About a month ago I was browsing the Renesas site and found their Viva H8! promotion which is still going on, so I signed up. I pretty much didn’t give it anymore thought because I didn’t think I would actually get a Starter Kit.
I was wrong!
I got an unexpected package a few days ago, and it was my Renesas H8 Starter kit! This kit includes everything to start working with an H8/36077 MCU, including a 60 day unlimited trial of their High Performance Embedded Workshop, an evaluation board with the H8/36077 MCU, a few LEDs, a couple of switched (including reset) and breakout headers for all the MCU pins. The E8 ICD is also included and connects to the PC via USB and a driver supplied by Renesas. The H8/36077 is a bit better than the Atom PRO, with 56K Flash, but I have not spent time to figure out any other differences.
Every thing seems to work, including the sample projects, such as two serial I/O projects, a couple LED flasher projects, and other stuff. This is my first C programmable microcontroller, so I am starting to relearn C again. My past C programming experience is helping out there, and I am amazed at how much is coming back to me. The last time I coded anything in C was around 1986.
I am gradually starting to learn how to programm the H8/36077, and I think this is a microcontroller family worth spending some quality time with. I am hoping to eventually be able to get my hands on an H8SX/1582 (32 bit, 256K Flash, 12K RAM, 16 Ch A/D), H8SX/1663 or H8SX/1664 (Both 32 bit, 512K Flash, 16 Ch A/D).
I am going to see if I can find any good H8 based SBCs now. I am also going to look more into the possibility of programming the Atom PRO (based on an H8/3664) in C using tools other than those provided by Basic Micro.
I have found a couple of very good sites for developer information and tools for the Renesas H8 series of microcontrollers.
The first is Helicron which has some great tips and links to additional tools for the H8.
Another is KPIT GNU Tools where you will find GNU toolchains for Windows and Linux. The Windows tools will automatically integrate into an existing High Performance Embedded Workshop (from Renesas) installation
I just got the tools installed, so have not actually used them yet. So far, as I read the hardware manuals for the H8, I am liking these microcontrollers. The H8 on my starter kit board is a 36077, which is a true 16 bit processing and has 56K of Flash, if I understand the specifications.
The H8’s are a bit spendy to buy them, and unfortunately there is only one that comes in a DIP form factor. So, I don’t really have a plan on how I can use these in projects. I am going to start searching for H8 based controller boards and see what I can find. There must be some kind of general purpose SBC for the H8.
So far I have just been fiddling with the example programs, but am gradually learning how to get around in the HEW and with the H8. I want to create a project that drives my LED sequencing circuits just like I was doing with the Atom PRO, which is now on an ABB and will be WALTER’s new brain with the SSC-32.
I don’t think you’ll find any SBCs for H8 processors. I think you won’t find anything close until you go up to the H8SX or the SuperH. The 36077 is part of the 3687 family of tiny processors. The 36087 is actually going to be replacing the 3687 I think(the specs are nearly identical). The 3687(and 36087 when it’s available) is what we(BasicMicro) are using in the AtomPro40(still in beta).
Also, can you double check that is a 36077. Renesas is still saying is “Under Planning” on their website.
My Starter Kit says it’s an H8/36077 and HEW only works with it when it is setup for a 36077.
You seem to be right about there not being any SBCs for the H8/Tiny microcontrollers. I really want an H8SX/1582 or H8SX/1664 anyway. In any case, it probably would not be too difficult to come up with a small PCB to stack on the Starter Kit connectors to bring the CPU pins out to the three pin sets (GND, +5V, and Signal) commonly used in robotics.
My first project is to write some I2C routines, and then to start working with interrupts.
Linuxguy told me about this last month and I signed up on march 23rd. 3 1/2 weeks later (today) I got my start kit (AND FREE mouse + mousepad!!!) in the mail.
