XLR8 Quick Start

XLR8 | XLR8 Quick Start Guide

1   Introduction

XLR8 is an FPGA-based development board that has been specifically designed to look, feel, and act like a standard Arduino Uno board.

The following steps will guide you through the process of getting your XLR8 board up and running.

2   Install Arduino IDE and FTDI Drivers

2.1   Arduino IDE Software Installation for Microsoft Windows and macOS

The first step in setting up your computer to connect and program the XLR8 is to install the standard Arduino IDE software.  Follow the instructions below to install the Arduino IDE on your computer.

Microsoft Windows

  1. Click here for the official Arduino IDE installation guide for Microsoft Windows.
  2. Follow the instructions for installing the IDE.
  3. Once the IDE is installed, return here to finish installation of the Alorium Technology board specific packages and libraries.

Mac OS X

  1. Click here for the official Arduino IDE installation guide for Mac OS X.
  2. Follow the instructions for installing the IDE.
  3. Once the IDE is installed, return here to finish installation of the Alorium Technology board specific packages and libraries.

Linux

If you are running Linux, the setup steps are a bit different. Therefore, we have created one tutorial that incorporates all of the steps Linux requires to setup Arduino IDE.  Click the link below to see our Linux Setup Tutorial:

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to fast forward to Step 3!

2.2   FTDI Driver Installation

Like the SparkFun Redboard, the XLR8 uses a different type of USB chip than the Arduino Uno, and needs to have a driver for that FTDI chip installed. A great set of instructions for installing the driver can be found here:

The SparkFun guide will tell you if you need to install the driver. You may need to reboot your computer after installation.

A note about FTDI drivers and Mac OS:

If you are running Mac OS, you may run into issues with the usbserial port disappearing and not reconnecting.   There are known issues between the factory installed Mac OS FTDI drivers and drivers available for installation from FTDI directly.  And, unfortunately, the jury still appears to be out on which version of Mac OS will work consistently without ever seeing the lost serial port problem.

The following video on our YouTube channel provides the steps for a potential fix to this Mac related issue that has worked for several of us at Alorium Technology since the summer of 2017. It’s no iron-clad guarantee, but it seems to have solved the problem so far.

2.3   Test Drive as an Arduino Uno Clone

If you have installed the Arduino IDE and the FTDI driver and want to give it a quick test-drive, you can go back to those first instructions (in Section 2.1, above) to connect your Snō and run your first sketch.

Our XLR8 family of boards are all compatible to Arduino Uno functionality, so you can simply select “Arduino/Genuino Uno” from the Tools > Boards dropdown menu:

Select Arduino Uno

At this point, XLR8 will function just like an Arduino Uno, and you can run an example sketch such as “Blink” to check that everything is working.

2.4   Congratulations!

You’re up and running with your XLR8 board! You can now use your XLR8 just like an Arduino Uno. If you want to take the next step and make use of the XBs preinstalled on your XLR8, continue with Section 3.

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3  XLR8 Board Support Package and Libraries

To take advantage of the XBs that come with the XLR8, you’ll need to do a couple of things in addition to the above setup.

3.1   Add XLR8 Board Support

Add board support for our products

1. For Windows and LInux: Go to File > Preferences, in your Arduino IDE menu bar.
2. For Mac: Go to Arduino > Preferences, in your Arduino IDE menu bar.
3. Locate the ‘Additional Boards Manager URLs’ input field.
4. Paste this URL into the “Additional Boards Manager URLs” input field:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AloriumTechnology/Arduino_Boards/master/package_aloriumtech_index.json

Note: multiple URLs can be added to this field by separating each URL with a comma.

Install Alorium’s XLR8 board package

  1. Go to Tools > Board > Boards Manager.
  2. Type “alorium,” in the search field and you will see an option to install board files for Alorium Arduino compatible boards.
  3. Select the “Alorium XLR8 Boards” package and then click “Install.”

  1. Go to Tools > Board. You should see a new section titled “Alorium XLR8 Boards” now exists. Under this new heading should be the XLR8 board. You can select the XLR8 board just like you would normally select the “Arduino/Genuino Uno” board.
  2. Select your new XLR8 board from the Board menu.

After loading the XLR8 board support, you’ll see a new section for Alorium XLR8 Boards when looking at the Tools > Board menu. Even better, after selecting an XLR8 board there, you will find a new menu item at Tools > FPGA Image, where you will find a number of FPGA images that provide different operating speeds and different XB configurations.

