Raspberry Pi Getting Started Guide - Revision history

BenR: /* Running programs from the Flowcode IDE */

2025-12-15T14:23:37Z

Running programs from the Flowcode IDE

BenR: /* Running programs from the Flowcode IDE */

2025-12-15T14:21:57Z

Running programs from the Flowcode IDE

MartinW at 14:51, 13 July 2023

2023-07-13T14:51:42Z

MartinW at 14:46, 13 July 2023

2023-07-13T14:46:02Z

MartinW at 12:42, 13 July 2023

2023-07-13T12:42:01Z

MartinW at 12:39, 12 July 2023

2023-07-12T12:39:20Z

MartinW: Created page with "File:RPI Guide1.png ===Raspberry Pi as a Flowcode target=== File:RPI Guide2.png Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive board level target with digital I/O but also internet..."

2023-07-12T11:39:02Z

Created page with "File:RPI Guide1.png ===Raspberry Pi as a Flowcode target=== File:RPI Guide2.png Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive board level target with digital I/O but also internet..."

New page

[[File:RPI Guide1.png]]

===Raspberry Pi as a Flowcode target===

[[File:RPI Guide2.png]]

Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive board level target with digital I/O but also internet
functionality built in. As such it provides an ideal base for diverse applications including IoT
(the Internet of Things). For the first time, Flowcode 8 enables users to target this hugely
popular Raspberry Pi family of boards. Flowcode is an intuitive way to program, either at
home, in the classroom or for industrial uses.

Alongside this, our E-blocks2 hardware platform also supports the Raspberry Pi and the
Raspberry Pi Shield is perfect for those who wish to integrate their Pi into the E-blocks
system.

Flowcode is chip independent and the Raspberry Pi is just one target of 33 different families
of microcontroller that we support. Hence most projects can easily be ported from one
target device to any other.

There are many advantages to creating Flowcode applications on Raspberry Pi, here are just
a few:

• The huge library of Flowcode components can be used

• Remote download of the Flowcode generated applications via WiFi or Ethernet

• The Flowcode generated programs run on the Raspbian Linux operating system

• Flowcode generated applications can be called up from other programs

• Multiple Flowcode applications can be run simultaneously on the Raspberry Pi

• Debug message capability directly from the Raspberry Pi to a console window on the
PC

• When used in conjunction with the Matrix hardware the Ghost features of Flowcode
are available

Using Raspberry Pi with Flowcode 10

SD cards supplied with Matrix products are pre-programmed with the Raspbian image, in
this case please go to the “Configuring Raspberry Pi for use with Flowcode” section.

Help can be found at https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/software-guide/quickstart
Creating a Raspberry Pi OS on a micro SDHC card

• Download& install the Raspberry Pi Imager from the Raspberry Pi website

• With the minimum size of 16gig SD card, connected to your PC via an SD and
ignore/close any waring about card not being formatted if there is already an old Pi
OS on it.

• Run the R Raspberry Pi Imager:

[[File:RPI Guide3.png]]

• Left-click CHOOSE OS and select Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit)

• Left-click CHOOSE STORAGE and select the popup.

• With a 32GB SD micro card should look like:

[[File:RPI Guide4.png]]

• WRITE should now be available to select

@@ Line 253: / Line 253: @@
 Your application can also be configured to run from start-up of the Raspberry Pi by adding a
-line to the /etc/rc.local file, but before the exit 0.
+line to the /home/pi/.bashrc file, but before the exit 0.
 ''/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &
@@ Line 273: / Line 269: @@
 '''If you don’t then the Pi will not complete the boot process.'''
 ===Using Raspberry Pi hardware peripherals===

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:21, 15 December 2025
Line 256:		Line 256:

	Editing this file must be done with root privileges, e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local		Editing this file must be done with root privileges, e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local
		+
		+
		+	On newer versions of the Raspberry PI OS the file has changed to /home/pi/.bashrc and the corresponding command changed to sudo nano /home/pi/.bashrc
		+

	''/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &		''/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &

