Specifications

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Another useful function that we can incorporate from the MSP430 is its zero-power
brown-out reset (BOR) function. This would detect low voltages from the power supply,
which in our design case would be the battery. This function can be used as a fail-safe,
insuring that the battery never reaches critical voltage levels.
Texas Instruments has also incorporated into their MSP430‟s a type of non-volatile
memory known as Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM). This will give us the
flash memory required for our microcontrollers, but will also increase the speed and
decrease the power usage of our programs. The microcontrollers used in our design
will be distinguished in the product name with an “F” following the MSP430, meaning it
is a Flash device.
Below is a schematic for the MSP430G2231. This is what will be looked at while our
group is wiring our microcontrollers to our boards. With the multiple pin configurations
and functions that each microcontroller can perform, these schematics will be a useful
tool used for choosing the most ideal microcontrollers for our design.
Figure 54 - MSP430G2231 Diagram
Permission Pending
To make things more convenient in our design, we have decided to use multiple
microcontrollers to control the separate functions of the power generator. This way, we
will know the function of each microcontroller and we will be able to program the code to
it for its specific application. This will make it easier to both program and test the
system, as we will be able to pin point where any programming errors may have
occurred.
With the MSP430 line being so extensive, we will need to look at which microcontrollers
are available to use for the functions that they might serve. Though each
microcontroller is for the most part identical to one another, they mostly differ in the
number of pins that they feature. For our application, it would be wise of us to choose
the microcontrollers that are the most simple, while still being able to perform the
desired tasks.