Dave Baker's WebLog : .NET MF

.NET Micro Framework 3.0 Porting Kit

davbaker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:18:00 GMT

I’ve been meaning to blog this for ages. For those of you who aren’t aware the .NET Micro Framework porting kit is now available through the MS Store.

The price has been significantly reduced in price and is available through the US Store & UK Store, serving the EU. For those not served by the MS Stores the process for getting the Kit is as follows:

Send a mail to netmfbiz@microsoft.com agreeing to the US price. Mail should include name, phone number, email address, and company physical address. We will send a link in return giving access to a download site where the PK zip file is available.

You no longer have to sign a Porting Agreement requiring legal review before being granted access, simply check a click-thru-to-accept EULA at setup time.

Controlling Your Festive Lights with the .NET Micro Framework

davbaker — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:56:45 GMT

Rob Miles has come up with a new spin on seasonal project by making his festive lights flash red whenever he posts a new entry on his blog :).

Check out http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2008/11/27/9149635.aspx for all of the information on the .NET Micro Framework and the hardware and code required for this cool festive project.

Rob's New Book. Free C# Teaching Materials

davbaker — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:25:00 GMT

Rob Miles, a professor at the University of Hull, and with whom I had the pleasure of delivering a couple of .NET Micro Framework [2] sessions at TechEd EMEA last year, has released his C# teaching materials for free. He has called it the "yellow book", since it is yellow and structured like a normal book. He has made it available from www.csharpcourse.com.

The book contains 185 pages and covers everything from how to start with C# (like the basic language constructs) to how to create user interfaces, components and even how to encapsulate the logic of your application into business objects.

EMEA .NET Micro Framework Porting Labs sheduled for November

davbaker — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:24:00 GMT

I blogged about this a while back, to guage demand, and I'm happy to report that, based on your feedback, a .NET Micro Framework Porting Training session has been scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2007 in conjunction with TechED Developers Europe in Barcelona, Spain. The training will take place at AC Hotel Barcelona.

Note that TechEd registration is not required for participation in the porting training, however a signed porting agreement is required. Partners interested in attending the porting training who not yet started this process must please let us know as soon as possible so that we can provide a copy of the agreement.

Participants should be prepared for an intense day of technical presentations. The agenda for this one-day session follows:

TIME	TITLE
8:00	Breakfast and Introductions
8:30	System architecture overview
9:00	PAL vs HAL
9:30	Source code directory structure and layout
10:00	Using the Micro Framework build system
11:00	Break
11:15	Completions and Continuations
11:45	The CLR main loop
12:15	Lunch
13:00	Driver constraints
13:30	The selector file
14:00	Creating an emulator
15:00	Break
15:30	Writing a driver
16:00	Creating a port, step-by-step
16:30	Building TinyBooter
17:00	Tips, recap, and wrap-up
17:30	Final Q&A
18:00	END

Please contact Warren Dent in the .NET Micro Framework team directly (warrend@microsoft.com) if you wish to attend. This is a unique opportunity to attend this training in Europe as it is offered only once a year outside the US.

If you have any questions, or you would like me to send you an invite directly, please feel free to contact me.

Survey - Micro Framework Porting Training in EMEA

davbaker — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:11:16 GMT

Whilst at MEDC last week I had a number of conversations regarding the possibility of running a Micro Framework Hardware Porting Lab in Europe. We would really like to do this but would like to assess demand, so that we can ensure the training is appropriate.

If you are interested could you please forward me, via this blog, your contact details and a short synopsis of the hardware you wish to port (1 to 2 sentences will do :)).

Many Thanks

-Dave

MEDC Berlin - Micro Framework Session Demo

davbaker — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:01:32 GMT

Those of you at my MEDC session in Berlin would have seen me build a Micro Framework application, from scratch, that allowed you to visually set a desired temperature and then communicate this across an RS232 interface.

For the demo I used the Freescale Emulator and i.MXS board. However it is possible to recreate the majority of the demo using just the i.MXS emulator, which is freely downloadable.