The board looks like a cheap DIY board with green coating but hey, it works I suppose. Its like a $50 kit and its free. It comes with USB programmer and it has RS232 onboard for communication. You can make your own bluetooth adapter, or mod it to support USB with a USART to USB module from SparkFun!
The unit is like a PIC sort of and is programmed in C. The language is similar to PIC and AVR C. Same basic ideas with registers.
I would really recommend this to anyone whos interested in robotics, to be honest. If you can’t afford to get a fancy $50 PIC programmer, then this will help you out!
The board has a BUNCH of male headers to connect to the pins on the micro. I don’t have any female mates so I can’t test the board yet, but I will use this unit for some personal fun and development stuff! Although I may buy a dev board from SF later for a 40pin pic Who knows…
Anyways, yea, go sign up! Wait a month and then POOF! Be surprised! You get a FREE mouse w/ mousepad and USB -> PS/2 adapter! What are you waiting for? The mouse is soo tiny and cute and plastic is transparent so you can see the inside electronics! Its neat I spent the past 30 minutes playing with the pull in/out USB cable design!
So far, I am liking this little H8 Starter Kit. The price was great, being FREE, and I can start learning how to program microcontrollers in C with it. It would not be real hard to turn the starter kit into a robotics friendly board, with a stacking PCB that has the 3 pin header sets we use for servos and sensors. Right now, this is my only C programmable microcontroller, and I am happy to have it. The H8/36077 has 56K Flash, a bit more than the Atom PRO.
It looks like I may be able to clock it at 16 Mhz to get 400kHZ i2c. I am hoping to use this board to drive my LED sequencing circuits which are controlled by the Microchip MCP23017 I2C I/O expanders.
The one thing I do need to find is documentation on how to name all the registers of the H8/36077 chip. I have not found any examples of the names for the i2c control registers yet (ICCR1, ICCR2, ICMR, ICIER, ICSR, SAR, ICDRT, ICDRR, and ICDRS).
I figured out the secret to accessing the registers by bit and byte when using HEW.
The secret is contained in a file called iodefine.h which needs to be included in all source files where you want to access H8 registers. I am guessing this file will be different for each major variant of the H8, H8S, or H8SX to accomodate their register structures. This file has a lot of large structures which point to the register file of the H8.
So, to access the ICCR1 register for I2C, you have to use
IIC2.ICCR1.BYTE = <value>;
for byte access, or I can access individual bits by using
IIC2.ICCR1.BIT.ICE = 1;
to enable the I2C module as one example. You can not access all individual bits, such as bits CKS3 - CKS0 of the ICCR1 register, but you can set them using the
Ah, OK. Well, if one duplicates the programming circuit on the development board, then it would be programmable the same way it is now. I don’t know if that qualifies as being ISP though.
I will have to do some research in the hardware manual to find out for sure. The only additional headers on the development board are those that bring the microcontroller’s signals out for use.
ISP is JTAG usually requires a 10 pin header or adapted header to allow a standard parralel or serial programmer to connect. I notice the board doesn’t have that but the PIN allocation may show the relevant pins.
It appears to use a D type connector instead so it may support some form of serial programming.
I am a little familiar with JTAG, since it is used for a lot of different stuff, like AVRs and such. I am creating an Electronics -> Embedded section on my website to put useful information, such as hard to find stuff. H8/36077 hardware manual is there now, and will be easier to access once I finish creating the new section and link it in with everything else. Anyone who has visited the Renesas website knows it can be really hard to find the information you want, so I hope to make some of it easier to access.
I will check into this and post more when I have additional information.
Most companies will give you free samples if you ask, and some go out of their way to point you to their samples pages (like Microchip). In any case, we could discuss other company’s microcontrollers in another thread if you would like to.
The last time I coded anything in C was around 1986.
So, I don’t really have a plan on how I can use these in projects. I am going to start searching for H8 based controller boards and see what I can find. There must be some kind of general purpose SBC for the H8.
Who knows…
Amazing!