Freescale Semiconductor RD4247MAG3110 User guide

Freescale Semiconductor

Document Number: MAG3110UG

User’s Guide

RD4247MAG3110 Sensor
Toolbox Tilt-Compensated
eCompass Kit User’s Guide

Rev. 2, 08/2011

1 Introduction

The RD4247MAG3110 sensor toolbox tilt-compensated
eCompass kit provides hardware and software for
demonstrating the capability of the MAG3110 3-axis
digital magnetometer in an eCompass application with
hard- and soft-iron calibration.

The kit includes the following:

• The LFSTBUSB USB-interface board and USB
cable for connecting the evaluation board to a PC’ s
USB port

• The LFSTBEB3110 kit comprising the MAG31 10
magnetometer and MMA8451Q accelerometer
sensor board and the adapter board

• The LFSTBEB3110 Quick Start Guide

The complete kit, shown in the following illustration, is
available for order under part number
RD4247MAG3110.

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.1 Assembling the Kit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.2 Installing the Sensor Toolbox Software. . . . . . . . . . 2

2.3 Launching the Sensor Toolbox Software. . . . . . . . . 6

3 Quick-Start Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Advanced eCompass Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1 Configuration Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.2 Calibration Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.3 Data Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5 3D Pointer Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6 Navigation Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

© 2011 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. All rights reserved.

Getting Started

LFSTBEB3110 adapter board

LFSTBUSB USB-interface board

LFSTBEB3110 sensor board with
MAG311 0 and MMA8451Q

LFSTBEB31 10

LFSTBUSB

2 Getting Started

To begin using the kit, assemble the kit’s hardware and install the sensor toolbox software on the
Windows® PC to which the kit will be connected.

2.1 Assembling the Kit

As instructed in the LFSTBEB3110 Quick Start Guide:

1. Attach the two LFSTBEB3110 boards to the LFSTBUSB USB-interface board.

2. The two LFSTBEB3110 boards are supplied connected. If they become separated, reconnect them,
aligning the Pin-1 white arrows on both boards.

The hardware assembly will be completed as part of the software-installation procedure that follows.
When the kit is assembled, its compass-pointing direction is indicated by the red arrow in the preceding

illustration. This direction ergonomically facilitates the evaluation of the eCompass functionality as the
board assembly can be held by its USB connector.

2.2 Installing the Sensor Toolbox Software

The free sensor toolbox software provides an eCompass application with hard- and soft-iron calibration
algorithms.

At the end of the installation process, you will be asked about installing a Future Technology Devices
International (FTDI) serial-to-USB communications driver. This driver is required for communication
between the PC and the evaluation board. If you have previously installed the sensor toolbox software, this
driver already is installed.

The kit’s navigation application uses a Google Maps™ demonstration powered by the Adobe®
Shockwave® software. If the free Shockwave software is not installed on your PC, follow the instructions
at the end of the procedure.

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RD4247MAG3110 Sensor Toolbox Tilt-Compensated eCompass Kit User’s Guide, Rev. 2

To install the toolbox software:

1. Download the sensor toolbox software by clicking the following link:

http://www.freescale.com/sensortoolbox.

The webpage, shown below, appears.

Getting Started

2. Click the Download Software button.
The Sensor Toolbox Installer license agreement page appears.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, shown below, and click the I Accept button.

4. Save the software’s installation executable file (SensorToolboxInstaller.exe) to your PC.

5. Complete the kit’ s hardware assembly by using the supplied USB cable to connect the LFSTBUSB
USB-interface board to a USB port on your PC.

If the evaluation board’ s red power LED does not illuminate, check the power switch located next
to the board’s USB connector.

6. Locate the software toolkit’s installation file on your PC and double-click on it.

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Getting Started

7. Proceed through the setup wizard’s series of dialog boxes.
During the process, you will be asked if you want a Sensor T oolbox icon added to your S tart menu

and desktop.

8. When the Ready to Install dialog box, shown below , appears, review the installation configuration
and click the Install button.

A progress bar displays the status of the software installation and the final dialog box, shown
below, appears.

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Getting Started

9. Do any of the following and click the Finish button:
— To install the Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) serial-to-USB communications

driver, enable the Install FTDI Driver checkbox

— To launch the toolbox software upon completion of the setup, leave the Run Sensor Toolbox

checkbox enabled

If you chose to install the FTDI driver, a command-line window briefly appears.

10. If you do not have the Adobe Shockwave software installed on your PC, use the following link to
download and install that application:

http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

The application is now ready for use. If you left the Run Sensor T oolbox checkbox enabled, the application
launches and detects the devices connected to the evaluation board. (See the next section.)

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Getting Started

2.3 Launching the Sensor Toolbox Software

1. Ensure that the compass boards are connected to a USB port on your PC with the USB cable.
The evaluation board’s red power LED illuminates. (If the LED does not illuminate, check the

power switch located next to the board’s USB connector.)

2. Launch the toolbox software by doing either of the following:
— Double-click on the application’s desktop icon
— Select Start > Programs > Sensor Toolbox > Sensor Toolbox

The sensor toolbox’s hardware-detection dialog box, shown below, displays.

Then the MAG3110 evaluation software’s main menu, shown in the following figure, displays.

3. Open the tilt-compensated eCompass application by clicking on Full System Evaluation.

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Quick-Start Demonstration

3 Quick-Start Demonstration

The following demonstration procedure familiarizes you with the Main and Configuration screens and the
calibration functionality.

1. Launch the sensor toolbox software by using the procedure in Section 2.3, “Launching the Sensor

Toolbox Software,” on page 6.

The main eCompass screen appears with a red magnet warning icon in the Calibration frame,
indicating that the compass is out of calibration. Text at the bottom of the frame advises Rotate in
figure of 8 to measure geomagnetic field.

2. Rotate the device in a figure-eight motion as advised.
When a minimum of 16 magnetic measurements are stored in the Smart FIFO, the compass

software uses those measurements to calibrate the device. The default, 10-element calibration is
composed of:

— Three elements in the Hard Iron frame
— Six elements in the Inverse Soft Iron Matrix frame (There are not nine elements because the

matrix is symmetrical.)

— The geomagnetic field strength in the Calibration frame

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