EZ430-Chronos

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The eZ430-Chronos Wireless Watch Development Tool

The eZ430-Chronos is a highly integrated, wearable wireless development system that comes in a sports watch. It may be used as a reference platform for watch systems, a personal display for personal area networks, as a wireless sensor node for remote data collection, or simply as a watch.

Based on the CC430F6137 <1 GHz RF SoC, the eZ430-Chronos is a complete CC430-based development system contained in a watch. This tool features a 96 segment LCD display and provides an integrated pressure sensor and 3-axis accelerometer for motion sensitive control. The integrated wireless feature allows the Chronos to act as a central hub for nearby wireless sensors such as pedometers and heart rate monitors. The eZ430-Chronos offers temperature and battery voltage measurement and is complete with a USB-based CC1111 wireless interface to a PC.

The eZ430-Chronos watch may be disassembled to be reprogrammed with a custom application and includes an eZ430 USB programming interface.

Contents

Features

CC430F6137 Block Diagram
  • Fully functional sports watch based on the CC430F6137, MSP430 with integrated <1GHz wireless transceiver
  • Watch reprogrammable for custom wireless applications
  • Highly integrated watch includes on-board 3-axis accelerometer, pressure sensor, temperature sensor, battery voltage sensor
  • 96-Segment LCD display driven directly by CC430
  • Can be paired wirelessly with heart rate monitors, pedometers or other devices based on RF transceivers like the CC430 or CC1111
  • Includes an eZ430 USB emulator that connects the Chronos to a PC for real-time, in-system programming and debugging
  • Includes IAR Kickstart and Code Composer Studio integrated development environments
  • Watch is 30m waterproof. See FAQ section in User Guide for details.

Related Videos

What's Included

  • Chronos watch
  • eZ430 USB programming and debugging interface
  • CC1111 USB RF access point
  • Chronos Disassembly Tool (Mini Phillips screwdriver)
  • 2 extra screws
  • CR2032 Coin Cell Lithium Battery (Battery life is estimated in User Guide)

Integrated Sensors

The Chronos hooked up to the eZ430 emulator

Development Software

Although there are many other compiler and integrated development environments for MSP430 including the Rowley Crossworks and MSPGCC, the two main options supporting the eZ430-Chronos are IAR Embedded Workbench KickStart and Code Composer Studio. Both IAR and CCS have free code-limited versions supporting the Chronos. The projects for Chronos are delivered in both full source and pre-compiled library options to avoid any code size restrictions.

Ordering

Order Now RF Operating
Frequency
Common Operating
Region
Ship Date
eZ430-Chronos-433 TI eStore

Digikey

433 MHz Worldwide March 2010
eZ430-Chronos-868 TI eStore

Digikey

868 MHz Europe & India Now
eZ430-Chronos-915 TI eStore
Digikey
915 MHz N. & S. America Now

Documentation (User Guide, Schematics & Instructions)

433, 868 & 915 MHz Frequency Differences

There are 3 different versions of the eZ430-Chronos kit available, the eZ430-Chronos-433, -868, and -915. The only difference between each version is the RF operating frequency that is supported out-of-the-box. Having multiple operating frequencies available allows for the Chronos to comply with regional RF regulations worldwide. If you're debating on which version is best, it's recommended that you purchase the version that was designed for your specific region.

Theoretically, the biggest impact of changing the radio frequency is range. In general, radio frequency is inversely proportional to range. Low frequency signals travel a greater distance and penetrate through and around objects better than high frequency signals. On the other hand, lower frequencies require larger antennas due to the longer wavelength. In the case of the Chronos, the 868 and 915MHz version will have similar RF performance. Evaluation on the 433 MHz version is on-going, but the range is likely to be shorter as a 433MHz antenna can't be much bigger inside the watch housing compared to the other versions. More information will follow once results are available.

Because each version is based on the CC430F6137, most of the other RF performance features are functionally the same on each version. Power consumption, bandwidth, data rate will be identical for each version. The data rate is independent of the radio frequency so it's possible to achieve the max data rate of 500 kbps using any Chronos version.

The 868-MHz and 915-MHz watch hardware are physically identical and the radio frequency is software selectable so it's possible to switch frequency if necessary. However, the RF Access Points for the two respective kits are slightly different. The 868-MHz Access Point has a 0Ω resistor next to the antenna and the 915-MHz version does not. The 433-MHz kit is different than the other versions in both software and hardware.

Projects

eZ430-Chronos Control Center

eZ430-Chronos Control Center (Install this first)

The eZ430 Chronos Control Center allows you to see most of the functionality of the Chronos in action. It will wirelessly pair with the Chronos and allow you to:

  • Plot Accelerometer data
  • Calibrate the accelerometer, temperature altimeter sensor
  • Enables motion-based control of the mouse
  • Enables wireless control of PowerPoint presentations
  • Maps the buttons on the Chronos to user defined keyboard shortcuts
  • Sync the time with your PC
  • Emulate a heart rate monitor. PC and Chronos will display the same heart rate and speed info.
  • Download data logged on the Chronos to your PC. NOTE: The data logger isn't a part of the factory programming of the Chronos and different firmware must be downloaded to the Chronos.
  • Installing the Chronos Control Center will install the drivers required for the RF Access Point.