To recreate the demo you will need to have installed:

Visual Studio 2005
.NET Micro Framework SDK 2.0
Freescale i.MXS Developer Kit, incl. Emulator.

Instructions:

Create a new Windows Application Micro Framework project.
Replace/Amend Program.cs with the code below.
Add the Freescale CPU.cs file from the Developer Kit Sample Project
In the project properties, set the Transport as "Emulator" and the device as "i.MXS Emulator"
Build & Run

If you are using real hardware, don't forget to set the Configuration Manager option to "deploy".

Please let me know if you have any questions

-Dave

--------------------------------

using System;

using Microsoft.SPOT;
using Microsoft.SPOT.Input;
using Microsoft.SPOT.Presentation;
using Microsoft.SPOT.Presentation.Controls;

using System.Text;                              // UTF Encoding
using Microsoft.SPOT.Hardware;                  // Added - CPU.cs
using Microsoft.SPOT.Hardware.FreescaleMXSDemo; // Added - CPU.cs
using Microsoft.SPOT.Presentation.Media;        // Colour, etc

namespace MEDCDemo1
{
    public class Program : Microsoft.SPOT.Application
    {
        // Instantiate Resources & variables
        static Bitmap Canvas;                   // Bitmap Canvas
        static Font font = Resources.GetFont(Resources.FontResources.small);
        static SerialPort serialPort = null;    // Serial Communication

        static int temp = 18;                   // Default Temperature
        static int mintemp = 12;                // Minimum Temperature
        static int maxtemp = 24;                // Maximum Temperature

        public static void Main()
        {
            Program myApplication = new Program();

            Window mainWindow = myApplication.CreateWindow();

            // Initialise the drawing Canvas
            Canvas = new Bitmap(mainWindow.Width, mainWindow.Height);       // Bitmap holding the picture

            // Set up serial port
            SerialPort.Configuration serialConfig = new SerialPort.Configuration((SerialPort.Serial)0, (SerialPort.BaudRate)115200, false);
            serialPort = new SerialPort(serialConfig);
            Debug.Print("Serial port is writing/listening to " + serialPort.Config.Com + " at " + serialPort.Config.Speed);

            // Set up Up Button Interrupt - Up button is GPIO_PORT_B_11
            InterruptPort UpButton = new InterruptPort(Pins.GPIO_PORT_B_11, true, Port.ResistorMode.PullUp, Port.InterruptMode.InterruptEdgeBoth);
            UpButton.OnInterrupt += new GPIOInterruptEventHandler(UpButtonPush);

            // Set up Down Button Interrupt - Down button is GPIO_PORT_B_10
            InterruptPort DownButton = new InterruptPort(Pins.GPIO_PORT_B_10, true, Port.ResistorMode.PullUp, Port.InterruptMode.InterruptEdgeBoth);
            DownButton.OnInterrupt += new GPIOInterruptEventHandler(DownButtonPush);

            // Create the object that configures the GPIO pins to buttons.
            //GPIOButtonInputProvider inputProvider = new GPIOButtonInputProvider(null);

            // Start the application
            myApplication.Run(mainWindow);
        }

        private Window mainWindow;

        public Window CreateWindow()
        {
            // Create a window object and set its size to the
            // size of the display.
            mainWindow = new Window();
            mainWindow.Height = SystemMetrics.ScreenHeight;
            mainWindow.Width = SystemMetrics.ScreenWidth;

            // Create a single text control.
            //Text text = new Text();

            //text.Font = Resources.GetFont(Resources.FontResources.small);
            //text.TextContent = Resources.GetString(Resources.StringResources.String1);
            //text.HorizontalAlignment = Microsoft.SPOT.Presentation.HorizontalAlignment.Center;
            //text.VerticalAlignment = Microsoft.SPOT.Presentation.VerticalAlignment.Center;

            // Add the text control to the window.
            //mainWindow.Child = text;

            // Connect the button handler to all of the buttons.
            //mainWindow.AddHandler(Buttons.ButtonUpEvent, new ButtonEventHandler(OnButtonUp), false);

