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OPT3001EVM Linux Getting Started Guide
Felipe Balbi
August 18, 2014
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Contents
1 Scope 1
2 Introduction 2
2.1 OPT3001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Beagle Bone Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3 Linux Kernel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3 Hardware Platform 3
4 The Linux Kernel 5
4.1 Writing Our DeviceTree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2 Downloading The Correct Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.3 Kernel Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5 Usage 13
6 Conclusion 15
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Chapter 1
Scope
This document will describe the necessary steps to connect OPT3001EVM to
a BeagleBone Black development platform.
By the end of this User’s Guide, the reader should be able to verify function-
ality of the OPT3001 device and get results from light measurements.
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Chapter 2
Introduction
2.1 OPT3001
The OPT3001 is an ideal sensing device for measuring ambient light. Measurements can be made from 0.01 lux up to 83k lux without selecting full-scale
ranges by using the built-in, full-scale setting feature. This capability allows
light measurement over a 23-bit effective dynamic range.
The spectral response of the ambient light sensor is tightly matched to the
photopic response of the human eye and has significant infrared rejection. This
tightly matched response offers accurate lux readings of different spectral sources,
even under dark glass.
The digital operation is flexible for system integration. Measurements can
be either continuous or single-shot. The control and interrupt system features
autonomous operation, allowing the processor to sleep while the sensor searches
for appropriate wake-up events.
The low power consumption and low power-supply voltage capability make
this device ideal for battery-powered applications.
2.2 Beagle Bone Black
Beagle Bone Black is an Open Source Hardware Software Development Plat-
form using Texas Instruments’ AM335x System-on-Chip device.
It provides an easy to use Software Development Platform based on an ARM
Cortex-A8 CPU together with many other peripherals integrated into the die.
2.3 Linux Kernel
The Linux Kernel was created by Linus Torvalds back in 1991. It’s a General
Purpose Operating System which works in many different architectures including, but not limited to, x86, ARM, ARC, Power, MIPS, and Alpha.
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Chapter 3
Hardware Platform
For the purpose of this Getting Started Guide, we will be using OPT3001EVM
Rev B and Beagle Bone Black Rev A5C.
The picture below shows a simple way of connecting OPT3001EVM to the
Beagle Bone Black using a standard 100 mil spacing breadboard.
Connected like that, OPT3001 will show on Beagle Bone Black’s I2C Bus 2
1
. The following section will describe all the necessary steps to get OPT3001
working on our Beagle Bone Black.
1
note that I2C Bus numbers start at 0, so I2C Bus 2 is the third I2C Bus on Beagle Bone
Black
3