Currently, only the Windows binary is included, however the source code will be released shortly.

Download Now

Factory Programmed Chronos Firmware

The factory-loaded program may be loaded back onto the watch if needed or it can be used as a starting point to create a new, custom application.

Features:

  • Basic watch functions:
    • Time
    • Date
    • Alarm
    • Stopwatch
  • Sensor Measurement and display:
    • Altitude
    • 3-Axis accelerometer
    • Battery voltage
    • Temperature
  • Fitness Functions (Requires an compatible heart rate monitor):
    • Heart rate
    • Running speed
    • Distance traveled
    • Calories burned
  • Wireless Modes:
    • ACC: Transmit accelerometer motion data
    • PPT: Wireless presentation control or bind Chronos keys to PC keyboard shortcuts
    • Sync: Syncs time and date with PC and calibrates Temperature and Altitude
  • Wireless Protocols Included:

The source code for this project is installed by Chronos-setup.exe. By default, the source code is copied to C:\Program Files\Texas Instruments\eZ430-Chronos\Software Projects

Download Now

Data Logger

The eZ430-Chronos can be used as a data logger. Heart rate, temperature, and altitude can be logged in user definable intervals of 1 to 255 seconds. 8kB of internal Flash memory is reserved for logging for several hours up to days, depending on the settings. The stored data can be transferred to a PC (in CSV format) and used for further analysis.

The source code for this project is installed by Chronos-setup.exe.

Download Now

CC430F6137 Code Examples

The code examples are a series of ~100 sample programs written in C that demonstrate several ways to configure each of the peripherals on the CC430. Using CCS or IAR, each file can be downloaded directly to the device or snippets from each example can be combined to achieve your desired function.

Download Now

Fall Detector

A bachelor thesis on a fall detection is currently in work.

Still in development...

RF BSL

The RF BSL (Boot Strap Loader) allows you to change the firmware on the Chronos wirelessly. There will be no need to open the enclosure to upgrade the program in use. Hardware debugging (setting breakpoints, single stepping, etc) is not possible over a BSL because physical access to the JTAG/Spy Bi-Wire is required for in-system programming.

Still in development...

Linux Support

A Linux demo application based on the Chronos Control Center for Windows and Linux drivers for the Chronos RF access point are currently in development. Note that this does not include Linux support for IAR or CCS.

Still in development...

PC/Chronos Communication

These programs have been tested in Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

By default, the programs are setup to run in Windows. You must change the COM port number to the COM port your wireless access point is assigned to in the code for the programs to work correctly. The directions for this are in the source code, so see the source code for details.

To get the programs working in Linux both programs have a line in the code that says:

ser = serial.Serial(5,115200,timeout=1)

change that line to:

ser = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyACM0",115200,timeout=1)

If another USB device attached to the machine the device may be /dev/ttyACM1, /dev/ttyACM2, etc.

or in OSX: Get pyserial (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyserial)

ser = serial.Serial("/dev/tty.usbmodem001",115200,timeout=1)

  • Python application to sync the Chronos with host PC's time: View source here (Python 2.6 and pySerial are both required)
  • Python application to read acceleration data from the Chronos (Older versions had x and z values backwards. This code has been corrected.): View source here (Python 2.6 and pySerial are both required)
  • Python code to read the button presses in PPT mode can be found here
  • A version of the accelerometer code was also written in Processing.
  • A Processing version of the code to get button presses is available here
  • A Ruby program to read the accelerometer data from the Chronos and an application for that program.
  • A Python script for controlling mouse under Linux. Additional info at the top of the script.
  • A Processing sketch demonstrating how to graph accelerometer data is available here

Wireless Door Lock

Using the new TI eZ430-Chronos sport development watch, this an electronic door unlock device. The watch communicates wirelessly to lock and unlock the door after given a secret password (a sequence of taps on the watch’s 3-axis accelerometer). This system demonstrates an ultra-low power consumption wireless system using TI’s MSP430 architecture, achieving estimated battery lifetimes of over 4 years on the watch and over a year on the door.

Contributing Projects

If you've developed a project for the eZ430-Chronos and would like to make it available for everyone, please post it here. Small projects (<2MB) can be uploaded directly to the wiki or they may hosted externally on your personal site, Google Code, SourceForge, or any other file repository.