            // Set the window visibility to visible.
            mainWindow.Visibility = Visibility.Visible;

            // Attach the button focus to the window.
            Buttons.Focus(mainWindow);

            return mainWindow;
        }

        private void OnButtonUp(object sender, ButtonEventArgs e)
        {
            // Print the button code to the Visual Studio output window.
            Debug.Print(e.Button.ToString());
        }

        //                               //
        // Handle Up Button Push Event //
        //                               //
        public static void UpButtonPush(Cpu.Pin port, Boolean state, TimeSpan time)
        {
            if (state) // Only handle button down
            {
                Debug.Print("Up");

                if (temp < maxtemp) // Ensure we don't go above max
                {
                    temp++;
                    Drawtemp(temp);
                    ChangeTemp(temp);
                }
            }
        }

        //                                 //
        // Handle Down Button Push Event //
        //                                 //
        public static void DownButtonPush(Cpu.Pin port, Boolean state, TimeSpan time)
        {
            if (state) // Only handle button down
            {
                Debug.Print("Down");

                if (temp > mintemp) // Ensure we don't go below min
                {
                    temp--;
                    Drawtemp(temp);
                    ChangeTemp(temp);
                }
            }
        }

        //                                 //
        // Helper - Draw Graphic Display //
        //                                 //
        private static void Drawtemp(int temp)
        {
            // Calculate temperature interval
            int y = Canvas.Height - ((Canvas.Height / (maxtemp - mintemp)) * (temp - mintemp));

            // Draw white background
            Canvas.DrawRectangle(Color.White, 1, 0, 0, Canvas.Width, Canvas.Height, 0, 0, Color.White, 0, 0, Color.White, Canvas.Width, Canvas.Height, 256);
            // Draw Temperature Bar
            Canvas.DrawRectangle(Color.Black, 25, 0, y, Canvas.Width, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 256);
            // Add Temperature to Bar
            Canvas.DrawText(temp.ToString(), font, Color.White, 150, y - 5);
            //Display the temperature
            Canvas.Flush();
        }

        //                                 //
        // Helper - Change Thermostat     //
        //                                 //
        private static void ChangeTemp(int temp)
        {
            // Ensure we have a serial port
            if (serialPort != null)
            {
                // Encode to UTF8
                UTF8Encoding enc = new UTF8Encoding();
                // Encode Byte array
                string tempString = "Temperature = " + temp.ToString() + "\r\n";
                byte[] tempData = enc.GetBytes(tempString);
                // Write to Serial Port
                serialPort.Write(tempData, 0, tempData.Length);

                Debug.Print(tempString);
            }
        }
    }
}

MEDC Berlin - Micro Framework Emulators

davbaker — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:48:00 GMT

I had a couple of conversations MEDC last week regarding the creation and extention of Micro Framework emulators. The attached document is from an Instructor Led Lab that was run at MEDC Vegas, it gives a great overview of the Micro Framework emulator and how it can be easily extended. Please let me know if you have any questions.

-Dave

MEDC Berlin - Micro Framework Session Slide Deck

davbaker — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:51:00 GMT

Thankyou to all of you who attended my Micro Framework session at MEDC Berlin earlier this week. I hope you found it useful and informative...

You can find the slide deck I referenced attached. Let me know if you have any questions.

-Dave

Paris Techdays - Me, Mike and Olivier talk about Embedded...

davbaker — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:59:31 GMT

Olivier blogged about this a while back, but I came across it whilst I was pulling material together for MEDC. During the Paris Techdays in February, Oliver Bloch, Mike Hall and myself where interviewed about Microsoft Embedded technologies: Windows CE 6.0, Windows XP Embedded, and the .NET Micro Framework.

Don't be afraid the interview starts in French, all the technical bits are in English :)

Getting Started with the Freescale i.MXS Micro Framework Board

davbaker — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:26:39 GMT

One of the Micro Framework boards I've been working with recently is the i.MXS from Freescale, it has great functionality and is great for demos with it's QVGA screen.

