The Molcajete project: where Arduino meets FreeRTOS

It’s ready the bundle in which you can program your Arduino apps using the FreeRTOS kernel. You can download it from

The Molcajete project

The Molcajete project by Xavier R

OVERVIEW

The aim of this project is to program Arduino apps using the world’s most downloaded real time kernel, FreeRTOS, in a terminal through Arduino-mk makefile.

In fact, this project is kind of a FreeRTOS port for the ATMEGA328 chip so that it can be used in the Arduino platform. The client of this project MUST provide the several hooks that FreeRTOS needs to run. It’s assumed that the client has knowledged of what FreeRTOS is about, and in general, what a kernel is, and why and how it’s used.

Two examples are provided: The classical one that implements two tasks in a dynamic fashion in order to test the system. The other example does the same but with static tasks.

This port uses the standard malloc and free implementations for AVR when using dynamic tasks. For reliable embedded systems it’s recommended not to abuse in the creation and deletion of tasks in the heap. If the client chooses this way it’s recommended to create all tasks at once at the global space and to avoid any task deletion. Even better if static tasks are used as they are already enabled in the kernel (since FreeRTOS 9.0).

The system tick is fixed at 1 millisecond after the AVR’s T0 timer. Tickless and/or low-power modes have not been tested yet.

SKETCHES

I don’t provide any sketches. Everything I do I do it in a terminal. But you can contribute with some!

OPERATING SYSTEM

For now this project only works on 64 bits Linux boxes. Later I’ll try to create a patch file so you can apply it to your already Arduino installation.

CONFIGURATION

Two files need to be edited in order to configure each project:

1. Makefile. There is one makefile per project. In this the client configures stuff related to Arduino.
2. FreeRTOSconfig.h. There is one FreeRTOS configuration file for ALL projects. In this the client configures stuff related to FreeRTOS. Having one global FreeRTOS configuration file is a bad idea. However, due to my lack of knowledge about paths and makefiles, this undesired behavior is all I have by now. Hope to fix it ASAP.

STACK SIZE

The stack size assigned to each task depends on many factors. FreeRTOS includes some schemes so that the client can choose the number that fits the most each project’s tasks. Such a number can also be chosen by heart, provided a good understanding of the task’s job.

As mentioned earlier, the RAM should be asked for and given globally at the very start of the application. This is also true for static tasks. If dynamic tasks are used, then it’s recommended not to delete them; the heap might fragment and such situation isn’t good for reliable embedded systems.

PRIORITY LEVELS

Priority levels in FreeRTOS are implemented using a linked list. The more the priority levels, the more RAM it uses and more time is spent looking for the next task. Some projects use one priority level per task, while others share a priority level among several tasks. It depends totally on the project requirements.

I’ve written an article on how three priority levels fulfill the needs for a small systems using event-driven programming. The article can be reached at: https://bit.ly/2qoE2Kn

HOOKS

Some hook functions might be required for each project. The client MUST provide them. The number of hook functions, if some, depends on the FreeRTOS configuration.

MODIFIED FILES

I modified some files so that FreeRTOS can work along Arduino. If you are interested in study them, these are the files:

• FreeRTOS side
  • port.c
• Arduino side
  • wiring.c

Side effects

I’ve modified a little bit the optiboot bootloader, and this change is included in the bundle. If you don’t use it, then you have nothing to worry about. If you’re planning to burn the bootloader into your chips, you might want to check my modifications.

LICENSES

Each entity in this project might have its own licensing scheme. For details visit:

• arduino.cc
• freertos.org
• https://github.com/sudar/Arduino-Makefile
• As per my little contribution, the GPL license is enough.

CONTRIBUTIONS

All contributions are welcome: examples, sketches, testing in boards other than UNO or Leonardo, testing in OSs other than Linux, etc. I’m NOT asking for money. I’ve done this little contribution due to my love for embedded systems and my beliefs on the open source and open hardware movement.

You can reach me at fjrg76 at hotmail dot com and ingenieria at fjrg76 dot com.

Non-blocking ADC converter class

The built-in analogRead() function blocks until the conversion is ready; for most scenarios this behavior is ok. However, for a high-responsive systems such behavior would be unacceptable.

Another reason I wrote this small non-blocking class is because I bought a lcd-keypad shield, and then I built some improved clones:

Commercial LCD-keypad shield.

