Month: October 2017

FreeRTOS on Kinetis E Cortex M0+ : easy porting tutorial

FreeRTOS is a popular, open-source operating system that can run on a variety of microcontrollers. This post shows how to make a minimal working setup with two tasks on a new MCU without starting from a complete demo code or code generators (like Processor Expert) on an inexpensive development board FRDM-KE06Z from NXP. All examples use static memory allocation. Most of the procedures and tips mentioned here apply equally well to all Cortex-M microcontrollers.
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XMEGA power down mode for battery powered devices

This post describes how to implement firmware-controlled device power switching on an XMEGA. I am working on a portable device that is powered from a Li-Ion cell, has an USB socket for charging, MCU, couple of LEDs and a button. I wanted to keep the design as simple as possible, so there is just one button connected to the MCU and no separate power switch. Most of the information applies equally to all AVR MCUs.
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