@@ Line 175: / Line 175: @@
 [[File:RPI Guide15.png]]
- Save the project without any spaces (underscores are OK), and the flowchart can be
+Save the project without any spaces (underscores are OK), and the flowchart can be
 simulated on screen by clicking the Run button.
@@ Line 257: / Line 257: @@
 Editing this file must be done with root privileges, e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local
-/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &
+''/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &
-exit 0
+exit 0''
-'''Notes: It is vital that you do not use any spaces within the project name.
+'''Notes: It is vital that you do not use any spaces within the project name.'''
-It is always best to add a space then & after the project name.
+'''If you do, the code will not autorun on start up.'''
 If you don’t then the Pi will not complete the
-boot process.
+'''Underscores are allowed.'''
-Using Raspberry Pi hardware peripherals'''
 Hardware peripherals on the Raspberry Pi are limited to UART, SPI, I2C and PWM.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:46, 13 July 2023
Line 121:		Line 121:

	Click the OK button and close the dialog		Click the OK button and close the dialog
		+
		+	===Creating your first Flowcode 10 Raspberry Pi project===
		+
		+	For this example project we will use a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with simply a LED and resistor
		+	attached to GPIO 4 to demonstrate digital output.
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide10.png]]
		+
		+	Run Flowcode 10 and select New project.
		+
		+	Under Choose a Target right-select on any target device & select Search.
		+
		+	Within the search box, enter rpi then what version you have e.g rpi3b or rpi3b+ etc.
		+
		+	Press the Enter key or select Find Next.
		+
		+	Select New<RPI3B> Embedded Project:
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide11.png]]
		+
		+	Select '''Build''' - ribbon, '''Project Options'''
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide12.png]]
		+
		+	Below Configure, enter the IP address for the Raspberry Pi together with the user name and
		+	password (usually pi and raspberry).
		+
		+	Note: The “sudo” checkbox only needs to be enabled if PWM is used in the project.
		+
		+	Select '''Modify'''
		+
		+	Add a LED component, from the '''Components Libraries''' ribbon, '''Outputs''' menu, onto the
		+	2D panel.
		+
		+	In the component properties window set the Connection property to PORTG,4 (this represents GPIO 4).
		+
		+	Enable the '''Project Explorer''' by selecting it from the '''View''' ribbon.
		+
		+	Icons for example Loop, calculation box & Delay etc can be selected by clicking on the Icons icon of the project explorer.
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide13.png]]
		+
		+	To the main flowchart add a loop of fixed count 10
		+
		+	Component icons can be selected by clicking on Component’s icon of the project explorer.
		+
		+	For all the functions of components click on the + on the far left of the components.
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide14.png]]
		+
		+	Together with component icons to turn on and off the LED with 500mS delays as shown:
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide15.png]]
		+
		+	Save the project without any spaces (underscores are OK), and the flowchart can be
		+	simulated on screen by clicking the Run button.
		+
		+	To run the project on the Raspberry Pi click the '''Build''' ribbon, '''Compile to Target…''' icon.
		+
		+	The project compilation window will display followed by a console (Putty) window whilst the
		+	program runs on the Raspberry Pi and flashes the LED 10 times
		+
		+	===Sample Flowcode 10 project for Raspberry Pi and E-blocks===
		+
		+	For this example, we will use an E-blocks 2 Raspberry Pi upstream board (BL0036), with
		+	Raspberry Pi 3B+ installed, and a Combo board (BL0114).
		+
		+	As with the previous example, Run Flowcode 10 and select New project.
		+
		+	Under '''Choose a Target''' right-select on any target device & select '''Search'''.
		+
		+	Within the search box, enter BL0036.
		+
		+	Press the '''Enter''' key or select '''Find Next'''.
		+
		+	Select New< BL0036> Embedded Project
		+
		+	Select '''Build''' - ribbon, '''Project Options'''.
		+
		+	Below '''Configure''', enter the IP address for the Raspberry Pi together with the user name and
		+
		+	password (usually pi and raspberry).
		+
