brackets, screws and motors for assembly.
element14 is an innovative offering from Premier
Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), FTSE 250, a leader in
multi-channel distribution and specialty services
for electronic design engineers throughout
Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. The
company has a stocked range of 450,000+
products, and access to 4,000,000 more items
from 3,500 top manufacturers. The company
has group sales of £990.8m and over 4,100
employees globally.
Tower Geeks Online Community
TowerGeeks.org
is an online design engineer community
that allows members to interact, develop designs and
share ideas with the Tower System.
twitter.com/towergeeks
facebook.com/freescale
For more information, visit
freescale.com/MechBot
Freescale, the Freescale logo, CodeWarrior, ColdFire are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.,
Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. Xtrinsic is a trademark of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. All other product or
service names are the property of their respective owners. © 2012 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
Document Number: TWRMECHFS REV 1