Alden Linn has written a whitepaper which offers some great tips for getting started with .NET MF using the i.MXS Development Kit and, among other things, addresses some differences between the actual hardware and the .NET MF emulator.

You can find the article on Alden's Blog ---> Here.

.NET Micro Framework Videos

davbaker — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:52:23 GMT

You may be aware that I'm giving a .NET Micro Framework session at MEDC next week. As part of my preparation I been reviewing some material and cam across these videos that you may find interesting.

On on10.net here, there's a great video of Mike Hall giving a demo of building a .NET MF project using Visual Studio 2005. He demonstrates both the emulator built into Visual Studio 2005 and real hardware in the form of a reference design from Freescale. The application is a quick and dirty implementation of Space Invaders, which Mike says he wrote on a recent flight from Seattle to Germany [He neglects to mention that until I got my hands on it there were no bombs and the explosions looked like pizza :)]

The other is a quick showcase "day in the life" video here that features a number of .NET MF gadgets, including the Melita coffee maker, I blogged about a while back, that tells you the weather whilst brewing your morning cup of coffee .

.NET Microframework SDK 2.0 Released at Embedded World

davbaker — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:02:00 GMT

Small really is beatiful. Version 2.0 of the .NET Microframework SDK was released early this week at Embedded World in Nuremberg.

The .NET Micro Framework is an environment that extends the advantages of Microsoft .NET and the Visual Studio development system into a class of smaller, less expensive, and more resource-constrained devices than previously possible with other Microsoft embedded offerings.

For more information go to the Microframework Developer Centre or to download the Visual Studio 2005 plug-in go here.

Wearable Windows - .NET MicroFramework for clothes and bags

davbaker — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:17:00 GMT

A colleague of mine pointed this out in the most recent edition of Electronics Weekly. Eleksen, here in the UK, have developed fabric embeddable Vista Sideshow displays (Sideshow is built on the .NET MicroFramework) that can be used to access information on your Vista PC. Go on wear your Windows on your sleeve :)

Checkout this amazing laptop bag on their website...

Vista Display Controllers
SideShow Electronics receive critical information from the laptop PC and update the on-board memory cache. The module can receive data from the laptop PC either wirelessly through Bluetooth or via the USB connection depending on the application.

A 2.5 inch LCD display presents the information to the user. Both portrait and landscape configurations can be supported depending on the industrial design requirements.

ElekTex fabric controls allow navigation and access to the information stored in the on-board memory cache. Additional controls can be added for enhanced functionality or to support new applications such as MP3 playback, photo album show, video clips, etc.

Microframework Developer Center is now live

davbaker — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:21:00 GMT

For those of you who haven't read my previous posts on the Microframework, it's an environment that enables the advantages of Microsoft .NET and Visual Studio to be used to create smaller, less expensive, and more resource-constrained devices than was previously possible with the other Microsoft embedded products.

So if you looking for more information or to participate in the Beta Program(me) then hop on over to http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/netmf/default.aspx

...and it makes coffee !!!

davbaker — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:27:00 GMT

Check out this Smart Personal Object coffee maker that you can purchase on Amazon in the US. The device will tell you the time and local weather conditions, and makes coffee. Based on the .NET MicroFramework the device functions very similarl to a SPOT watch letting you know what to expect before you crawl out from under the covers...

Optional sleep function: if unit is idle for a period of time an animated cat appears
Grind select: select from 7 grind selections or turn grinder off to brew already ground coffee
Easy pour water reservoir with large viewing window
Pause and pour functionality
Warming plate with auto shut off
Permanent stainless steel filter basket
Hidden cord storage
User interface fluent in 3 languages (English, French, and Spanish)
Animated, region specific 4-day weather forecast
Current temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius
Current conditions, high/low temperature, and chance of precipitation
Visibility, sunrise/sunset time, and UV index
National weather service warning and alerts
Display flashes when a warning alert is issued
10-cup capacity
Measures 8 by 11 by 14 inches
One-year limited warranty

If you feel the need you can buy from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-ME1MSB-10-Cup-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B000HCUCOK/sr=8-2/qid=1158283968/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-5072980-6485622?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden