Debugging

The MPLAB^® Data Visualizer is used to view live data and for debugging purposes.

Figure 1. MPLAB^® Data Visualizer Example

It can display the following variables:

Motor speed in Revolutions per Minute (RPM)
Motor current in mA
System voltage in mV

Moreover, debug messages, which display any faults or state changes, can be enabled and viewed in the MPLAB Data Visualizer terminal section. The following lines of code are contained in the application area of the project, in the app.c file. It is strongly recommended that only a single functionality is enabled at once, either the debug messages or the Data Visualizer. Debug messages are disabled by default. To enable them, comment lines 31 and 33 and uncomment line 30. Any changes to the code require recompiling and reuploading the project.

Figure 2. Debug Options

Configuration

1.Connect the MCLV-2 board to the PC using a Mini-USB cable.
2.Make sure the MPLAB Data Visualizer plug-in is installed.
1. 2.1.Go to Tools → Plug-ins → Available plug-ins and search for MPLAB Data Visualizer.
3.Launch the MPLAB Data Visualizer and click on Load Workspace from the top bar. Select the .json file in the root of the repository.
Figure 3. Loading the Workspace
4.On the left Connections tab, select the COM port and set the Baud Rate to 115200. Leave the rest of the configuration like in Figure 4:
Figure 4. COM Port Configuration
5.Press the Start streaming button for the selected COM port. To view the traces on the Time Plot, the Show Live Data mode needs to be activated.
- If debug messages are enabled (see the app.c source file macros), they can be viewed in the Terminal tab, with the Display As mode set to 8-bit ASCII
Figure 5. Debug Messages for Various States and Faults