3.2   XLR8 Libraries

Installing the XLR8 board support will also install a default set of libraries that are needed to take advantage of the extra capabilities of XLR8. You can see the libraries listed in the Sketch>Include Library menu.

There are additional libraries available that can be installed using the Library Manager. In the Arduino IDE, go to the menu Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries, which will open the Library Manager in a new window. Enter Alorium in the search bar and you will find the entries for the various XLR8 libraries available.

There are many libraries you can install to support a variety of our board functions and Xcelerator Blocks.  For the purposes of this getting started guide, find  the “XLR8Info” library and click on it.

An Install button will appear for it. Click on the Install button, and when the installation is complete you will see that the library is now tagged as Installed.

After adding the library, you’ll find it in the menu Sketch > Include Library, under Contributed Libraries (You may need to re-start the IDE if you don’t see it).

You will also find some examples sketches in the File > Examples menu, under the library name.

3.3   Running with an Xcelerator Block (XB)

To run with the XLR8Info XB and library, do the following:

  1. Connect the XLR8 to your computer with a USB cable.
  2. Go to Tools > Port and verify that Arduino IDE is connected to the XLR8 USB serial port.

3. Go to Tools > Board and select the XLR8 board

  1. Go to File > Examples > XLR8Info and select GetXLR8Version

  1. In the GetXLR8Version sketch window, click on the Upload button

Check the Serial Monitor window for the output, which should look like the output below.  Note that you will need to set the baud rate for the Serial Monitor to 115200 for this sketch to display output correctly.

*************** 
FPGA Image: 16 MHz Float Servo NeoPixel  r1682 
*************** 
XLR8 Hardware Version Number = 1682 
XLR8 CID = 0x44C4E600 
Design Configuration = 0x8 
   Image     = 1 
   Clock     = 16 MHz
   PLL SPEED = 16MHz
   FPGA Size = M8 
XB_ENABLE = 0x7 
Has Floating Point Add, Subtract, and Multiply 
Has Floating Point Divide 
Has Servo XB 
Has NeoPixel XB 
Int Osc = 86.70 MHz

3.4   Register

You’ll note in the output from the XLR8Version sketch there is a pre-formatted URL to submit the results of the XLR8Version sketch. Please copy this URL from your Serial Monitor window and enter it into your browser! It will take you to our Registration and Board Info page so that you can both register as an owner and also let us know what board you’re using. This will help us support you in your use of XLR8.

3.5   Congratulations Again!

You’ve now got the ability to use the XBs that come preinstalled on your XLR8. Now you can make use of the Floating Point, Servo and NeoPixel XBs, by loading their libraries as well.

Back to Top

4   Alternative FPGA Images

4.1   About Alternative FPGA Images

FPGA stands for Field Programmable Gate Array, which means that the functionality inside the FPGA can be overwritten with a completely new set of functions, sort of like flashing your firmware. For the XLR8, we use this ability to allow you to swap out one set of XBs for another.

4.2   Selecting Alternative FPGA Images

To select an alternate FPGA image, go to the tools > FPGA Images menu in the Arduino IDE to find the list of available images. Select the images with the features you need.

4.3   Burn the Image

To write the selected image to the FPGA chip on the XLR8, go to the Tools menu in the Arduino IDE and select Burn Bootloader. You will see in your code window a notice in the message area that the image is being burned, which takes a minute or so, after which you should see a message in the text console like this:

INFO: Arduino: Using port /dev/cu.usbserial-DB00KO28
Switching FPGA configuration to existing image 1
INFO: Complete

If you get an error when burning, make sure you have closed the Serial Monitor window.

4.4   Try It Out

Now re-run the GetXLR8Version program as described in Section 3.3 and you should see that the FPGA Image has changed:

***************
FPGA Image: 16 MHz Float Servo NeoPixel  1.0.1110
***************
XLR8 Hardware Version Number = 1110
Clean working copy XLR8 CID = 0x543F6E00 Design Configuration = 0x8 Image = 1 Clock = 16 MHz XB_ENABLE = 0x7 Has Floating Point Add, Subtract, and Multiply Has Floating Point Divide Has Servo XB Has NeoPixel XB Int Osc = 90.92 MHz

4.5   You are now an Expert!

Congratulations! You have already gone far beyond what is possible with the Arduino Uno. Now start exploring all the other capabilities of XLR8.