Chronos Partners

The eZ430-Chronos kit was developed and manufactured by a team of partners. Besides Texas Instruments, the main driver behind the Chronos, the partners include:

  • BM Innovations developed most of the hardware and software. BMi is a development specialist for electronic equipment in the sports and fitness market.
If you would like to have a custom watch based on the Chronos developed, please contact BMi directly
BM innovations GmbH
+49 8764 94 91 42
info@bm-innovations.com
  • IDT manufactured the Chronos. IDT is a leading manufacturer for electronic products in sports, fitness and healthcare.
  • Johanson Technology antennas and matching components are used in the Chronos. Johanson Technology provides ceramic components that optimize RF front end designs. TI applications notes for Johanson Technologies antennas and filter baluns are available.
  • VTI Technologies pressure sensors and accelerometers are used in the Chronos. VTI Technologies is a leading provider of acceleration, inclination, motion and pressure sensor solutions.

Compatible Accessories

Heart rate monitor chest strap

Chest straps for heart rate monitoring

Bike Sensors

  • BM-BS2 Bike Sensor - Measures speed and distance based on wheel rotation (Under development - Q1/2010)

Compatible RF Development Boards

  • AMB8423 eZ430 868/915MHZ target board based on CC1101 and MSP430F2274
  • EM430F6137RF900 CC430 Wireless Development Board
  • CC1101EMK433 CC1101 433 MHz Evaluation Module
  • CC1101EMK868-915 CC1101 868/915 MHz Evaluation Module. This is similar to the USB Chronos Access Point except it includes additional headers for reprogramming.
    CC1111EMK868-915 Module

For technical support please post your questions at http://e2e.ti.com. Please post only comments about the article EZ430-Chronos here.
Leave a Comment

Comments

Comments on EZ430-Chronos


Contents

Smackpotato said ...

I would be interested in what external sensors i can use with this watch more specifically. what can I use to connect with a bicycle speed sensor ie a hall sensor

--Smackpotato 23:47, 23 November 2009 (CST)

Applebottom said ...

This is so exciting it makes my ***** hurt!

--Applebottom 00:44, 24 November 2009 (CST)

Robertjw said ...

This is an exciting product which will undoubtedly open up many new application spaces. I've put in an order for a development unit today and will look forward to trying out some of my ideas on this platform. Hopefully, a toolchain be available to run on an Ubuntu 9.10 or Fedora 12 environment. (I can't adequately explain how much I dislike being forced to work in a windows environment.) Good luck with this product!

--Robertjw 12:10, 24 November 2009 (CST)

Mooneyj said ...

What are the pros and cons of the various transmission frequencies. EU-868MHz, or Worldwide-433MHz. Im guessing you can get more bandwidth with 868, but is this really a significant factor? Can the device use the extra bandwidth? I also wish for linux compatability; please please please.

--Mooneyj 12:42, 24 November 2009 (CST)

Mhirst said ...

Very intriguing. Unfortunately most of the application that I have in mind would need to display short messages. Mostly short clues as to which mode I am in. But also lists of names or events kept in a database. I have developed various applications on the Timex USB Datalink. They have a nice LCD that is a combination of a couple of generic pixel grids as well as a display with 9-segment characters, as well as a few little icons. That would make a great development platform for this TI chip. I'd love to see how useful the accelerometers would be as a "tilt-sensor" to enable me to scroll around in my data. I'd want to experiment with shaking the watch to take splits using only one hand. And Time math calculations are important to me. I need to add, subtract, multiply, and divide to get average pace from a final time. Also to convert an estimated meter times from a given yards time to the nearest hundredth of a second.

--Mhirst 17:10, 24 November 2009 (CST)

TecDroiD said ...

hi, I'm very interested in using that watch (by the way: why doesn't it provide a micro sd slot and dot matrix display? ;) ) But I could not find any information on developing chronos under linux. So, is there a linux version of CCS?

--TecDroiD 01:28, 25 November 2009 (CST)

Voelker said ...

This is a very nice development platform !!! I see that the 433Mhz version is delayed to february, but it seems that radio transceiver frequency can be programmed. Does this mean that european and US version have the same hardware but different software ? Does the limitation for 433Mhz comes from a crystal or something else ? Thanks

--Voelker 09:09, 25 November 2009 (CST)

Mandor said ...

This could be a great product (It would allow for instance to build a basic but light alti-vario for paragliding pilot). However, I don't find how to program it under Linux; is it possible? (if so, I order now :) ).


--Mandor 11:21, 25 November 2009 (CST)

Oys said ...

Interesting product. Will order if development is possible under linux.

Someone please clarify pros/cons of 433 vs 868 versions.

Application ideas: Smart alarm clock that knows when you are in REM sleep.

--Oys 15:25, 25 November 2009 (CST)

Zany slo said ...

it will be nice, if it had a gps support

--Zany slo 02:33, 26 November 2009 (CST)

Amilodnanref said ...

