Hardware Setup

Introduction to Hardware Kit

Mother Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

You should have received a board that looks like this.

This is the mother board of XRCU. You will be using it throughout this robotics journey. Please inform your teacher if you cannot find this board in your package.

Monitor

You should have received a monitor that looks like this.

Some of you may receive this monitor inside a plastic case.

Gently take out the monitor from the case. Please inform your teacher if you cannot find this monitor in your package.

Physical Setup

Monitor Installation

Plug your monitor onto the board as follows. Pay extra attention to the position and orientation of the monitor. The pins should exactly fit into the sockets.

The pins should exactly fit into the sockets. Check if your device looks like this.

Power Up

Main (Power) Switch

XRCU has a main switch that turns it on or off.

To turn ON XRCU, flip the switch to the LEFT. To turn OFF XRCU, flip the switch to the RIGHT.

Warning

Always turn off XRCU when unused, plugging or unplugging any wires, including the battery.

In case you forget which side is ON and which side is OFF, you may take a look at the back of XRCU.

You can figure out which side is ON and which side is OFF now!

Power Socket

XRCU has a power socket to receive electricity to power itself and to provide electricity to remaining components connected to XRCU.

This power socket is located at the bottom left corner of XRCU.

To power up XRCU, you should first turn OFF the main power switch. Then, make sure there are no electrical conductors touching the socket at the back of XRCU. Next, you may plug a 2-cell or 3-cell Li-Po battery into this power socket.

Alternatively, you may plug in any Direct Current (DC) of 7 - 12 V.

Warning

Pay attention to the direction you are plugging the battery into. The positive and negative terminals cannot be reversed, otherwise you may be injured and the board may be permanently damaged.

In case you forget which terminal is positive and which terminal is negative, you may take a look at the back side of XRCU.

Platform Installation

Check if Platform is Installed

1. Open Arduino IDE 1.X or 2.X
2. In the menu, select Tools > Board and look for JM9 XRCU Board.
   
   
3. If you found JM9 XRCU Board, then your computer already has the platform installed.

Install Platform

You may skip this section if your computer already has the platform installed.

1. Your teacher will give you a file named JM9_XRCU_Board_vX.Y.Z_windows_complete_package.zip.
2. Unzip this file and extract the JM9_XRCU_Board folder.
3. Move this folder to the following location.
   • Windows: C:\Users\{username}\Documents\Arduino\hardware
   • Mac OS X: /Users/{username}/Documents/Arduino/hardware
   • Linux: /home/{username}/Arduino/hardware

In step 3, create the folders Arduino and hardware if they don't exist.

Remarks

Remember to close (or quit) and restart Arduino IDE after all the steps above are performed, otherwise Arduino IDE may not detect the installation above.

Bootloader and Menu Setup

You may skip this section if your PCB is not ordered directly from a PCB factory.

Hardware Configurations

1. Connect pin BT0 to 3.3V.
2. Turn off the main power switch.
3. Plug a 2-cell or 3-cell Li-Po battery into the power socket.
4. Connect the USB-C port of XRCU PCB to your computer via a USB cable.
5. Turn on the main power switch.

Programmer Installation

You would need to install STM32CubeProgrammer on your computer in order to perform the following steps.

Burn Bootloader

1. Open Arduino IDE.
2. In the menu, select Tools > Board > JM9 XRCU Board > STM32F4 core XRCU.
   
3. In the menu, select Tools > Upload Method > USB DFU.
   
4. In the menu, select Tools > Programmer > STM32CubeProgrammer.
   
5. In the menu, click Tools > Burn Bootloader.
   

Menu Overview

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Prerequisites	Serial Monitor