ACHTUNG!
ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENPEEPERS!
DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN
UND MITTENGRABEN! ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER
SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN MIT
SPITZENSPARKEN.
IST NICHT FÜR GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN
SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN DAS COTTONPICKEN HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS
MUSS.
ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.
This is a small test project for Realtek's RTL8710 "Ameba" SoC. As with any new microcontroller one encounters, the first thing to do is to make it blink a LED. But this is the future, we can do better. We can blink hundreds of LEDs!
This project allows you to control a WS2812B RGB LED strip via WiFi by providing an AP and a web server.
You will need a RTL87810 module, an ARM Cortex-M compatible SWD debugger, a simple electronic circuit for shifting the SoC's 3.3V logic level to the strip's 5V and, of course, a WS2812B LED strip.
RTL8710 modules are easy to find on eBay or Aliexpress, the B&T BT-00 variant is hard to miss. Pine64 is about to release their own version of this module, called PADI: https://www.pine64.org/?page_id=946
If you are looking for a development board with integrated SWD debugger, I can recommend the Ameba RTL8710 Board http://www.amebaiot.com/en/ameba-sdk-boards/ Those can be bought for around $20 on Aliexpress.
You will also need a copy of the GCC based SDK for this chip. It can be downloaded from Pine64's PADI web site. Look under Resources and download the "Ameba RTL8710AF SDK ver v3.5a GCC ver 1.0.0- without NDA"
After extracting the SDK, follow the instructions found in "doc/UM0096 Realtek Ameba-1 build environment setup - gcc.pdf" to prepare the SDK. If you are using OpenOCD, you should also change the JTAG clock speed from 10kHz to 1MHz in component/soc/realtek/8195a/misc/gcc_utility/openocd/ameba1.cfg
Make sure you can build and upload the standard SDK firmware. If everything works, make a "clean_all" and clone this repository into the project folder. This project can be built in the same way as the standard project, just use the folder rtl8710_blinkenlights/GCC-RELEASE as base folder.
After uploading the new firmware, the module should start a WiFi-AP and provide a simple web server. On first start it may rely on a previous WiFi AP configuration being stored in flash, so you might have to use the default AT command firmware first to set up the AP. In any case, use ramdebug first to verify that the new firmware is working before overwriting the default firmware.
If unexpectedly everything works as it should, you can now connect to the module's WiFi network and access the configuration web server at http://192.168.1.1 The root page lets you tweak the LED strip configuration. The WiFi configuration can be changed at http://192.168.1.1/wifi
The WS2812 bit stream will be sent on GPIO pin GC2. If you are only running one or two WS2812s, you can get away with connecting them directly to the module's VCC and GND. They will not be very bright but it is an easy way to check that a valid bit stream is generated. If you are driving more LEDs, you will need a dedicated 5V power supply and a level shifter for the GPIO pin. Any 74HCT... buffer should do, I use a 74HCT125N. Connect module, buffer and LED strip to common ground, module's GC2 to buffer input, strip's data input to buffer output.
Debugging information will be printed on the Log-UART, which is connected to GPIOs GB0 (TX) and GB1 (RX). On the Ameba board, these pins can be connected to the debugger via the select switch and will be routed to the virtual console. If you are using a BT-00, connect a USB-to-serial adapterto the corresponding pads.
Debugging information will be printed on the Log-UART, which is connected to GPIOs GB0 (TX) and GB1 (RX). On the Ameba board, these pins can be connected to the debugger via the select switch and will be routed to the virtual console. If you are using a BT-00, connect a USB-to-serial adapter to the corresponding pads.
More information about and support for the RTL8710 can be found on the RTL8710 Community Forum: https://www.rtl8710forum.com/