Could post some information about battery? What kind of battery does the watch uses and the estimated duration.

thanks

--Amilodnanref 09:32, 26 November 2009 (CST)

Medicdave said ...

Add me to the list of developers who would love to be able to target this device from my Linux host PC!

--Medicdave 18:36, 30 November 2009 (CST)

Smiffy said ...

I will add my voice to those who would like to see native Linux development for this VERY exciting product. Shame that the heart-rate monitor is not available in a 433MHz version - that's the only band legal here in Australia. @Zany slo - but it doesn't need integrated GPS! I thought the same myself, initially, but all you need is to add a separate, wearable GPS to your Personal Area Network.

--Smiffy 20:53, 30 November 2009 (CST)

Tfcsd said ...

I would be interested if there was a calculator function. The casio CFX-400 scientific calculator watch had several useful functions. A touch screen would be nice.

--Tfcsd 23:58, 30 November 2009 (CST)

Abhinavbisen5 said ...

Hi, I new to the CC development suite. Could you please let me know the Flash memory on the Chronos. I was plannig to use it as a wireless USB datastorage device.

--Abhinavbisen5 00:46, 1 December 2009 (CST)

Vin said ...

This looks like a great product with a lot of potential.

What would all of you consider the PRO’s and CON’s of getting a unit with 433MHz vs 868Mhz vs 915MHz??

ex. Battery life, bandwith, range, application compatibility, “hackability”, functionality, etc. etc.

I was doing some research on these freq’s and each one has it’s pros and cons. For example one does not have heart rate monitor support whereas it does have compatibility with other devices like xbee. Another frequency is also able to handle more bandwidth, but it may suffer in battery life as a result. Another freq has greater range but suffers in compatibility. Etc etc.

There are many trade-offs we should all consider before purchasing. I just wish there was a definitive list/table of pro’s and con’s of each freq. that addressed issues like battery life, bandwith, range, application compatibility, “hackability”, functionality, etc. etc.

--Vin 01:24, 4 December 2009 (CST)

Adrian said ...

Thanks for all the comments! I've tried to address many of the questions in the wiki itself so keep checking for updates.

--Adrian 15:46, 7 December 2009 (CST)

Landor said ...

As far as I know...

there is no acceleration sensor in currently available chest straps:

   * BM-CS5 - Long Range (400m)
   * BM-CS5SR - Short Range (10m) 

So the following information is not available with those:

  1. Running speed
  2. Distance traveled

--Landor 03:59, 14 December 2009 (CST)

Tdomhan said ...

I would also appreciate if it was possible to develop under linux.

--Tdomhan 09:42, 15 December 2009 (CST)

Jaritter said ...

Which G range does the accelerometer support? 3G or 8G? Can it be switched by either a jumper or under MCU control?

--Jaritter 13:25, 15 December 2009 (CST)

Akashbaid said ...

Any idea on when we can get our hands on this. The website initially said Dec 15th, but its apparently delayed due to some reasons.

--Akashbaid 19:31, 20 December 2009 (CST)

Thaumatiger said ...

Water resistance rating, please? Left to the user as an exercise, like the lapidary work, settings and OS VM environment? If your chest strap acceleration is orthogonal to the worn watch, you either jog in groups or are too flexible to be monitoring your workout with under 64 bit computing....

--Thaumatiger 02:26, 22 December 2009 (CST)

Stadt001 said ...

If your like me, you have been waiting since November for your Chronos. My order states that it has already shipped, but talking to the support team sounds like "sometime" in January maybe...

Maybe TI can update this wiki with a reasonable timeframe for actually getting this thing out the door. Really want to get started on doing some work on the Chronos device, just need the hardware.

--Stadt001 16:58, 28 December 2009 (CST)

Sagacious said ...

I requested 100 Chronus on the Digi-Key website. It told me that they could ship 22 on Jan 4th and 78 on Feb 26th. Looks like they might be trickling out. I, too, have been waiting a while...


--Sagacious 15:57, 29 December 2009 (CST)

Old cow yellow said ...

What is the status of "RF BSL"? Any estimates?

If you need Beta Test, I will be interested.

--Old cow yellow 01:11, 31 December 2009 (CST)

Paserra said ...

Hi, I think EZ430-chronos is the best wireless invention in 2009!!! Great!


--Paserra 04:45, 31 December 2009 (CST)

Jackwburton said ...

Just received my ez430 unboxing on youtube search for "jwburton"

--Jackwburton 18:50, 4 January 2010 (CST)

Frankvh said ...

A question. How does the pressure sensor access the outside air if the watch is sealed up to 30 m water resistance?

--Frankvh 19:04, 5 January 2010 (CST)

Aenigma said ...

Now that the chronos is out, we need an eZ430-RF433/868/915 like the eZ430-RF2500 development tool. This watch works fine with the USB adapter to communicate back to a PC, but what if we want to have the watch communicate with embedded systems? Having a sub-1GHz target board like the eZ430-RF2500T (for the same price or less) would be awesome.

