115 lines
3.6 KiB
ReStructuredText
115 lines
3.6 KiB
ReStructuredText
The Timers
|
|
==========
|
|
|
|
The pyboard has 14 timers which each consist of an independent counter
|
|
running at a user-defined frequency. They can be set up to run a function
|
|
at specific intervals.
|
|
The 14 timers are numbered 1 through 14, but 3 is reserved
|
|
for internal use, and 5 and 6 are used for servo and ADC/DAC control.
|
|
Avoid using these timers if possible.
|
|
|
|
Let's create a timer object::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim = pyb.Timer(4)
|
|
|
|
Now let's see what we just created::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim
|
|
Timer(4)
|
|
|
|
The pyboard is telling us that ``tim`` is attached to timer number 4, but
|
|
it's not yet initialised. So let's initialise it to trigger at 10 Hz
|
|
(that's 10 times per second)::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim.init(freq=10)
|
|
|
|
Now that it's initialised, we can see some information about the timer::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim
|
|
Timer(4, prescaler=624, period=13439, mode=UP, div=1)
|
|
|
|
The information means that this timer is set to run at the peripheral
|
|
clock speed divided by 624+1, and it will count from 0 up to 13439, at which
|
|
point it triggers an interrupt, and then starts counting again from 0. These
|
|
numbers are set to make the timer trigger at 10 Hz: the source frequency
|
|
of the timer is 84MHz (found by running ``tim.source_freq()``) so we
|
|
get 84MHz / 625 / 13440 = 10Hz.
|
|
|
|
Timer counter
|
|
-------------
|
|
|
|
So what can we do with our timer? The most basic thing is to get the
|
|
current value of its counter::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim.counter()
|
|
21504
|
|
|
|
This counter will continuously change, and counts up.
|
|
|
|
Timer callbacks
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
The next thing we can do is register a callback function for the timer to
|
|
execute when it triggers (see the [switch tutorial](tut-switch) for an
|
|
introduction to callback functions)::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim.callback(lambda t:pyb.LED(1).toggle())
|
|
|
|
This should start the red LED flashing right away. It will be flashing
|
|
at 5 Hz (2 toggle's are needed for 1 flash, so toggling at 10 Hz makes
|
|
it flash at 5 Hz). You can change the frequency by re-initialising the
|
|
timer::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim.init(freq=20)
|
|
|
|
You can disable the callback by passing it the value ``None``::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim.callback(None)
|
|
|
|
The function that you pass to callback must take 1 argument, which is
|
|
the timer object that triggered. This allows you to control the timer
|
|
from within the callback function.
|
|
|
|
We can create 2 timers and run them independently::
|
|
|
|
>>> tim4 = pyb.Timer(4, freq=10)
|
|
>>> tim7 = pyb.Timer(7, freq=20)
|
|
>>> tim4.callback(lambda t: pyb.LED(1).toggle())
|
|
>>> tim7.callback(lambda t: pyb.LED(2).toggle())
|
|
|
|
Because the callbacks are proper hardware interrupts, we can continue
|
|
to use the pyboard for other things while these timers are running.
|
|
|
|
Making a microsecond counter
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
|
|
You can use a timer to create a microsecond counter, which might be
|
|
useful when you are doing something which requires accurate timing.
|
|
We will use timer 2 for this, since timer 2 has a 32-bit counter (so
|
|
does timer 5, but if you use timer 5 then you can't use the Servo
|
|
driver at the same time).
|
|
|
|
We set up timer 2 as follows::
|
|
|
|
>>> micros = pyb.Timer(2, prescaler=83, period=0x3fffffff)
|
|
|
|
The prescaler is set at 83, which makes this timer count at 1 MHz.
|
|
This is because the CPU clock, running at 168 MHz, is divided by
|
|
2 and then by prescaler+1, giving a freqency of 168 MHz/2/(83+1)=1 MHz
|
|
for timer 2. The period is set to a large number so that the timer
|
|
can count up to a large number before wrapping back around to zero.
|
|
In this case it will take about 17 minutes before it cycles back to
|
|
zero.
|
|
|
|
To use this timer, it's best to first reset it to 0::
|
|
|
|
>>> micros.counter(0)
|
|
|
|
and then perform your timing::
|
|
|
|
>>> start_micros = micros.counter()
|
|
|
|
... do some stuff ...
|
|
|
|
>>> end_micros = micros.counter()
|