My improved clon: it includes a relay, a buzzer and a screw terminal for the power supply. Besides, the distance among push-buttons is larger.

The keypad is implemented through an analog ladder, where each push-button is a rung. Tipically any keypad is decoded through a state machine driven inside the system-tick ISR for debounce purposes. That’s way I cannot use the analogRead() function. My class allows me to handle the conversion inside the system-tick ISR without blocking it. Weeee! You might discover other useful applications for a non-blocking conversions. I will glad to hear them!

Source code

My class is totally based upon the analogRead() source code. Moreover, I’ve left the original comments. What I did was to split it out in 3 stages: start, observe and read. Although my goal is to use a templetized class, this version works well  for now for most purposes.

// Analog.hpp

/*Copyright (C) 
 * 2018 - fjrg76 at hotmail dot com
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
 * 
 */

#ifndef  ANALOG_INC
#define  ANALOG_INC

#include <Arduino.h>
#include "wiring_private.h"
#include "pins_arduino.h"

extern uint8_t analog_reference;

class Analog
{
public:
	explicit Analog( uint8_t _pin );
	void Start();
	bool IsReady() const;
	int Read() const;

private:
	uint8_t pin;
};


#endif   /* ----- #ifndef ANALOG_INC  ----- */

// Analog.cpp

#include "Analog.hpp"

Analog::Analog( uint8_t _pin ) : pin{ _pin }
{
	pinMode( this->pin, INPUT );
	digitalWrite( this->pin, LOW );

#if defined(analogPinToChannel)
#if defined(__AVR_ATmega32U4__)
	if (pin >= 18) pin -= 18; // allow for channel or pin numbers
#endif
	pin = analogPinToChannel(pin);
#elif defined(__AVR_ATmega1280__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega2560__)
	if (pin >= 54) pin -= 54; // allow for channel or pin numbers
#elif defined(__AVR_ATmega32U4__)
	if (pin >= 18) pin -= 18; // allow for channel or pin numbers
#elif defined(__AVR_ATmega1284__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega1284P__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega644__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega644A__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega644P__) || defined(__AVR_ATmega644PA__)
	if (pin >= 24) pin -= 24; // allow for channel or pin numbers
#else
	if (pin >= 14) pin -= 14; // allow for channel or pin numbers
#endif

#if defined(ADCSRB) && defined(MUX5)
	// the MUX5 bit of ADCSRB selects whether we're reading from channels
	// 0 to 7 (MUX5 low) or 8 to 15 (MUX5 high).
	ADCSRB = (ADCSRB & ~(1 << MUX5)) | (((pin >> 3) & 0x01) << MUX5);
#endif

	// set the analog reference (high two bits of ADMUX) and select the
	// channel (low 4 bits).  this also sets ADLAR (left-adjust result)
	// to 0 (the default).
#if defined(ADMUX)
#if defined(__AVR_ATtiny25__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny45__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny85__)
	ADMUX = (analog_reference << 4) | (pin & 0x07);
#else
	ADMUX = (analog_reference << 6) | (pin & 0x07);
#endif
#endif
}


void Analog::Start()
{
	// without a delay, we seem to read from the wrong channel
	//delay(1);

#if defined(ADCSRA) && defined(ADCL)
	// start the conversion
	sbi(ADCSRA, ADSC);
#endif
}

bool Analog::IsReady() const
{
#if defined(ADCSRA) && defined(ADCL)
	// ADSC is cleared when the conversion finishes
	return !bit_is_set( ADCSRA, ADSC );
#else
	// we don't want to get stuck
	return true;
#endif
}


int Analog::Read() const
{
	uint8_t low, high;

#if defined(ADCSRA) && defined(ADCL)
	// we have to read ADCL first; doing so locks both ADCL
	// and ADCH until ADCH is read.  reading ADCL second would
	// cause the results of each conversion to be discarded,
	// as ADCL and ADCH would be locked when it completed.
	low  = ADCL;
	high = ADCH;
#else
	// we dont have an ADC, return 0
	low  = 0;
	high = 0;
#endif

	// combine the two bytes
	return (high << 8) | low;
}

Example

Just a little example:

#include <Arduino.h>
#include "Analog.h"

int main(void)
{
	init();

	Analog a0( A0 );

	while( 1 )
	{
		a0.Start();
		while( not a0.IsReady() );
	        auto read = a0.Read();
                // do something with the reading
        }
}

Greetings!