--Aenigma 10:21, 6 January 2010 (CST)

Lxxl said ...

Finally got it ... nice nice but after take out battery and put it back i can't setup proper temp and altitude .. if i make a tuneup over watch or PCsync its will go crazy, its mean temp will not works so good... after unboxing all works perfect ...

--Lxxl 04:03, 7 January 2010 (CST)

Wojc0008 said ...

Does anyone have any distance measurements for this watch? How far does the wireless work? 20 meters? 400 meters? Just looking for an estimate for indoors and outdoors.

--Wojc0008 15:15, 7 January 2010 (CST)

Terryp said ...

I got mine today too, and tried for over an hour to get it to install, both on a desktop and a laptop, without success. Looked like it should be an easy 3-step process, but I just get error messages. The software an drivers installed okay, but the PCs don't like the USB RF link dongle. After a half hour on the phone with customer support, I was told that they couldn't give me an RMA number because I had opened the box. After all the business I've given TI over the last three decades, this really turns me off. Has anyone gotten theirs to work yet?

--Terryp 16:15, 7 January 2010 (CST)

Lxxl said ...

Terryp, i do not have any problem with install this on 3 units: 1. Home PC Vista x64 2. Home NB W7 x64 3. Work PC XPP x32

only on last one i have a issue, with drivers because i don't catch the warning MSG with unsigned drivers ;), after next try all was ok and now its works perfect.

--Lxxl 06:35, 8 January 2010 (CST)

Proempiet said ...

Received mine in The Netherlands yesterday. What GPS (make or model) can I connect with the watch? I would like to display position and speed on the watch.

--Proempiet 08:18, 8 January 2010 (CST)

StrA said ...

Just received mine two days ago in France. The altimeter did not work at first and the watch showed "ERR" on top of the display in altimeter mode. Problem solved by reseting the watch by removing the battery.

--StrA 09:12, 8 January 2010 (CST)

Grandview said ...

Terryp:

Go look under the MSP430 EE Forums (TI Home page) and look under the subject heading "ez430-Chronos RF access point problem".

There are problems with their USB Drivers on some revs of Windows, so you have to uninstall the current USB Drivers, and install the new ones on the latest v 1.1 Chronos Software package (Dec 2 2009), downloadable from the TI Chronos page.

--Grandview 10:31, 8 January 2010 (CST)

Mooneyj said ...

Running CCC in XP via QEMU on an Ubuntu box. No complaints, a very impressive bit of kit.

--Mooneyj 10:59, 8 January 2010 (CST)

Ekuleshov said ...

Is it possible to get the source code for the Chronos Control Center and Chronos Data Logger applications for PC?

--Ekuleshov 09:48, 9 January 2010 (CST)

Thedude7053 said ...

Got Mine Yesterday, awesome little kit. my only beef is that the Phillips head that ships with the kit is too big, but i had a smaller on on hand though.

--Thedude7053 01:05, 10 January 2010 (CST)

Geekfest said ...

So I got mine Yesterday (1/9/10). Got to say it's neat but there are some real issues that I see.

- The Code Composer studio is a good tool but you definitely have a VERY limited version of the tool. One is unable to change any of the basic functionality since the only changeable module is "main.c". One can compile and link and download/debug, however the functionality is in the library that has been pre-compiled. This is linked in at link time.

So I'm pretty dissapointed that functionality cant be changed unless one forks out more $$$ for the full Code Composer Studio Software.

What I would like to see is Eclipse and the full GNU chain available, which would pretty much replace the TI software. I'm not sure about the debugger and the JTAG stub though. Would be nice if someone would comment about that if they know more.

As a concept, this is a great idea. However it's been packaged as a marketing tool to try and sell more software seats. C'mon TI, do you think that you can get a micro-controller onto the market by selling something without proper support ???

--Geekfest 19:27, 10 January 2010 (CST)

Chronos trier said ...

I managed to open the watch and pull the battery out but I must say I am having a hell of a time, trying to put the battery back in and get the clip to stick. It simply wont hold the battery in place..:(


--Chronos trier 01:18, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Polossatik said ...

just got it, first remark is that the little screwdriver provided with it doesn't fit the screws properly. Bit silly to included it.

Secondly the Code Composer Studio indeed seams to be quite limited version, and sorry I don't see why I need to shelf out more $$$ for exatc this tool. Is there any other env that is more "open" that will be supported?

--Polossatik 03:19, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Lxxl said ...

Polossatik, yeah this is epic fail ... we have nice tools but stuck with SW ...

--Lxxl 04:44, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Lxxl said ...

Special campaign offer

Want to get started with eZ430-Chronos right away? Don't miss our special TI MCU Days campaign! We offer a discount on IAR visualSTATE Baseline—the perfect tool for designing your Chronos watch. Full retail price: 3 300 Euro. TI MCU Days discount price: 1 500.*


To obtain this special discount on IAR visualSTATE, please contact a local IAR sales office.

