Propeller Educators Course Activities

This is the hands-on activity list for the 1-day Propeller Educators Course. 

Overview

The Propeller C Learning System has five major components that the instructor will briefly discuss:

Install the Software

You will receive a (loaner) USB drive with a local copy of software. 

  • Copy the Software folder to your computer.
  • Open the Software folder and then open the folder for your operating system (Windows or Mac).  
  • Double-click the installer and follow all the default installation steps.
  • If you have Windows, your installation is complete.
  • If you have a Mac, check your OS (click Apple and select About this Mac).
    • If you have a Mac with OSX 10.9.x or newer, open the USB drivers subfolder and run FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_3.dmg.
    • If you have a Mac with OSX 10.8.x, open the USB drivers subfolder and run FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_2_18.dmg.  
    • Restart your Mac.

NOTE: This is normally a process you would complete by going to Propeller C - Set Up SimpleIDE, but we want to avoid concurrent 60+ MB downloads on the Wi-Fi. 

Connect and Test Hardware and Software

By connecting the Propeller Activity Board to your computer and running a test program, we can verify that the USB driver and SimpleIDE software were correctly installed.  The instructor will briefly demonstrate how to this procedure. 

  • Run SimpleIDE.
  • Go to Propeller C - Set Up SimpleIDE, and follow the link for your operating system.
  • Skip to the section titled: Connect Your Board + Run a Test Program.
  • Follow the instructions with the red check marks.  (These will appear as bullet dots if you are working from a local copy of the learn site.)
  • Verify that you get the "Hello!" message.  If you get stuck on any step, get help from the instructor.
  • Click SimpleIDE's Open Project button (2nd from left). 
  • Navigate to ...Documents/SimpleIDE/Learn/Examples
  • Verify that there's an ActivityBot folder in there.  If not, you may need to repeat the instructions on the Update Your Learn Folder page.

Get Started with C Language

These are excerpts from Propeller C - Start Simple that introduce basic tasks computers (and microcontrollers) perform: communicate with humans, store data, calculate, make decisions, and perform repetitive operations.  The instructor will talk about the example programs before you try them out. 

IMPORTANT: Focus on opening and running the test program, and following the Try This section.

Microcontroller + Circuits

These are excerpts from Propeller C - Simple Circuits that show examples of how to:

  • Build circuits and connect them to your microcontroller
  • Write programs that make the microcontroller control and monitor them

The instructor will discuss each circuit and program.  Make sure to focus on building the circuit, running the test code, and the Try This section.  Depending on the time situation, you may get split into pairs or groups of three, each building and testing one of the circuits.

Microcontroller + Devices

These are excerpts from Propeller C - Simple Devices that show examples of how to:

  • Connect peripheral devices to your microcontroller
  • Write programs that utilize libraries to control/monitor/communicate.

The instructor will discuss each circuit and program.  As with circuits, make sure to focus on connecting the device, running the test code, and the Try This section. 

Introduction to Multicore

The libraries we've been using today have been taking care of the multicore programming aspect.  For example, servo_angle causes the servo library to launch another core that send control signals to up to 14 servos simultaneously.  Your programs can also be run by multiple processors.  These excerpts from Multicore Approaches show simple examples of how to write code that runs different portions of your program in different processors.  If time permits, try these activities. 

Additional Possibilities for Advanced Attendees

External Resources

Tutorial Recommendations (other than ours)