		+	Note: The “sudo” checkbox only needs to be enabled if PWM is used in the project.
		+
		+	Select '''Modify'''
		+
		+	[[File:RPI Guide16.png]]
		+
		+	Select '''Components Libraries''' ribbon then select '''Search'''.
		+
		+	Enter bl0114 & left or right-click, Add to 2D panel
		+	Combo BL0114 component will be added onto the dashboard.
		+
		+	From the Project Explorer window drag and drop a Start icon followed by a PrintString icon,
		+	set the text field to “Hello World”.
		+
		+	Save the project (no spaces) and click the “Compile to chip” button in the task bar.
		+
		+	The project compilation window will run followed by a console (Putty) window whilst the
		+	program runs on the Raspberry Pi target, and “Hello World” should appear on the display.
		+
		+	(Note: Ensure that the BL0114 “LCD” switch is set to ON)
		+
		+
		+	===Running programs from the Flowcode IDE===
		+
		+	Flowcode uses secure shell to transfer and run user applications, so whilst running you will
		+	see the shell console window on the host PC.
		+
		+	Note that in the case of programs with a continuous loop this window will remain continuously present on the host PC.
		+
		+	Pressing CTRL and C in the window will abort the running program on the Raspberry Pi and
		+	exit the console window.
		+
		+	The Flowcode DebugPrint component can be used to output text to the console window for
		+	debugging or other purposes.
		+
		+	The shell console window runs concurrently with Flowcode such that ICD (In Circuit
		+	Debugging) can be done with the use of the Flowcode Ghost features of the Matrix E-blocks
		+	2 Raspberry Pi upstream board or Flowkit v2.
		+
		+	Running your programs independently of Flowcode
		+
		+	Once you have used Flowcode to create, compile and transfer your program to the
		+	Raspberry PI, it will exist in the home directory of the selected user e.g. /home/pi
		+
		+	From there the application can be run via a serial console such as Putty or virtual desktop
		+	such as VNC or RDP. VNC and SSH for Putty are enabled via the Raspberry Pi “Interface
		+	Configuration” dialog.
		+
		+	Your application can also be configured to run from start-up of the Raspberry Pi by adding a
		+	line to the /etc/rc.local file, but before the exit 0.
		+
		+	Editing this file must be done with root privileges, e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local
		+
		+	/home/pi/MyFlowcodeProject &
		+	exit 0
		+
		+	'''Notes: It is vital that you do not use any spaces within the project name.
		+	If you do, the code will not autorun on start up.
		+	Underscores are allowed.
		+
		+	It is always best to add a space then & after the project name.
		+	If you don’t then the Pi will not complete the
		+	boot process.
		+	Using Raspberry Pi hardware peripherals'''
		+
		+	Hardware peripherals on the Raspberry Pi are limited to UART, SPI, I2C and PWM.
		+
		+	To use these peripherals with Flowcode they must be first be enabled via the Raspberry Pi
		+	“Interface Configuration” dialog.
		+
		+	There is no direct support for analogue or interrupts.
		+
		+	Analogue inputs and outputs would be implemented via external devices.
		+
		+	Also note that (at the date of this document) PWM requires programs to be run with root
		+	privileges, for which Flowcode provides the option to run programs as sudo.
		+
		+	Flowcode provides software versions of SPI and I2C such that devices using these protocols
		+	can be connected to any free GPIO pins.
		+
		+	Due to the RTOS operation of Raspberry Pi, the bit rate of these can depend upon other running processes.
		+
		+	The same is the case for delays, these can vary, the relative deviation being greater for shorter delays.

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 • With the minimum size of 16gig SD card, connected to your PC via an SD and
-ignore/close any waring about card not being formatted if there is already an old Pi
+ignore/close any warnings about card not being formatted if they appear
 • Run the R Raspberry Pi Imager:
@@ Line 68: / Line 67: @@
 ===Configuring Raspberry Pi for use with Flowcode===
-First, it's best to set up a Static IP address and to use Wifi so to avoid LAN cables.
+We will use WiFi and set up a Static IP address.
 [[File:RPI Guide5.png]]

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 • Left-click CHOOSE STORAGE and select the popup.
-• With a 32GB SD micro card should look like:
+• With a 16GB SD micro card should look like:
 [[File:RPI Guide4.png]]
 • WRITE should now be available to select