GENERAL questions about PSOC4 ble capsense

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi I am brand new to PSOC and I have some questions

   

1) My understanding is that you design your hardware on a pioneer board (I have the 042 BLE) and if you create a solid device virtually, then you buy the hardware from cypress to make a prototype?

   

2) I am not great with programming C. I have watched several videos including the PSoC 101BLE series and it seems like a nightmare to me. Is it still possible to learn to code firmwares to create my device? or should I move on to a different project?

   

3)My project is on making capacitive buttons out of conductive materials of my choice. I am then going to use that information to control something on the computer or a MIDI instrument. Can this be done with PSoC 4?

   

Thank you for answering in advance. You'll be saving a newbie developer's life.

   

-Martin

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Bob_Marlowe
Level 10
Level 10
First like given 50 questions asked 10 questions asked

Welcome in the forum, Martin!

   

I admit that learning C-language is a bit frightening in the beginning, but as you can see from all the others using it, verifies that it can be done 😉

   

Do you really need the BLE functionality in the beginning? That is more complicated than the "pure" PSoC, so better will be to start with something easier which can be done with your Pioneer board.

   

PSoCs generally spoken consist of a CPU (ARM M0 in your case) and some hardware, for instance the CapSense which will make it very easy to build your buttons. More hardware are ADCs, DACs, OpAmps, comparators, serial interfaces (I2C, UART and so on), timers, counters and PWMs and... and... Oh, yes, and a BLE interface.

   

All the components you need for your project are placed and wired onto a design sheet (or more than one) to fulfill the hardware requirements. With the help of "traditional" C (not C++) and a set of APIs (Application Program Interfaces) for each component you can start to write the logic behind your hardware (as send a number over an UART when a button is pressed). There is a datasheet for every component and you will find example projects for each of them.

   

So: Welcome in the fascinating world of PSoCs

   

1) My understanding is that you design your hardware on a pioneer board (I have the 042 BLE) and if you create a solid device virtually, then you buy the hardware from cypress to make a prototype?

   

Not "virtually", the device you make is quite real. It is more than just a proof-of-concept, rather a prototype. You can develop your own pcbs where you will have to solder the chips or modules purchased from Cypress.

   

 

   

Bob

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3 Replies
Bob_Marlowe
Level 10
Level 10
First like given 50 questions asked 10 questions asked

Welcome in the forum, Martin!

   

I admit that learning C-language is a bit frightening in the beginning, but as you can see from all the others using it, verifies that it can be done 😉

   

Do you really need the BLE functionality in the beginning? That is more complicated than the "pure" PSoC, so better will be to start with something easier which can be done with your Pioneer board.

   

PSoCs generally spoken consist of a CPU (ARM M0 in your case) and some hardware, for instance the CapSense which will make it very easy to build your buttons. More hardware are ADCs, DACs, OpAmps, comparators, serial interfaces (I2C, UART and so on), timers, counters and PWMs and... and... Oh, yes, and a BLE interface.

   

All the components you need for your project are placed and wired onto a design sheet (or more than one) to fulfill the hardware requirements. With the help of "traditional" C (not C++) and a set of APIs (Application Program Interfaces) for each component you can start to write the logic behind your hardware (as send a number over an UART when a button is pressed). There is a datasheet for every component and you will find example projects for each of them.

   

So: Welcome in the fascinating world of PSoCs

   

1) My understanding is that you design your hardware on a pioneer board (I have the 042 BLE) and if you create a solid device virtually, then you buy the hardware from cypress to make a prototype?

   

Not "virtually", the device you make is quite real. It is more than just a proof-of-concept, rather a prototype. You can develop your own pcbs where you will have to solder the chips or modules purchased from Cypress.

   

 

   

Bob

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Thank you very much for the warm welcome. That clears things up a little bit.

   

Programming PSoC is very different from what I'm used to, Arduino. I booked a workshop near me so hopefully I can get a better understanding of it all!

   

-Martin

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Bob_Marlowe
Level 10
Level 10
First like given 50 questions asked 10 questions asked

The time you are going to spend learning PSoC will be well invested.

   

There are some videos you may look at beforehand, some concerned with BLE, others with Creator, look at top of this page under "Videos".

   

 

   

Bob