LaunchPad CC3200 WiFi

Everyone talks about the Internet of Things but few boards are available. Texas Instruments combines a Cortex-M4 with a built-in WiFi radio.

The LaunchPad WiFi with CC3200 is a development platform from Texas Instruments for the 80MHz 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 CC3200 MCU with 256 KB of RAM. To store the sketches, the board includes 1 MB of additional fast SPI flash.

The board also features 3 LEDs, one reset plus two buttons, a built-in debugger, two sensors —the TMP006 thermometer and the BMA222 accelerometer on the I²C bus—, and connectors for a 40-pin BoosterPack.

There's one serious hardware limitation with the CC3200. Analog inputs are limited to 1.5 V. Higher voltage may zombify the MCU.

Software

Texas Instruments offers a wide choice of IDEs: CCS, IAR, Energia.

The Arduino-compatible IDE or integrated development environment is called Energīa.

It is derived from Arduino 1.0. As Processing-based Wiring-derived, it is platform-agnostic and runs on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.

The LaunchPad WiFi with CC3200 is supported by embedXcode, embedded computing on Xcode.

When used with Energia or embedXcode, proceed as follow:

Remove the JTAG J8 jumper and the SPO2 jumper.
Place a wire from JTAG J8 (emulator side) to SOP2 (CC3200) side.
Plug the LaunchPad WiFi with CC3200 board.

The project is uploaded into flash.

For debugging with embedXcode, proceed as follow:

Remove the wire from JTAG J8 (emulator side) to SOP2 (CC3200) side.
Place the JTAG J8 jumper.
Plug the LaunchPad WiFi with CC3200 board.
Launch the target Debug.

The project is uploaded into SRAM and lost in case the power is disconnected.

WiFi Provisionning

There are three different ways to configure the CC3200:

An access point (AP) limited to one single station connected to it,
A station with hardcoded credentials, with the network name (SSID) and password provided on the code,
A station with SmartConfig, a very easy way thanks to an app available for Android and iOS.

Just connect the smartphone or the tablet to the WiFi LAN and launch the Android or iOS app. Fill in the WiFi LAN password and press Start.

The app looks for the CC3100 or CC3200, configures the device automatically and saves that configuration on the CC3100 or CC3200.

Subsequent connections on the CC3100 or CC3200 use the saved configuration.

Pins Map

The LaunchPad features multiple SPI, I²C and Serial ports.

The I²C bus for the TMP006 thermometer and the BMA222 accelerometer can be easily disconnected thanks to the SDA, SCL and INT shunts.

Some pins aren't available for the BoosterPack: they're shown with faded colours. The pins names aren't available on Energia: use instead the pins numbers.

A Perfect Introduction to Internet of Things

The LaunchPad WiFi with CC3200 offers the perfect introduction to the Internet of Things. It is the recommended board based on my extensive review of IoT-capable platforms.

The Cortex-M4 doesn't feature a FPU. The WiFi radio can operate as client or access point. The SimpleLink technology makes the configuration very easy. Technical documentation ensures that full compatibility is guaranteed.

Keep in mind analog inputs are limited to 1.5 V. Higher voltage may zombify the MCU. This LaunchPad is not compatible with the LaunchPad + BoosterPack eco-system.

The analog inputs are limited to 1.5 V. Higher voltages may damage the MCU.
This LaunchPad is not compatible with BoosterPacks featuring analog inputs.

Pros

Very nice package with USB cable,
Large offer in IDEs: 3 professional IDEs from Texas Instruments, Arduino-like Energia, RTOS-based Energia MT, and embedXcode.
Very easy WiFi provisionning

Cons

Analog inputs limited to 1.5 V
No FPU
Some pins aren't connected
Multiple and confusing pins naming schemes

Wrap-Up

Tremendous value
The perfect cost-effective introduction to Internet of Things
Limited compatibility with the LaunchPad + BoosterPack eco-system
Very easy WiFi provisionning

Links

Posted 2015-07-20 — Edited 2017-01-04