  • This offer is valid until December 31, 2009. One license per customer site. IAR visualSTATE Baseline has a 250 STATE limitation

Page: http://www.iar.com/timcudays

--Lxxl 05:31, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

The Chronos features an built in accelerometer, great.

The manual states: "This mode requires a heart rate monitor (chest belt) which includes an accelerometer to determine running speed."

Why do I have to use the chest belt to get a speed reading?

What is the difference in those two accelerometers?

Cheers, Wauschi

--Wauschi 12:56, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Pklammer said ...

Did anyone notice that altitude calibration in Control Center cannot be entered, only "spun" -- at about 10ft/s spin, I have to hold the button 10 MINUTES (over a mile high here in Colorado)!

--Pklammer 22:47, 11 January 2010 (CST)

Lxxl said ...

Pklammer: yeah same issue on my side in Europe ;DD, after first set over SYNC with PC Temp and Altitude go crazy .... no way to sync it, also manual calibrate in watch do not solve it ..

--Lxxl 07:45, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Sirwilliamjr said ...

Same as Wauschi (and Landor, I think) - why not use the accelerometer in the watch? I know it's motion is more complicated, but it seems possible. And the chest strap/HR monitor manufacturer mentions nothing about an accelerometer in their product.

--Sirwilliamjr 09:45, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Zbigniew221 said ...

I have several smart sensor designs that will work with this platform as well as with any PC. The RF link is in the development and I am collecting new requirements. And our API will be Linux compatible. Contact: Zbigniew@proximitydata.com

--Zbigniew221 10:05, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Robertjw said ...

I was excited about this product and was looking forward to trying out some of my ideas on this platform. My eZ430-Chronos arrived yesterday and now I find out that an unrestricted toolchain for this product does not exist.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I can't adequately explain how much I dislike being forced to work in a windows environment. However, I dislike even more being given cripled and closed windows tools. Too bad, but this is beyond my patience limit, the product becomes shelfware for me, and TI no longer has my mindshare on this one.

In summary, great looking hardware idea, but without adequate software support.

Please consider offering an open Eclipse based toolchain (or at least command line tools) like you do for so many other fine TI products.


--Robertjw 16:03, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Ash said ...

Just trying to work my way through the supplied source code and was wondering if anyone has compiled and loaded the software on the watch, or reloaded the recovery file? It has been a while since I have done any work on embedded processors and I am not familiar with either IDE, so just looking for a bit of help the first time through.

--Ash 17:40, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Kleinc said ...

Since we can only use the "limited" version of the code; Does anyone know the difference between the "full" and "limited versions of the "Sports Watch" code?

I made a small change to the clock.c to verify that the software properly downloaded to the watch and I see no other differences to the original configuration (except my changes to clock.c of course). Thanks!


--Kleinc 21:22, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Bubnikv said ...

Many of us have obtained the Chronos just for the sake of tinkering with it. I understand the reasons for providing a limited toolchain. I suppose most of us tinkerers will not purchase the heart monitor or bicycle RF accessories. Providing a project with the Blue Robin stack eradicated would leave about 5k of FLASH to play with.


--Bubnikv 22:23, 12 January 2010 (CST)

Elwing said ...

Is there some news on the RF BSL? oppenning the watch seems a tricky buisness... doing it only once seems a good idea to me so i'm waiting for the RF BSL to start working on my watch... and it starts to get annoying...

by the way, if it were a "consumer product" this watch got some major drawbacks... - the watch accuracy is pretty bad... got a drift os several minutes a day... - not being able to hold up and down button to cycle through value is a pain (and maybe a threat to the watch lifetime?) - depending on the use its autonomy can drop to 2days... it seems to me that it should be rechargeable without openning the case...

now it's not a "consumer product"... I plan to correct the first two point fast, but the latest really bug me, it seems hard to build some heavy RF interface projects...

--Elwing 02:02, 13 January 2010 (CST)

Epall said ...

I've started a Librelist for eZ430-Chronos developers to discuss their projects, problems, and progress! Just send an email to chronos@librelist.com to get started.

--Epall 17:31, 13 January 2010 (CST)

Idle tom said ...

I keep hearing about lack of free tools for development. It looks like mspgcc should be able to support this kit (possibly after writing a linker script). Can one load Intel hex on the board? Our small company has a lot of software based on mspgcc so it would be silly of us to give it up ...

--Idle tom 13:23, 14 January 2010 (CST)

Carey said ...

Regards chronos@librelist.com there does not seem to be any way to browse archives, search etc. Please keep discussions public and accessible to web search.

--Carey 14:57, 14 January 2010 (CST)

Bbrother said ...

Hi Tom, yes mspgcc should support this with a linker script and header files, Last night I got a basic program compiled and running. And yes you can load intel hex files. Also for those complaining about lack of linux support mspgcc can solve the compiling in linux however the programming board seems to be incompatible at the moment (Travis Goodspeed seems to have done a lot of work in this arena http://travisgoodspeed.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html). If you get a different JTAG programmer you can do development in linux (it needs to support spi-by-wire). Right now my solution involves mspgcc and NoICE for programming running in a windows VM, not ideal but at least it gets you onto a free toolchain.

Once I get a better mspgcc example and do a little more testing I will post all files in a google code project (hopefully by tonight)

-Brett

--Bbrother 16:11, 14 January 2010 (CST)

Ee moss said ...

We're building an Open Source Home Area Network (OSHAN, pronounced 'Ocean'), and just released MSPGCC support for CC430 microcontrollers on the OSHAN SourceForge site. http://sourceforge.net/projects/oshan/.

--Ee moss 01:22, 15 January 2010 (CST)

Elwing said ...

hum, directly out of the Box my watch as a HUGE time drift... it takes 25min every day... I'm starting to wonder if it is a bug related to the fact that mine runs at 868Mhz rather than 915Mhz... can someone with a 868Mhz watch check if they also have MAJOR time accuracy problems?

--Elwing 04:33, 15 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

@Elwing I also work with the 868Mhz version. After one week the watch is still perfectly in sync with the PC watch.

--Wauschi 11:33, 15 January 2010 (CST)

Adrian said ...

@Elwing if you're noticing that the time drifts, there's probably something wrong with your hardware. contact support.ti.com and they'll get you a new watch.

--Adrian 13:04, 15 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

I just tried to get rid of the Bluerobin overhead and removed it from the project.

Now the IAR (Kickstart) linker tells me: "Fatal Error[e89]: Too much object code produced (more than 0x4000 bytes) for this package".

I actually expected the code to get smaller. Has anybody already successfully removed Bluerobin?

--Wauschi 07:38, 16 January 2010 (CST)

Old cow yellow said ...

@Wauschi: I think you are using the Limited Edition of IDE. If so you need to use the the project for limited edition. Otherwise the Linker in the IDE will refuse to cooperate.

I cannot get the IAR IDE to debug. Do you have any luck?

--Old cow yellow 10:51, 16 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

@Old cow yellow: Yes I do use the limited version. For this reason I want to get rid of code I don't need, like Bluerobin. But removing the BR-stack means also removing the size optimized ez430_chronos_codesize_limit_drivers.r43, which is not a problem but you will end up with a larger project. A project that will again exceed the limits, even without BR.

For this reason I had a closer look at the sizes. Compiling the default project will result in something like:

30 092 bytes of CODE  memory 
   963 bytes of DATA  memory (+ 157 absolute ) 
 1 605 bytes of CONST memory 

How come if the size limit is 16k? What am i missing?

My system debugs perfectly. Are you able to download the code? (If not, is the driver recognized...) After downloading and starting the debug session you have to press F5 to start the code.

Feel free to send me an email: wauschi@gmail.com

My feeling is it will be pretty hard to keep track of all the postings if the postings can't be grouped like in a forum.

Does anybody know a proper forum (like AVR-Freaks) to openly discuss issues (in a structured way)?

--Wauschi 11:37, 16 January 2010 (CST)

Salsanci said ...

Just got my shipment, modified the watch code an dgot it working. I am now looking for doc/tools for the USB RF access point so I can start writing the corresponding PC code. Can someone point to the right place.

--Salsanci 12:22, 16 January 2010 (CST)

Esrwingnut said ...

Great idea!! Lots of educational potential! Mine is working ok - needs advanced calibration on PC side to compensate for temp, baro and acc variation. Clock is spot on. 1. Is the code for the PC part of the app available? If not - why not? It would save a lot of time to have a working model on the PC side as well. 2. I second the notion that the wiki comments need to be organized into subject areas not authors. Alternately put them into the normal E2E area.


--Esrwingnut 01:48, 17 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

Debugging (even) the original IAR project keeps returning: Sun Jan 17 22:43:14 2010: The stack 'Stack' is filled to 100% (256 bytes used out of 256). The warning threshold is set to 90.%

Changing the stack size does not help. When watching the stack one can see barely any stack is used.

Does anybody know how to fix it?

--Wauschi 15:47, 17 January 2010 (CST)

Old cow yellow said ...

@Wauschi

There are problems in MSP430.DLL and HIL.DLL when applied to F54xx chip. Read: http://wiki.msp430.com/index.php/MSP430_JTAG_Interface_USB_Driver#High-Level_Debugger_Drivers_MSP430.dll_.26_HIL.dll

--OCY

--Old cow yellow 00:26, 22 January 2010 (CST)

Uguryildiz said ...

