This repository contains:
- A Dockerfile to build an image which can be used as a container for running the Yocto steps
- An Edge Impulse account
- The Microchip SAMA7G54-EK Evaluation Kit
Set these jumpers to the default settings:
Provide power to the board as described in the Microchip documentation.
Build with:
docker build --no-cache -t microchip-yocto .
Run with:
docker run -it microchip-yocto
Inside the container, source environment:
source oe-init-build-env build-microchip
Display for menuconfig:
echo $DISPLAY
Enter menuconfig for the kernel:
bitbake -c menuconfig virtual/kernel
Main screen:
Device Drivers:
Multimedia Support:
Media Drivers:
Media USB Adapters:
USB Video Class defaults to Module:
Change it to fully included [*]
When saving you must enter a filename:
Ensure the config saved:
Exit the menuconfig and save it with this command:
bitbake -c savedefconfig virtual/kernel
Now make a custom layer:
cd /home/yocto/poky/build-microchip
bitbake-layers create-layer ../meta-my-layer
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-my-layer
Add the saved config to the new layer:
mkdir -p ../meta-my-layer/recipes-kernel/linux
nano ../meta-my-layer/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-mchp_%.bbappend
Paste this and save with Ctrl+X then Y and Enter:
FILESEXTRAPATHS:prepend := "${THISDIR}/files:"
SRC_URI += "file://defconfig"
KBUILD_DEFCONFIG = "defconfig"
do_configure:prepend() {
cp ${WORKDIR}/defconfig ${B}/.config
}
Finally copy the defconfig:
mkdir -p ../meta-my-layer/recipes-kernel/linux/files
cp /home/yocto/poky/build-microchip/tmp/work/sama5d2_xplained-poky-linux-gnueabi/linux-mchp/6.6+gitAUTOINC+bf96df8309-r0/build/defconfig ../meta-my-layer/recipes-kernel/linux/files/defconfig
Clean and build the kernel:
bitbake -c clean virtual/kernel
bitbake virtual/kernel
Now update the local.conf file by opening it nano conf/local.conf and navigating to the end then paste this:
IMAGE_ROOTFS_EXTRA_SPACE = "1048576"
IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " make gcc gcc-symlinks g++ g++-symlinks python3 python3-core python3-modules nodejs nodejs-npm binutils"
IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " gstreamer1.0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gst-devtools"
IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " v4l-utils usbutils kernel-modules"
IMAGE_FEATURES += " ssh-server-openssh"
DISTRO_FEATURES ?= " usbgadget usbhost wifi opengl"
These added lines give the image 1 GB free space, basic build tools & kernel modules, USB host controller, SSH, python, nodejs/npm, and gstreamer which are required to install and use edge-impulse-linux
Save with Ctrl+X then Y and Enter:
You can now bake the image with the following command (on a 16 core Mac this took approximately 4 hours):
MACHINE=sama7g5ek-sd bitbake core-image-minimal
After the image builds open a separate terminal and copy the files out of the container with the following command, replacing the ID with your Docker container ID:
docker cp ba0124894119:/home/yocto/poky/build-microchip/tmp/deploy/images/sama7g5ek-sd .
Find the large .wic file, with a name like core-image-minimal-sama7g5ek-sd-20241121054315.rootfs.wic and use BalenaEtcher to flash it onto an SD card.
Further documentation on building Linux images for these devices is available at Microchip.
The Microchip Developer Help portal has documentation for serial communications to the SAMA7G54-EK. Once your serial terminal is connected make sure the device has power and press the nStart button, you should see messages appearing over the serial console.
Login with root user
When logged into the SAMA7 as root via the serial terminal or SSH, run the following command to install edge-impulse-linux:
npm install -g edge-impulse-linux
Connect a webcam to the board and run edge-impulse-linux, and proceed to login and choose a project to connect the device.
Go to your studio project and start collecting data!
See our documentation for the Microchip SAMA7 for more details on using the SAMA7 with Edge Impulse and links to public projects supporting the hardware.