Arduino bootloader for SparkFun Edge Development Board - Apollo3 Blue

Development Boards
1

Hi,

Is there the Arduino support for SparkFun Edge Development Board - Apollo3 Blue?

2

Unfortunately, not at this time. We are currently working to develop an Arduino core for the product.

Otherwise, you can also find the answer to your question in the first paragraph of the Software Setup in the [hookup guide.

The cost of using the latest and greatest technology is that there is no Arduino support for the chip. In order to start developing your own applications you’ll need to follow along with our extensive [Ambiq Apollo3 Software Development Kit Setup Guide.[/quote]](Using SparkFun Edge Board with Ambiq Apollo3 SDK - SparkFun Learn)

](https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/sparkfun-edge-hookup-guide/all#software-setup)

3

Thank you. In the next release can you add BLE?

4

Yes, we will definitely try to include BLE support in the Arduino core. In the meantime there are a lot of examples for BLE in the Ambiq SDK - check out those listed under the Apollo3 EVB BSP package (BLE is not board-dependent so those examples should work with little to no modification).

5
  • WINDOWS 10 and ARDUINO IDE worked!-

I was able to use the Arduino IDE to program the SparkFun Edge board after downloading the SAMD drivers (some menu adjustments in windows) and proper selection in the Board Manager Menu.

You do have to HOLD DOWN the “14” button during the entire time of the “sketch” being downloaded to the edge board.

If I can re-find the URL for a tutorial on how to do this (I’m pretty sure it was posted on GitHub) , I will post it here.

Enclosed is a GIF showing the result of a simple program to “blink” the four onboard LEDs for 0.5 seconds each. This was just a quick verification of the Arduino IDE and the ability to transfer the program to the edge board. (No AI was used or abused in this process).

Here it is: https://github.com/sparkfun/Arduino_Apollo3

blinkey1a.gif

6

Awesome! Nice work and thanks for the GIF. Please let us know how the Arduino core suits your needs and if there is missing functionality - the best way is to open a GitHub Issue or Pull Request.

Here’s an explanation of the bootloading button-pressing sequence:

The bootloader always runs on reset, however if button 14 is not held down it quickly exits and begins running user’s code. So to make the board ready to bootload it needs to be reset while button 14 is held down. The USB-serial converter is able to control the reset pin but not pin 14, so we need to manually hold it. Also there seem to be cases (when the UART is transmitting at a high duty cycle) that the reset signal can be missed. Therefore the best process to bootload is:

  1. Hold down button 14

  2. Still holding down Button 14, press and release Reset - this should guarantee that the board is in bootloader mode

  3. Still holding down Button 14, begin the upload (using Arduino IDE or command line tools of SDK)

  4. Release Button 14 while code is being transferred - this allows the final reset signal to begin your code. Don’t worry, if you keep Button 14 held low until the end (when the last reset signal is sent) the upload will still work but you will have to press reset without Button 14 held down to begin the application.

FYI future Apollo3-based SparkFun boards will have an improved auto-bootload circuit so that there is no need for the above process - just press upload!