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/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2019 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.
For a list of Qt for MCU reference implementations, see the
\l{Qt for MCUs - Supported Target Platforms}{Qt for MCUs} documentation.
You use the \l{Connecting Bare Metal Devices}{Bare metal plugin} to connect
to a debug server provider for debugging on MCUs.
\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)
\li The Bare Metal plugin
\li \l{https://developer.arm.com/tools-and-software/open-source-software/developer-tools/gnu-toolchain/gnu-rm}
{GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain}
\li 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}
\endlist
\endlist
\section1 Setting Up the Development Environment
You must download and install the required software and create connections
between \QC and MCUs. For more information, see \l{Getting Started on Windows}.
\section2 Enabling Bare Metal and MCU Plugins
To be able to develop for MCUs, you must enable the Bare Metal and MCU
plugins:
\list 1
\li Select \uicontrol Help > \uicontrol {About Plugins} >
\uicontrol {Device Support} > \uicontrol {Bare Metal} and
\uicontrol {MCU Support} to enable the Bare Metal and MCU
plugins.
\li Select \uicontrol {Restart Now} to restart \QC and load the plugins.
\li Create connections for debugging on the MCU board, as described in
\l{Connecting Bare Metal Devices}.
\endlist
\section2 Specifying MCU Settings
To configure a connection between \QC and your MCU board, select
\uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol Devices >
\uicontrol MCU:
\image qtcreator-mcu-options.png "MCU options"
\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 {GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain} field,
specify the path to the directory where you installed the
tool chain.
\li For STM32 boards:
\list
\li In the \uicontrol {STM32Cube SDK} field, specify the
path to the directory where you installed the SDK.
\li In the \uicontrol {STM32Cube Programmer} field,
specify the path to the directory where you
installed the tool.
\endlist
\li For NXP boards:
\list
\li In the \uicontrol {NXP EVKB-IMXRT 1050 SDK} field,
specify the path to the directory where you
installed the SDK.
\li In the \uicontrol {SEGGER JLink} field, specify the
path to the directory where you installed the tool.
\endlist
\li Select \uicontrol Apply to save the settings and to generate
a MCU device and kit.
\endlist
\section2 Adding MCU Devices
\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 Tools > \uicontrol Options >
\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 Adding MCU Kits
\QC automatically adds kits for building applications and running them
on the specified MCU boards when you select \uicontrol Apply in the
\uicontrol MCU tab after configuring the MCU tool chain.
\image qtcreator-mcu-kit.png "MCU kits"
To add kits, select \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol Kits
> \uicontrol Add:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Name field, specify a name for the kit.
\li In the \uicontrol {Device type} field, select
\uicontrol {MCU}.
\li In the \uicontrol Device field, select the MCU board for the kit.
\li In the \uicontrol Compiler field, select the Arm GCC compiler for
the kit.
\li Select \uicontrol Apply to add the kit.
\endlist
\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 File or 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
*/
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