CSSE3010

Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing

Stage 6 Servo Control using FreeRTOS Queues and CLI

Objectives

Introduction FreeRTOS Queues.

Gain more experience with FreeRTOS Tasks and Semaphores.
Introduction to the Command Line Interface Library (CLI).
Gain experience with terminal servo control.

NOTE: Failure to attempt this stage by not attending a stage session, having your workbook signed
off and not uploading your code to your get repository will result in a deduction of 5% from your
project total.

Outcomes: mylib Components

Source Files (.c)
sxxxxxx_cli.c

Header Files (.h)

sxxxxxx_cli.h

Workbook Requirements

NOTE: The workbook must be well advanced BEFORE your come to your prac session. Points 1 4
must be present in your workbook, before you attend your prac session.

You require the following sections to be present in your workbook:
1. Objectives of Stage
2. Implementation
o Hardware block diagram (top-down)
o Show input/output signals and key components
3. Software flow chart
o Describe key sections of your code as signal flow charts, state diagrams and flow
charts.
o List details/notes relating to key software functionality
4. Testing Procedure
o Describe or Draw how you will test key components
5. Conclusions and Question Responses

Introduction
FreeRTOS is a commonly used realtime operating system for various embedded platforms. This stage
will introduce you to Command Line Library (CLI) with FreeRTOS. This stage will also introduce
queues used in FreeRTOS for inter-task communication and interfacing to peripherals. You will use
the CLI to control the pan and tilt servo modules.
FreeRTOS Queue
A FreeRTOS Queue is a memory object that used to share information between tasks. The Queue
allows a task to write and read variables with other tasks. A Queue can hold a number of fixed data
items (integer, float, etc). Multiple tasks can write or read to a Queue simultaneously and a task can
block or suspend on a Queue read or write.
Stage 6 Servo control using FreeRTOS Queues and CLI

Page 1

CSSE3010 Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing

FreeRTOS Command Line Interface (CLI)
The Command Line Interface (CLI) is a FreeRTOS-Plus Library that allows users to integrate terminal
command control with their programs. The CLI allows a user to specify callback functions to be
executed, when the user types a command in the terminal. The CLI provides functions to parse and
process strings, typed into a terminal window. When the CLI detects a command, it will then execute
the users callback function. NOTE: callback functions are NOT substitutes for tasks. A CLI callback
function should only extract the command parameters and give a return string argument. All
major processing should be done in a task. A CLI function should control a task using semaphores,
mutexes and queues.
Refer to ex18_fr_cli example
See: http://www.freertos.org/FreeRTOS-
Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_CLI/FreeRTOS_Plus_Command_Line_Interface.shtml

Stage 6 Servo control using FreeRTOS Queues and CLI

Page 2

CSSE3010 Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing

Design Tasks

FIRST: update your source files using git:
1. Open a terminal window and navigate to /home/csse3010/np2git
2. Type git pull

mylib Setup Task:
Your mylib code must meet the guidelines specified in the mylib guide, on Black Board. You will
create the library source (sxxxxxx_cli.c) and header files (sxxxxxx_cli.h) in your mylib folder. Your
source file (sxxxxxx_cli.c) should contain your CLI callback functions function. Your header file
(sxxxxxx_cli.h) should contain the callback function prototypes and CLI_Command_Definition_t
structs. You will need to have the CLI functions, listed in design task 1 and table 1, implemented in
your mylib source and header files.

Notes:
You may add an additional header file in your stage folder, to share commonly used
semaphores and queues (i.e. common.h).
You must also use your servo mylib driver to control the pan and tilt. You can modify your
servo mylib driver, if needed.

Task Stack Usage and Delay:
For each task created, you will need to calculate and document in your workbook the following
parameters:
Estimate of memory used for each task (i.e. task stack usage)
Priority of each task
Estimate of each task delay (including blocking time on queues)

You can use the parameters to budget for memory and delay time of each task. This can be used to
identify possible time and resource starvation of tasks

Design Task 1 Laser CLI Control
Write a CLI command to control the laser (type: laser on or laser off See Table 1). The laser
should be controlled with a task and semaphore. The laser task should turn on the laser, when a
semaphore is given. The Pan/Tilt laser pin should be connected to NP2 D0 pin. DO NOT control the
laser directly with the CLI callback function. It will not be considered as a pass, if the CLI callback
directly controls the laser.

Refer to ex18_fr_cli example.

Design Task 2 Pan/Tilt Servo Control using a CLI
Control the Pan/Tilt using CLI commands. The Pan/Tilt should be connected to NP2 D2 and D3 pins.
Implement the commands in table 2. Create two tasks (Pan and Tilt control tasks) to control the
Pan/Tilt servos. You must use two queues to transfer the Pan/Tilt angles calculated by the pan and
tilt CLI commands, to the Pan/Tilt task. You must use either semaphores or queues to control the
Pan/Tilt, from the left, right, up and down CLI commands.

Note: you can send a struct through a queue. String functions, like atoi and strok can be used.



Stage 6 Servo control using FreeRTOS Queues and CLI

Page 3

CSSE3010 Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing

Table 1: CLI Pan/Tilt Commands

Command Parameter
Description
pan
Angle Degrees
Move the pan to the specified angle (limits: -70 to 70)
tilt
Angle Degrees
Move the tilt to the specified angle (limits: -70 to 70)
left

Move the pan left 5 from the current position
right

Move the pan right 5 from the current position
up

Move the tilt up by 5 from the current position
down

Move the tilt down by 5 from the current position
Laser
on or off
Turn the laser on or off


Refer to ex16_fr_queue and ex18_fr_cli examples. Also refer to www.freertos.org for the latest
FreeRTOS queue API.


Challenge Task 1: Laser Drawing (OPTIONAL)
Create a CLI command (box) that will draw the outline of a box or a pentagon (pentagon) on a
wall, using the Tilt modules laser. You must use an additional task to control the Pan and Tilt control
tasks.

References:
STM32F4xx Datasheet
Lecture 6b, 7a, 7b, 8.
www.freertos.org
http://www.freertos.org/FreeRTOS-
Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_CLI/FreeRTOS_Plus_Command_Line_Interface.shtml

Stage 6 Servo control using FreeRTOS Queues and CLI

Page 4