RA4T1 Motor Control Kit

Overview

The MCK-RA4T1 is an Motor Control Kit for Renesas RA4T1 MCU Group which integrates multiple series of software and pin-compatible Arm®-based 32-bit cores that share a common set of Renesas peripherals to facilitate design scalability and efficient platform-based product development.

The MCU in this series incorporates a high-performance Arm Cortex®-M33 core running up to 100 MHz with the following features:

  • Up to 256 KB code flash memory

  • 40 KB SRAM

  • Analog peripherals

  • Security and safety features

MCK-RA4T1 kit includes the items below:

  • RA4T1 CPU board (MCB-RA4T1)

  • Inverter board (MCI-LV-1)

  • Brushless DC Motor

  • Accessories (cables, standoffs, etc.)

The specifications of the CPU board are shown below:

MCU specifications

  • 100 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 core based RA4T1 MCU 64 pins, LFQFP package

  • ROM/SRAM size: 256KB/40KB

  • MCU input clock: 10MHz (Generate with external crystal oscillator)

  • Power supply: DC 5V, select one way automatically from the below:

    • Power is supplied from compatible inverter board

    • Power is supplied from USB connector

Connector

  • Inverter board connector

  • USB connector for J-Link OB

  • SCI connector for Renesas Motor Workbench communication

  • Through hole for CAN communication

  • 10 pin through hole for Arm debugger

  • PMOD connectors

  • MCU reset switch

  • User-controllable LED x2, Power LED x1

Onboard debugger

This product has the onboard debugger circuit, J-Link On-Board (hereinafter called “J-Link-OB”). When you write a program, connect the CPU board to PC with USB cable. J-Link-OB operates as debugger equivalent to J-Link. If connecting from flash programming tool (e.g. J-Flash Lite by SEGGER), set the type of debugger (tool) to “JLink”

Hardware

Detailed Hardware features for the RA4T1 MCU group can be found at: - The RA4T1 MCU group: RA4T1 Group User’s Manual Hardware - The MCB-RA4T1 board: MCB-RA4T1 - User’s Manual

Supported Features

The mck_ra4t1 board supports the hardware features listed below.

on-chip / on-board
Feature integrated in the SoC / present on the board.
2 / 2
Number of instances that are enabled / disabled.
Click on the label to see the first instance of this feature in the board/SoC DTS files.
vnd,foo
Compatible string for the Devicetree binding matching the feature.
Click on the link to view the binding documentation.

Programming and Debugging

The mck_ra4t1 board supports the runners and associated west commands listed below.

flash debug

Applications for the mck_ra4t1 board can be built, flashed, and debugged in the usual way. See Building an Application and Run an Application for more details on building and running.

Configuring the Debug Probe

The MCK-RA4T1 board includes an on-board SEGGER J-Link debugger. SEGGER J-Link drivers are available at https://www.segger.com/downloads/jlink

To use the on-board J-Link debugger, ensure that:

  1. The J-Link OB is connected to the host PC via the USB port (CN9).

  2. The J-Link OB jumper is in the default configuration as described in the MCB-RA4T1 - User’s Manual.

Configuring a Console

Connect a USB cable from your PC to the on-board virtual COM port (CN9), and use a serial terminal of your choice (minicom, PuTTY, etc.) with the following settings:

  • Speed: 115200

  • Data: 8 bits

  • Parity: None

  • Stop bits: 1

Flashing

Here is an example for the Hello World application.

# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b mck_ra4t1 samples/hello_world
west flash

Open a serial terminal, reset the board (push the reset switch S1), and you should see the following message in the terminal:

***** Booting Zephyr OS v4.3.0-xxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxx *****
Hello World! mck_ra4t1

Debugging

Here is an example for the Hello World application.

# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b mck_ra4t1 samples/hello_world
west debug

Open a serial terminal, step through the application in your debugger, and you should see the following message in the terminal:

***** Booting Zephyr OS v4.3.0-xxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxx *****
Hello World! mck_ra4t1

References