Servo Control

The next step was to figure out how to operate a radio control(RC) servo as a proxy for an Electronic Speed Control(ESC).

My test rig uses (prices as at Aug 2020) the following parts

• Netduino 3 Wifi
• Grove-Base Shield V2.0 for Arduino USD4.45
• Grove-Universal 4 Pin Bucked 20cm cable(5 PCs Pack) USD2.90
• Grove-Servo USD5.90
• Grove-Rotary Angle Sensor USD2.90

My servo test harness

public class Program
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.Longboard.ServoTest starting");

      try
      {
         AdcController adc = AdcController.GetDefault();
         AdcChannel adcChannel = adc.OpenChannel(0);

         ServoMotor servo = new ServoMotor("TIM5", ServoMotor.ServoType.Positional, PinNumber('A', 0));
         servo.ConfigurePulseParameters(0.6, 2.3);

         while (true)
         {
            double value = adcChannel.ReadRatio();
            double position = Map(value, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 180);

            Debug.WriteLine($"Value: {value:F2} Position: {position:F1}");

            servo.Set(position);

            Thread.Sleep(100);
         }
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
         Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
      }
   }

   private static int PinNumber(char port, byte pin)
   {
      if (port < 'A' || port > 'J')
         throw new ArgumentException();

      return ((port - 'A') * 16) + pin;
   }

   private static double Map(double x, double inputMinimum, double inputMaximum, double outputMinimum, double outputMaximum)
   {
      return (x - inputMinimum) * (outputMaximum - outputMinimum) / (inputMaximum - inputMinimum) + outputMinimum;
   }
}

The nanoFramework code polls for the rotary angle sensor for its position every 100mSec and then updates the servo.

The servo code was based on sample code provided by GHI Electronics for their TinyCLR which I had to adapt to work with the nanoFramework.

The next test rig will be getting the Netduino 3 software working my Longboard ESC and Lithium Polymer(LiPo) batteries.

Analog Inputs & Pulse Width Modulation

The next step was to figure out how to configure a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) output and an Analog Input so I could adjust the duty cycle and control the brightness of a Light Emitting Diode(LED).

My test rig uses (prices as at Aug 2020) the following parts

• Netduino 3 Wifi
• Grove-Base Shield V2.0 for Arduino USD4.45
• Grove-Universal 4 Pin Bucked 5cm cable(5 PCs Pack) USD1.90
• Grove-Universal 4 Pin Bucked 20cm cable(5 PCs Pack) USD2.90
• Grove-LED Pack USD2.90
• Grove-Rotary Angle Sensor USD2.90

My analog input test harness

 public class Program
   {
      public static void Main()
      {
         Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.Longboard.AdcTest starting");
         Debug.WriteLine(AdcController.GetDeviceSelector());

         try
         {
            AdcController adc = AdcController.GetDefault();
            AdcChannel adcChannel = adc.OpenChannel(0);

            while (true)
            {
               double value = adcChannel.ReadRatio();

               Debug.WriteLine($"Value: {value:F2}");

               Thread.Sleep(100);
            }
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
            Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
         }
      }
   }

The nanoFramework code polls for the rotary angle sensor for its position value every 100mSec.

The setup to use for the Analog to Digital Convertor(ADC) port was determined by looking at the board.h and target_windows_devices_adc_config.cpp file.

//
// Copyright (c) 2018 The nanoFramework project contributors
// See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
//

#include <win_dev_adc_native_target.h>

const NF_PAL_ADC_PORT_PIN_CHANNEL AdcPortPinConfig[] = {
    
    // ADC1
    {1, GPIOC, 0, ADC_CHANNEL_IN10},
    {1, GPIOC, 1, ADC_CHANNEL_IN11},

    // ADC2
    {2, GPIOC, 2, ADC_CHANNEL_IN14},
    {2, GPIOC, 3, ADC_CHANNEL_IN15},

    // ADC3
    {3, GPIOC, 4, ADC_CHANNEL_IN12},
    {3, GPIOC, 5, ADC_CHANNEL_IN13},

    // these are the internal sources, available only at ADC1
    {1, NULL, 0, ADC_CHANNEL_SENSOR},
    {1, NULL, 0, ADC_CHANNEL_VREFINT},
    {1, NULL, 0, ADC_CHANNEL_VBAT},
};

const int AdcChannelCount = ARRAYSIZE(AdcPortPinConfig);

The call to AdcController.GetDeviceSelector() only returned one controller

The thread '<No Name>' (0x2) has exited with code 0 (0x0).
devMobile.Longboard.AdcTest starting
ADC1

After some experimentation it appears that only A0 & A1 work on a Netduino. (Aug 2020).

My PWM test harness

public class Program
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.Longboard.PwmTest starting");
      Debug.WriteLine(PwmController.GetDeviceSelector());

      try
      {
         PwmController pwm = PwmController.FromId("TIM5");
         AdcController adc = AdcController.GetDefault();
         AdcChannel adcChannel = adc.OpenChannel(0);

         PwmPin pwmPin = pwm.OpenPin(PinNumber('A', 0));
         pwmPin.Controller.SetDesiredFrequency(1000);
         pwmPin.Start();

         while (true)
         {
            double value = adcChannel.ReadRatio();

            Debug.WriteLine(value.ToString("F2"));

            pwmPin.SetActiveDutyCyclePercentage(value);

            Thread.Sleep(100);
         }
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
         Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
      }
   }

   private static int PinNumber(char port, byte pin)
   {
      if (port < 'A' || port > 'J')
         throw new ArgumentException();
      return ((port - 'A') * 16) + pin;
   }
}

I had to refer to the Netduino schematic to figure out pin mapping

With my test rig (with easy access to D0 thru D8) I found that only D2,D3,D7 and D8 work as PWM outputs.

The next test rig will be getting Servo working.