Back to Top

XLR8 | XLR8 Quick Start Guide

1   Introduction

XLR8 is an FPGA-based application accelerator and development board that has been specifically designed to look, feel, and act like a standard Arduino UNO board.

The following steps will guide you through the process of getting your XLR8 board up and running.

2   Install Arduino IDE and FTDI Drivers

2.1   Arduino IDE Software Installation for Microsoft Windows and macOS

The first step in setting up your computer to connect and program the XLR8 is to install the standard Arduino IDE software.  Follow the instructions below to install the Arduino IDE on your computer.

Microsoft Windows

  1. Click here for the official Arduino IDE installation guide for Microsoft Windows.
  2. Follow the instructions for installing the IDE.
  3. Once the IDE is installed, return here to finish installation of the Alorium Technology board specific packages and libraries.

Mac OS X

  1. Click here for the official Arduino IDE installation guide for Mac OS X.
  2. Follow the instructions for installing the IDE.
  3. Once the IDE is installed, return here to finish installation of the Alorium Technology board specific packages and libraries.

Linux

If you are running Linux, the setup steps are a bit different. Therefore, we have created one tutorial that incorporates all of the steps Linux requires to setup Arduino IDE.  Click the link below to see our Linux Setup Tutorial:

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to fast forward to Step 3!

2.2   FTDI Driver Installation

Like the SparkFun Redboard, the XLR8 uses a different type of USB chip than the Arduino Uno, and needs to have a driver for that FTDI chip installed. A great set of instructions for installing the driver can be found here:

The SparkFun guide will tell you if you need to install the driver. You may need to reboot your computer after installation.

A note about FTDI drivers and Mac OS:

If you are running Mac OS, you may run into issues with the usbserial port disappearing and not reconnecting.   There are known issues between the factory installed Mac OS FTDI drivers and drivers available for installation from FTDI directly.  And, unfortunately, the jury still appears to be out on which version of Mac OS will work consistently without ever seeing the lost serial port problem.

The following video on our YouTube channel provides the steps for a potential fix to this Mac related issue that has worked for several of us at Alorium Technology since the summer of 2017. It’s no iron-clad guarantee, but it seems to have solved the problem so far.

2.3   Test Drive as an Arduino Uno Clone

If you have installed the Arduino IDE and the FTDI driver and want to give it a quick test-drive, you can go back to those first instructions (in Section 2.1, above) to connect your Snō and run your first sketch.

Our XLR8 family of boards are all compatible to Arduino Uno functionality, so you can simply select “Arduino/Genuino Uno” from the Tools > Boards dropdown menu:

Select Arduino Uno

At this point, XLR8 will function just like an Arduino Uno, and you can run an example sketch such as “Blink” to check that everything is working.

2.4   Congratulations!

You’re up and running with your XLR8 board! You can now use your XLR8 just like an Arduino Uno. If you want to take the next step and make use of the XBs preinstalled on your XLR8, continue with Section 3.

Back to Top

3  XLR8 Board Support Package and Libraries

To take advantage of the XBs that come with the XLR8, you’ll need to do a couple of things in addition to the above setup.

3.1   Add XLR8 Board Support

Add board support for our products

1. For Windows and LInux: Go to File > Preferences, in your Arduino IDE menu bar.
2. For Mac: Go to Arduino > Preferences, in your Arduino IDE menu bar.
3. Locate the ‘Additional Boards Manager URLs’ input field.
4. Paste this URL into the “Additional Boards Manager URLs” input field:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AloriumTechnology/Arduino_Boards/master/package_aloriumtech_index.json

Note: multiple URLs can be added to this field by separating each URL with a comma.

Install Alorium’s XLR8 board package

  1. Go to Tools > Board > Boards Manager.
  2. Type “alorium,” in the search field and you will see an option to install board files for Alorium Arduino compatible boards.
  3. Select the “Alorium XLR8 Boards” package and then click “Install.”

  1. Go to Tools > Board. You should see a new section titled “Alorium XLR8 Boards” now exists. Under this new heading should be the XLR8 board. You can select the XLR8 board just like you would normally select the “Arduino/Genuino Uno” board.
  2. Select your new XLR8 board from the Board menu.

After loading the XLR8 board support, you’ll see a new section for Alorium XLR8 Boards when looking at the Tools > Board menu. Even better, after selecting an XLR8 board there, you will find a new menu item at Tools > FPGA Image, where you will find a number of FPGA images that provide different operating speeds and different XB configurations.

