FSFW Example Application

This repository features a demo application. The example has been run successfully on the following platforms:

• Linux host machine with the Linux OSAL or the Host OSAL
• Windows with the Host OSAL
• STM32H743ZI-Nucleo with the FreeRTOS OSAL
• Raspberry Pi with the Linux OSAL
• STM32H743ZI-Nucleo with the RTEMS OSAL

The purpose of this example is to provide a demo of the FSFW capabilities. However, it can also be used as a starting point to set up a repository for new flight software. It also aims to provide developers with practical examples of how the FSFW is inteded to be used and how project using the FSFW should or can be set up and it might serve as a basic test platform for the FSFW as well to ensure all OSALs are compiling and running as expected.

The repository contains a Python TMTC program which can be used to showcase the TMTC capabilities of the FSFW (currently, using the ECSS PUS packet standard).

Configuring the Example

The build system will copy three configuration files into the build directory:

1. commonConfig.h which contains common configuration parameters
2. OBSWConfig.h which can contain machine and architecture specific configuration options
3. FSFWConfig.h which contains the configuration for the flight software framework

These files can be edited manually after CMake build generation.

Index

Getting started with Eclipse for C/C++
Getting started with CMake

Getting started with the Hosted OSAL
Getting started with the FreeRTOS OSAL on a STM32
Getting started with the RTEMS OSAL on a STM32
Getting started with the Raspberry Pi
Getting started with the Beagle Bone Black

FSFW demo with FreeRTOS OSAL on the STM32H743ZI

This demo can be run on a STM32H743ZI-Nucleo board with the FreeRTOS OSAL.

General Information

The board is flashed and debugged with OpenOCD and this README specifies on how to make this work with the Eclipse IDE. Other IDEs or the command line can be used as well as long as long as OpenOCD integration is given. The example demo uses newlib nano (glibc). Some system calls were overriden so the C and C++ stdio functions work. IO is sent via the HUART3, so debug output can be read directly from the USB connection to the board.

Prerequisite

1. MinGW64 or Ninja Build installed on Windows. Not required on Linux.
2. GNU ARM Toolchain installed, recommended to add binaries to system path.
3. Recommended for application code development: Eclipse for C/C++ installed with the Eclipse MCU plugin
4. OpenOCD installed for Eclipse debugging
5. STM32 USB drivers installed, separate steps for Windows or Linux

Building the software with CMake

On Windows, the following steps should be performed inside the MinGW64 console after installing MSYS2 or inside another Unix shell like git bash.

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://egit.irs.uni-stuttgart.de/fsfw/fsfw_example.git
   

2. Set up submodules

   git submodule init
   git submodule update
   

3. Navigate into the cloned repository and create a folder for the build. We will create a Debug build folder.

   mkdir build-Debug
   cd build-Debug
   

4. Ensure that the ARM compiler has been added to the path and can be called from the command line. For example, the following command should work:

   arm-none-eabi-gcc --version
   

   Now we will create the build configuration for cross-compilation of an ARM target. On Linux, the following build will create a debug build configuration with the Unix Makefile generator. You can also specify -G Ninja to use Ninja instead of Make.

   cmake ..
   

   On Windows, use the following command to build with the MinGW Makefiles build system

   cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" ..
   

   The build configuration can also be performed with the shell scripts located inside cmake/scripts.

5. Build the application with the following command

   cmake --build . -j
   

   The application will be located inside the Debug folder and has been compiled for the flash memory.

6. You can test the application by first connecting the STM32H743ZI-Nucleo via USB. The device should now show up in the list of connected devices (make sure the USB drivers are installed as well). Drag and drop the binary file into the connected device to flash it. The debug output is also sent via the connected USB port and a blink pattern (1 second interval) can be used to verify the software is running properly.

Setting up the prerequisites

Windows

It is recommended to install MSYS2 first. Open MinGW64 and run the following commands to update it and install make and cmake (replace x86_64 if compiling on different architecture):

pacman -Syu

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-make mingw-w64-x86_64-cmake

Alternatively, you can install Ninja Build, but you need to add the folder containing the ninja.exe executable to the system path so you can run ninja -v from the command line. If you do this, you can also use git bash or the Windows command lines with the CMake Ninja generator to build the software.

The code needs to be cross-compiled for the ARM target system and we will use the GNU ARM Toolchain.

1. Install NodeJS LTS. Add nodejs folder (e.g. "C:\Program Files\nodejs") to system variables. Test by running npm --version in command line

2. Install XPM

   npm install --global xpm
   

3. Install gnu-arm Toolchain for Eclipse (version can be specified)

   xpm install --global @xpack-dev-tools/arm-none-eabi-gcc@latest
   

   xpm will display where the package was installed. Search in that path for the hidden .content folder, which will contain a bin folder and store the full path to that bin folder for later.

   Install OpenOCD for STM32 debugging

   xpm install --global @xpack-dev-tools/openocd@latest
   

4. If you want to build from the command line, you need to add the arm-none-eabi-gcc binary location in the xPack folder to system variables. You can do this in a Unix shell like git bash or MinGW64 with the following command

   export PATH=$PATH:"<pathToToolchain>"
   

   You can also add these lines to a shell script like path_setter.sh and then source the script with . path_setter.sh to do this conveniently. You can test whether the path was set up properly by running arm-none-eabi-gcc -v

5. Install the STM32 USB drivers

If you don't want to install nodejs you may go with the four-command manual installation.

Linux

Install the GNU ARM toolchain like explained above.

To install general buildtools for the linux binary, run:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Install the USB drivers on Linux. On Ubuntu, you can run the following command to install it:

sudo apt-get install stlink-tools

Setting up Eclipse for OpenOCD debugging

The separate Eclipse README specifies how to set up Eclipse. The STM32 configuration uses the xPacks OpenOCD and the xPacks ARM Toolchain, so those should be installed as well. OpenOCD should be configured correctly in the STM32 launch configurations.

Troubleshooting

OpenOCD errors

If you get the following error in OpenOCD: "Error: auto_probe failed", this could be related from switching between FreeRTOS and RTEMS. You can try the following steps:

1. First way: Flash the binary manually by drag & droping the binary into the USB drive manually once

2. Second way: Add -c "gdb_memory_map disable" to the OpenOCD arguments (in Eclipse) and run once. Debugging might not be possible, so remove it for subsequent runs.

3. Third way: Add the following lines to the stm32h7x.cfg file located inside the OpenOCD folder inside the scripts/target folder:

   $_CHIPNAME.cpu configure -event gdb-attach {
       halt
   }
   
   $_CHIPNAME.cpu configure -event gdb-attach {
       reset init
   }