Nuvoton development platform Golden 3 steps: Step 1, Development
Last time, the complete eco-system of Nuvoton was introduced: Sufficient tools were provided for all three stages development, mass production, and upgrade to allow customers to complete the goals of the various stages more efficiently. This article will explain how to start a project in the first development stage by following the Quick Start guide's steps.
To let customers quickly enter the eco-system, each of Nuvoton's NuMaker evaluation boards is equipped with the Quick Start guide; customers can start product development simply by following the detailed steps on the webpage. This article will use Nuvoton's NuMaker-M251KG Quick Start guide as an example to implement the processes of the development stage.
There are four main tools used for the development stage (Fig. 1): the integrated development environment (IDE), the NuMaker evaluation board, the Board Support Package (BSP), and PinConfigure/ PinView. Since this article will focus on the Quick Start guide, detailed introductions of the graphical auxiliary tools PinConfigure and PinView will be provided in future articles.
Fig. 1 Tools used for the development stage
NuMaker-M251KG Quick Start guide
The link to the Quick Start guide is marked at the bottom-right corner on the back of the NuMaker evaluation board (Fig. 2), or it can be located on Nuvoton's official website: First, find the "NuMaker-M251XX" evaluation board (XX is the circuit packaging method of the MCU and the code for the FLASH size; customers can select according to the product purchased, for example, NuMaker-M251KG) in the "Evaluation board" page under "Software and Tools" on the official website, then click the Quick Start guide to see detailed step by step instructions.
Fig. 2 Quick Start link on the NuMaker evaluation board
Use the following six simple steps in the Quick Start guide to set up the development environment and execute a sample project successfully, completing the development stage processes (Fig. 3).
Click the various IDE links to locate the download location and installation instructions.
Click the various Nu-Link Driver links of the corresponding IDE to complete the download.
(This step can be skipped for NuEclipse)
- Download and decompress the Board Support Package BSP
Click the BSP link to complete the download.
In addition to the versions provided on the official website, you can also visit Nuvoton's GitHub page to locate the latest version of BSP.
- Hardware setup
- Enable the Nu-Link virtual COM port (VCOM) function equipped on the NuMaker evaluation board.
- Connect the NuMaker evaluation board and the computer using the USB cable.
- Locate Nuvoton Virtual Com Port in device manager.
- Use the sample project in BSP: Template
The path of the Template is M251_252_254_256_258_Series_BSP_CMSIS_V3.XX.XXX.zip\SampleCode\Template
- Executing project
Detailed instructions for executing projects under individual IDEs are shown in Chapter 4.6 User Manual.
Fig. 3 Development stage processes
Customers can use Nuvoton's rich software and hardware tools during the development stage. Along with a Quick Start guide that is easy to understand, it is hoped that these will provide customers with a complete eco-system, reduce the burden of customers and improve product development efficiency. In the future, not only will explanations be provided for PinConfigure and PinView, the solutions for the mass production and upgrade stages in this eco-system will also be introduced.