3.2   XLR8 Libraries

Installing the XLR8 board support will also install a default set of libraries that are needed to take advantage of the extra capabilities of XLR8. You can see these libraries listed in the Sketch > Include Library  menu.

There are additional libraries available that can be installed using the Library Manager. In the Arduino IDE, go to the menu Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries, which will open the Library Manager in a new window. Enter Alorium in the search bar and you will find the entries for the various XLR8 libraries available.

There are many libraries you can install to support a variety of our board functions and Xcelerator Blocks.  For the purposes of this getting started guide, find  the “XLR8Info” library and click on it.

An Install button will appear for it. Click on the Install button, and when the installation is complete you will see that the library is now tagged as Installed.

After adding the library, you’ll find it in the menu Sketch > Include Library, under Contributed Libraries (You may need to re-start the IDE if you don’t see it).

You will also find some examples sketches in the File > Examples menu, under the library name.

3.3   Running with an Xcelerator Block (XB)

To run with the XLR8Info XB and library, do the following:

  1. Connect the XLR8 to your computer with a USB cable.
  2. Go to Tools > Port and verify that Arduino IDE is connected to the XLR8 USB serial port.

3. Go to Tools > Board and select the XLR8 board

  1. Go to File > Examples > XLR8Info and select GetXLR8Version

  1. In the GetXLR8Version sketch window, click on the Upload button

Check the Serial Monitor window for the output, which should look like the output below.  Note that you will need to set the baud rate for the Serial Monitor to 115200 for this sketch to display output correctly.

*************** 
FPGA Image: 16 MHz Float Servo NeoPixel  r1682 
*************** 
XLR8 Hardware Version Number = 1682 
XLR8 CID = 0x44C4E600 
Design Configuration = 0x8 
 Image = 1 
 Clock = 16 MHz
 PLL SPEED = 16MHz
 FPGA Size = M8 
XB_ENABLE = 0x7 
Has Floating Point Add, Subtract, and Multiply 
Has Floating Point Divide 
Has Servo XB 
Has NeoPixel XB 
Int Osc = 86.70 MHz

3.4   Register

You’ll note in the output from the XLR8Version sketch there is a pre-formatted URL to submit the results of the XLR8Version sketch. Please copy this URL from your Serial Monitor window and enter it into your browser! It will take you to our Registration and Board Info page so that you can both register as an owner and also let us know what board you’re using. This will help us support you in your use of XLR8.

3.5   Congratulations Again!

You’ve now got the ability to use the XBs that come preinstalled on your XLR8. Now you can make use of the Floating Point, Servo and NeoPixel XBs, by loading their libraries as well.

Back to Top

4   Alternative FPGA Images

4.1   About Alternative FPGA Images

FPGA stands for Field Programmable Gate Array, which means that the functionality inside the FPGA can be overwritten with a completely new set of functions, sort of like flashing your firmware. For the XLR8, we use this ability to allow you to swap out one set of XBs for another.

4.2   Selecting Alternative FPGA Images

To select an alternate FPGA image, go to the tools > FPGA Images menu in the Arduino IDE to find the list of available images. Select the images with the features you need.

4.3   Burn the Image

To write the selected image to the FPGA chip on the XLR8, go to the Tools menu in the Arduino IDE and select Burn Bootloader. You will see in your code window a notice in the message area that the image is being burned, which takes a minute or so, after which you should see a message in the text console like this:

INFO: Arduino: Using port /dev/cu.usbserial-DB00KO28
Switching FPGA configuration to existing image 1
INFO: Complete

If you get an error when burning, make sure you have closed the Serial Monitor window.

4.4   Try It Out

Now re-run the GetXLR8Version program as described in Section 3.3 and you should see that the FPGA Image has changed:

***************
FPGA Image: 16 MHz Float Servo NeoPixel  1.0.1110
***************
XLR8 Hardware Version Number = 1110
  Clean working copy
XLR8 CID = 0x543F6E00
DesignConfig = 0x8
Image = 1
Clock = 16 MHz
XB_ENABLE = 0x7
Has Floating Point Add, Subtract, and Multiply
Has Floating Point Divide
Has Servo XB
Has NeoPixel XB
Int Osc = 90.92 MHz

4.5   You are now an Expert!

Congratulations! You have already gone far beyond what is possible with the Arduino Uno. Now start exploring all the other capabilities of XLR8.

Back to Top

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