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/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2020 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: https://www.qt.io/licensing/
**
** This file is part of the Qt Creator documentation.
**
** Commercial License Usage
** Licensees holding valid commercial Qt licenses may use this file in
** accordance with the commercial license agreement provided with the
** Software or, alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in
** a written agreement between you and The Qt Company. For licensing terms
** and conditions see https://www.qt.io/terms-conditions. For further
** information use the contact form at https://www.qt.io/contact-us.
**
** GNU Free Documentation License Usage
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of
** this file. Please review the following information to ensure
** the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 requirements
** will be met: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html.
**
****************************************************************************/
/*!
\previouspage creator-developing-ios.html
\page creator-developing-mcu.html
\nextpage creator-developing-qnx.html
\title Connecting MCUs
Qt for MCU enables you to use subsets of QML and Qt Quick Controls
to create user interfaces for devices that are powered by microcontroller
units (MCU). It includes a new graphics rendering engine that has a low
memory footprint and is optimized for MCUs and other resource-constrained
devices.
You can connect MCU boards to a development host to build applications for
them using the GNU Arm Embedded GCC compiler, libraries, and other GNU tools
necessary for bare metal software development on devices based on the Arm
Cortex-M processors. You can deploy the applications on MCUs to run and
debug them using \QC.
The toolchains are available for cross-compilation on Microsoft Windows,
Linux, and macOS. However, the Qt for MCU SDK is currently only available
for Windows and Linux.
For a list of Qt for MCU reference implementations, see the
\l{Qt for MCUs - Supported Target Platforms}{Qt for MCUs} documentation.
\section1 Requirements
To use \QC to develop QML applications for MCUs, you need the following:
\list
\li Qt for MCU SDK (only available for Windows and Linux)
\li \l{https://developer.arm.com/tools-and-software/open-source-software/developer-tools/gnu-toolchain/gnu-rm}
{GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain}
\endlist
The hardware-specific requirements vary depending on the hardware platform you are developing for.
For more information see:
\list
\li \l{Getting Started on NXP}
\li \l{Getting Started on STM}
\li \l{Getting Started on Renesas}
\endlist
\section1 Setting Up the Development Environment
You must download and install the required software and create connections
between \QC and MCUs. The following subsections guide you through the
setup process.
\section2 MCU Plugin
To be able to develop applications for MCUs, you need the MCU plugin.
This plugin is enabled automatically by the Qt Installer when you
install Qt for MCUs.
\section2 Specifying MCU Settings
To configure a connection between \QC and your MCU board, select
\uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices >
\uicontrol MCU:
\image qtcreator-mcu-options.png "MCU preferences"
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol {Qt for MCUs SDK} field, specify the path
to the directory where you installed Qt for MCUs SDK.
\li In the \uicontrol {Targets supported by the Qt for MCUs SDK}
field, select your MCU board.
\li In the \uicontrol Requirements section, ensure that the
platform-specific requirements are met. This varies depending
on the target chosen:
\list
\li For STM32 targets:
\list
\li The \uicontrol {GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain} or
\uicontrol {IAR ARM Compiler} path.
\li The \uicontrol {STM32CubeProgrammer} install path.
\li The \uicontrol {MCU SDK} for the chosen target.
\li The \uicontrol {FreeRTOS Sources} for the chosen target.
\endlist
\li For NXP targets:
\list
\li The \uicontrol {GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain} or
\uicontrol {IAR ARM Compiler} path.
\li The \uicontrol {MCUXpresso IDE} install path.
\li The \uicontrol {MCU SDK} for the chosen target.
\li The \uicontrol {FreeRTOS Sources} for the chosen target.
\endlist
\li For Renesas targets:
\list
\li The \uicontrol {Green Hills Compiler} path.
\li The \uicontrol {Renesas Graphics Library} path.
\endlist
\endlist
\li Select the
\uicontrol {Automatically create kits for all available targets on start}
option to create kits automatically the next time Qt Creator is
started.
\note You could also use \uicontrol {Create Kit} to manually
create kits for the chosen target.
\li Select \uicontrol Apply to save the settings.
\endlist
\note When updating to other versions of the Qt for MCUs SDK, \QC will
ask you if you want to replace the existing kits, or create new ones
alongside. This can also be done manually, for each individual target,
via \uicontrol {Update Kit} and \uicontrol {Create Kit}, respectively.
\section2 Adding MCU Devices
\note This optional step is not necessary if you have already
set up the MCU SDK as outlined in \l{Specifying MCU Settings}.
\QC automatically adds a default MCU device when you select
\uicontrol Apply in the \uicontrol MCU tab after configuring the
MCU tool chain.
\image qtcreator-mcu-device.png "MCU devices"
To add MCU devices, select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences >
\uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Add > \uicontrol {MCU Device} >
\uicontrol {Start Wizard}:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Name field, give the device a name.
\li In the \uicontrol Type field, select the board type.
\li Select \uicontrol Apply to add the device.
\endlist
\section2 Managing MCU Kits
\QC automatically adds kits for all the available targets, if the
\uicontrol {Automatically create kits for all available targets on start}
option is enabled under the \uicontrol MCU settings tab. You can also
create kits for individual targets manually, as outlined
in \l{Specifying MCU Settings}.
\image qtcreator-mcu-kit.png "MCU kits"
You can edit and/or remove individual kits in \uicontrol Edit >
\uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Kits.
However, for adding new kits you should use the \uicontrol {Create Kit}
button in the {Qt for MCUs} settings tab. This method adds the paths to
the kit's toolkits and SDKs, and keeps them synchronized when selecting
\uicontrol Apply or \uicontrol OK.
The \uicontrol {MCU dependencies} field displays paths to 3rd party
software required for MCU development with the current kit.
\section1 Running Applications on MCUs
You can use a wizard to set up a project for developing an application that
you can run on MCUs. The project uses a subset of QML and Qt Quick Controls
that are supported by Qt for MCU. For more information about developing
applications for MCUs, see the Qt for MCU documentation.
To create an application and run it on a MCU board:
\list 1
\li Select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New Project} >
\uicontrol {Application (Qt for MCU)} >
\uicontrol {MCU Support Application} > \uicontrol Choose.
\li Follow the instructions of the wizard to create the project.
\li Select \uicontrol Projects > \uicontrol {Build & Run}, and then
select the kit for building the application and running it on the
MCU board specified in the kit.
\li Select \uicontrol Run to specify run settings.
Usually, you can use the default settings.
\endlist
\section1 Supported Qt for MCUs SDKs
Since version 7.0.0, \QC supports version 2.0 and later of the Qt for MCUs SDK.
For older versions, refer to the following table.
\table
\header
\li \QC version
\li Qt for MCUs SDK version
\row
\li 7.0.0 or later
\li 2.0 or later
\row
\li 6.0.x
\li 1.3 or later, including 2.0 or later
\row
\li 4.12.4 up to 5.0.3
\li 1.3 up to 1.9
\row
\li 4.12.2 or 4.12.3
\li 1.2
\row
\li 4.12.0 or 4.12.1
\li 1.1
\row
\li 4.11.x
\li 1.0
\endtable
*/
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