EBC Exercise 10a Analog In
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder
Contents
Introduction
The Beagle has seven exposed analog inputs, numbered AIN0 to AIN6, on the P9 header. They are accessed through the Linux Industrial IO (iio) system (https://wiki.analog.com/software/linux/docs/iio/iio). They can be read either a sample at a time (One Shot) or in blocks of samples (Continous). One shot can be used to read the setting of a potentiometer, or an analog temperature sensor. The continuous mode is for reading a microphone or some other analog signal. With the proper configuration, the continuous input can read 12 bit samples at 200k samples/second.
Here's is how to use each.
Analog in - One Shot
(This is based on BeagleBone Black Analog Input.)
The bone has eight Analog Inputs; seven are exposed on P9, labeled AIN in table 11 below.
The AIN pins are sampled at 12 bits and 8k samples per second by default. The input voltage is between 0 and 1.8V. Fortunately, both analog ground (0V) and 1.8V are available on P9.
The photo below shows a small potentiometer wired to the bone. One end goes to the analog ground (pin 34), the other analog 1.8V (pin 32). The wiper is attached to AIN5 which is pin 36.
You interact with the analog in much like the gpio, but it appears in a different place.
bone$ cd /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device0 bone$ ls -F buffer/ in_voltage2_raw in_voltage6_raw power/ dev in_voltage3_raw in_voltage7_raw scan_elements/ in_voltage0_raw in_voltage4_raw name subsystem@ in_voltage1_raw in_voltage5_raw of_node@ uevent
There are the various analog inputs, in_voltage6_raw corresponds with AIN6
bone$ cat in_voltage6_raw 1185
Change the pot and rerun cat. What's the min and max value you get? Is it 12 bits?
Analog in - Continuous
(This is based on information at: http://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/docs/latest/linux/Foundational_Components/Kernel/Kernel_Drivers/ADC.html#Continuous%20Mode)
Reading a continuous analog signal requires some set up. First go to the iio devices directory.
bone$ cd /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device0 bone$ ls -F buffer/ in_voltage0_raw in_voltage2_raw in_voltage4_raw in_voltage6_raw name power/ subsystem@ dev in_voltage1_raw in_voltage3_raw in_voltage5_raw in_voltage7_raw of_node@ scan_elements/ uevent
Here you see the files used to read the one shot values. Look in scan_elements to see how to enable continuous input.
bone$ ls scan_elements in_voltage0_en in_voltage1_index in_voltage2_type in_voltage4_en in_voltage5_index in_voltage6_type in_voltage0_index in_voltage1_type in_voltage3_en in_voltage4_index in_voltage5_type in_voltage7_en in_voltage0_type in_voltage2_en in_voltage3_index in_voltage4_type in_voltage6_en in_voltage7_index in_voltage1_en in_voltage2_index in_voltage3_type in_voltage5_en in_voltage6_index in_voltage7_type
Here you see three values for each analog input, _en (enable), _index (index of this channel in the buffer’s chunks) and _type (How the ADC stores its data). (See the link above for details.)
Let's use the input at P9.40 which is AIN1. To enable this input:
bone$ echo 1 > scan_elements/in_voltage1_en
Next set the buffer size.
bone$ ls buffer data_available enable length watermark
Let's use a 512 sample buffer. You might need to experiment with this.
bone$ echo 512 > buffer/length
Then start it running.
bone$ echo 1 > buffer/enable
Now, just read from /dev/iio:device0.
An example Python program that does the above and the reads and plot the buffer is here: analogInContinuous.py Be sure to read the instillation instructions in the comments. Also note this uses X windows and you need to ssh -X bone for X to know where the display is.
Run it:
host$ ssh -X bone bone$ cd /opt/vsx-examples/examples/BeagleBone/Black bone$ ./analogInContinuous.py Hit ^C to stop
Here's the output of a 1KHz sine wave.
It'd be a good idea to disable the buffer when done.
bone$ echo 0 > /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device0/buffer/enable
Analog in - Continuous, Change the sample rate
The built in ADCs sample at 8k samples/second by default. They can run as fast as 200k samples/second by editing a device tree.
bone$ cd /opt/source/bb.org-overlays bone$ make
This will take a while the first time as it compiles all the device trees.
bone$ vi src/arm/src/arm/BB-ADC-00A0.dts
Around line 54 you'll see
ti,chan-step-avg = <16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16>; ti,chan-step-opendelay = <0x98 0x98 0x98 0x98 0x98 0x98 0x98 0x98>;
The first line says for every sample returned, average 16 values. This will give you a cleaner signal, but if you want to go fast, change the 16's to 1's. The second line says to delay 0x98 cycles between each sample. Set this to 0 to got as fast a possible.
ti,chan-step-avg = <1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1>; ti,chan-step-opendelay = <0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00>;
Now compile it.
bone$ make DTC src/arm/BB-ADC-00A0.dtbo gcc -o config-pin ./tools/pmunts_muntsos/config-pin.c
It knows to only recompile the file you just edited. Now install and reboot.
bone$ sudo make install ... 'src/arm/AM335X-PRU-UIO-00A0.dtbo' -> '/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-UIO-00A0.dtbo' 'src/arm/BB-ADC-00A0.dtbo' -> '/lib/firmware/BB-ADC-00A0.dtbo' 'src/arm/BB-BBBMINI-00A0.dtbo' -> '/lib/firmware/BB-BBBMINI-00A0.dtbo' ... bone$ reboot
A number of files get installed, including the ADC file. Now try rerunning.
bone$ cd /var/lib/cloud9/BeagleBone/Black bone$ ./analogInContinuous.py Hit ^C to stop
Here's the output of a 10KHz sine wave. (The plot is wrong, but eLinux won't let me fix it.)
It's still a good idea to disable the buffer when done.
bone$ echo 0 > /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device0/buffer/enable
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder