Sparklet on i.MXRT1170 EVK

Running Sparklet on i.MXRT1170

This comprehensive guide outlines the essential steps for running Sparklet powered UI application on the NXP IMXRT1170 EVK.

It’s crucial to follow these instructions meticulously and sequentially to guarantee a smooth setup on your target device.

If you’re new to Sparklet, it’s advisable to begin by familiarizing yourself with the basic concepts and completing the quick tour tutorial in the following order.

Also get to know about the board more via its Quick Start Guide.

These will help you grasp the fundamentals of Sparklet, and the workflow involved in GUI development.

Prerequisites

This section contains the pre-requisites for running Sparklet on any IMXRT1170 platform.

Hardware components

  • NXP IMXRT1170 EVK board or your custom board.

  • SEGGER debugger (in case of EVK, it has CMSIS DAP inbuilt) to connect to your board.

  • A serial cable to connect the debugger to your PC and power supply adapter for your board. (5V for IMXRT1170 EVK).

Software components

  • MCUXpresso IDE from NXP.

  • IMXRT1170 SDK

If any of these are not available, kindly install them as per the vendor instructions.

Sparklet Example Code Organization

Uncompress the example project, estorm_c2_galactus.zip in this case, on to your working directory. (e.g. E:nxp_imxrt1170classic_modern_cluster).

The provided MCUXpresso project for IMXRT1170 contains everything you need to create, compile, link and flash a Flint UI application for the IMXRT1170 EVK target. This example is running on top of FreeRTOS with screen elements dynamically modified for demo and the screen looks like :

Classic Screen

Classic Screen

Classic Screen

Modern Screen

The Flint project for the same can be downloaded from Downloads Section.

After unpacking, you will find the following subdirectories:

Directory

Description

\source

This folder contains the file main.c, where you will find the initialization of the system and the FreeRTOS task to drive a Flint application.

\device

This folder contains the necessary IMXRT1170 device files.

\drivers

This folder contains necessary IMXRT1170 drivers.

\vglite

This folder contains VGlite Library files.

\libs

This folder contains Sparklet library files.

\src\App

This folder contains the prepared application files specific to the example vehicle instrument cluster built using Flint.

Of these some files of interest are:

File

Description

flint_ids.h

This file contains all IDs of the Flint project.

flint_data_def.h

This file contains all Data IDs of the Flint project.

model_classic_modern.c

Sparklet widgets APIs are handled here.

main.c

This file contains basic board support initialization and FreeRTOS task creation.

sparklet_main.c

This file contains basic Sparklet initialization and runs Sparklet engine.

Building the Sparklet Example

The following steps capture the procedure to build and flash the application using the NXP toolchain.

Building the Project

  • Select the project from File->Import Project:

    Application software project file

    Application software project file

  • After importing, build the project by clicking on the Build icon1 icon.

On successful build, the following output are available:

Build details page

Build details page

Flashing program in EVK (using CMSIS-DAP)

The firmware can be flashed on the target via CMSIS-DAP probe as given in following process:

  • Flashing Flint image in EVK (using CMSIS-DAP).

  • Flashing Application firmware in EVK (using CMSIS-DAP).

Flashing Flint Image in EVK (using CMSIS-DAP)

Step 1: Select the Flash tool icon2 icon from the toolbar.

Please select the CMSIS-DAP probe from the wizard that appears below and then Click OK:

Probes Wizard

Probes Wizard

Step 2: Choose the “Sparklet_data_Internal_Flash_Block.bin” file and Click Run.

GUI Flash Tool

GUI Flash Tool

Step 3: The flashing operation begins with a pop as given below:

Progress information

Progress information

Step 4: After flashing the program, a pop would appear as given below:

Flashing completed

Flashing completed

Flashing Application firmware in EVK (using CMSIS-DAP)

Step 1: Select the Flash tool icon2 icon from the toolbar.

Please select the CMSIS-DAP probe from the wizard that appears below and then Click OK.

Probes Wizard

Probes Wizard

Step 2: Choose the “Sparklet.axf” file and Click Run.

GUI Flash Tool

GUI Flash Tool

Step 3: The flashing operation begins with a pop as given below:

Progress information

Progress information

Step 4: After flashing the program, a pop would appear as given below:

Flashing completed

Flashing completed

Debugging the Project with MCUXpresso

While the above steps are suitable for deployment, generally to develop and debug the MCUXpresso IDE can be used as given in the below steps.

  • Open debug view by clicking on Debug icon2 icon on the toolbar:

  • Double click on the “C/C++ (NXP Semiconductors) MCU Application”. Browse the project on the project tab and choose the “output.axf ” (example: SparkletForIMXRT1170) file of our project.

    Debug Configuration-Choosing program

    Debug Configuration-Choosing program

  • Click Debug. Choose the probe from the below wizard and click OK.

    Probe Selection Wizard

    Probe Selection Wizard

  • And we are ready to debug:

    Debug View

    Debug View