My findings about the protocol between AP and Control Center: eZ430-Chronos Simple Acceleration reading sequence from serial port (http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp43016-bit_ultra-low_power_mcus/f/166/t/32714.aspx)


--Uguryildiz 03:38, 22 January 2010 (CST)

Saipan59 said ...

Can someone clarify (with an example perhaps) of what can be done with the included SW tools? Some earlier posts indicated that you had to buy a "real" version of the tools; but others seem to say that they successfully changed stuff. What are the limits with the free SW?

--Saipan59 12:10, 23 January 2010 (CST)

Mjcasti said ...

Hello TI. Are you out there? Seems like lots of questions here and no one from TI monitoring any of this. I will repeat the often asked question about getting the software for the control center and/or data logging applications that run on windows and talk to the watch. Anyone know how to get this?


--Mjcasti 15:27, 23 January 2010 (CST)

Seabre said ...

Hey everybody,

I wrote some Python code to get the acceleration data based on the link (http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp43016-bit_ultra-low_power_mcus/f/166/t/32714.aspx) that Uguryildiz provided You can find my code here: http://pastebin.com/fde255fd

Now, the order of the bytes in acceleration data packet (at least the first three bytes) were a little different. The order of the x,y, and z data are probably correct since the datatype byte was in the place that the guy from the e2e forums said it was. Anyway, check it out.

--Seabre 18:53, 23 January 2010 (CST)

Seabre said ...

Hey everybody,

I figured out how the syncing works on the chronos and wrote a Python program to sync your chronos to your computer's date and time. You can also specify your altitude (in meters) and temperature (in celsius), but you have to change the values within the program since they are hardcoded for now. You get he Python program from here: http://pastebin.com/f67013702

--Seabre 01:22, 24 January 2010 (CST)

Sunsachs said ...

Great product so excited about starting my first wireless project with it. Can one use the USB transmitter on an embedded project instead of on the PC or should I try one of the RF Compatible Development Boards listed in the wiki. Very curious about the AMB8423 module. Basically looking for a compatible RF MCU module that is as small as possible. Any advice from the commentators or Adrian would be really great. Thanks

--Sunsachs 09:33, 24 January 2010 (CST)

Djregan said ...

Dear EZ430 chronos owners, Two questions... 1. Is the watch-band large enough to fit a man with a larger wrist? 2. Is the wrist strap replaceable with an off-the-shelf wrist strap (therefore can be updated to fit a person with larger wrist)? Thanks Much In Advance - DJ.

--Djregan 23:20, 24 January 2010 (CST)

Wauschi said ...

Has anybody tried to read the RSSI value? Can I use ReadSingleReg(unsigned char addr) to read it? I can't find the RSSI register address in the manual.

--Wauschi 16:41, 25 January 2010 (CST)

GeoNomad said ...

My watch arrived today so I can't answer any technical questions, but I can answer Djregan.

The strap is large enough for most men - maybe not Sumo wrestlers. My wrist uses hole 5 out of 11 available. Maximum size looks to be about 65mm in diameter.

The strap is integrated into the watch, so no optional changing without some hardware hacking - I will wait until mine breaks to to that.

--GeoNomad 18:45, 25 January 2010 (CST)

Venk7337 said ...

Hello Seabre, Thank you so much for the Acceleration code...I really need that, but I am not sure how exactly to capture acceleration data and save it to the computer..Please help me with this...I mean can you give me steps I need to go through. Waiting for the reply! Thanks!

--Venk7337 20:44, 28 January 2010 (CST)

Sirwilliamjr said ...

@Venk7337: I modified Seabre's code a bit to write to a .csv file. It was my first time ever with Python, so it may not be the best way to do it, but it seems to work. I didn't comment it out too well - you can change the number of readings with "num_readings".

--Sirwilliamjr 17:32, 29 January 2010 (CST)

Sirwilliamjr said ...

Oops! Here's the link: http://pastebin.com/f405adc02

--Sirwilliamjr 17:33, 29 January 2010 (CST)

Foks said ...

hi everyone! i just got my watches few days ago and im trying to figure out a way how to use those sensors inside and to use the great wireless technology to create my interactive object that could trigger stuff using MIDI protocol. just cannot figure out how, since its recognized as Serial COM device. Found this http://www.spikenzielabs.com/SpikenzieLabs/Serial_MIDI.html serial-midi converter written in Processing but i cannot start the sending in watches once it's already a midi devide. is there some way maybe in that python code what u guys linked before? send the incomming datas to MIDI???

--Foks 13:47, 3 February 2010 (CST)

Thushianthan said ...

Is it possible to interface suitable external GPS ?

--Thushianthan 22:29, 4 February 2010 (CST)

Tobias said ...

Is there a tutorial or a guide how to compile and debug a programm for the Chronos with freeware tools?

--Tobias 10:57, 5 February 2010 (CST)

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