EV5 Dev Tools

EV5 Dev Tools is an npm-based CLI utility that helps you scaffold and manage KAZI-EV5 ANSI C projects. It streamlines your development workflow by providing commands to create, build, and upload projects directly from the command line.

The generated project includes:

• A basic main.c or chosen program source file.
• A preconfigured .vscode/settings.json for the correct compiler, include paths, and IntelliSense.
• Built-in CLI commands to build and upload without relying on PowerShell scripts.

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Prerequisites

Required Tools

• Node.js must be installed.
• arm-none-eabi-gcc and arm-none-eabi-objcopy must be available in your PATH.

Setup: EV5 SDK

1. Download Kazi-Scratch from your EV5 hardware provider (Windows .exe installer).

   • Linux users: May need to extract the .exe using Wine or another method.

2. Extract the compiler resources:

   • Find the includeRTOSEV5 folder under the installation directory (e.g.,
     C:\Program Files (x86)\Scratch2-KAZI\compiler\...).
   • Copy it to a safe location, e.g., C:\ev5-sdk\includeRTOSEV5.

3. Set up environment variable:

   • Create an environment variable named EV5_SDK that points to the root SDK directory (e.g., C:\ev5-sdk).
   • This allows the CLI to locate headers and linker scripts for builds.

4. Ensure arm-none-eabi-* tools are available globally (can be downloaded from ARM or installed via package managers).

5. Ensure the compiled .c program has access to RTOSEV5 object files (typically found in EV5_SDK/includeRTOSEV5/o/).

Setup: Uploading via USB

• Plug in the EV5 device via USB.
• Power on the EV5 and enter Download mode (usually via a button on the brick).
• The device must be mounted and visible with the volume label EV5.

WiFi Upload is not yet supported.

Optional: Install globally for convenience:

npm install -g ev5-dev-tools

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CLI Usage

Create a New Project

To create a new project using the default template:

ev5-dev-tools create my-project

To use a specific template (e.g., display):

ev5-dev-tools create my-project --template=display

This pulls templates from the ev5-dev-tools-templates repo.

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Build a Program

Compile your program by specifying the name of the .c file (without extension):

ev5-dev-tools build --program=wifi16

If --program is omitted, it defaults to main, compiling main.c.

The resulting .bin file will be created in the current directory.

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Upload to EV5

Upload the compiled .bin file to an EV5 USB device:

ev5-dev-tools upload --program=wifi16

• The tool auto-detects the EV5 USB drive based on the volume label EV5.
• Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• If --program is omitted, it defaults to main.

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Other Commands

Show version:

ev5-dev-tools --version

Show help:

ev5-dev-tools --help

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Example Project Structure

my-project/
├── .vscode/
│   └── c_cpp_properties.json
├── main.c
├── .gitignore
└── (other template files)

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Notes

Please, consider the following guidance for your development workflow.

Intended Use

Compiling

These commands mimic the ones we originally tested with the Kazi SDK compiler:

1. .o file creation:

..\..\compiler\ARM\bin\arm-none-eabi-gcc -I..\..\compiler\includeRTOSEV5 -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb -Os -fsigned-char -w -gdwarf-2 -DF_CPU=72000000UL -std=gnu99 -c main.c -o main.o

2. .elf file creation:

..\..\compiler\ARM\bin\arm-none-eabi-gcc -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb -L..\..\compiler\includeRTOSEV5/o -T..\..\compiler\includeRTOSEV5\o\stm32_flash.ld --% -Wl,--gc-sections -Wl,-Map=main.map,-cref main.o -lm -o main.elf

3. .bin conversion:

..\..\compiler\ARM\bin\arm-none-eabi-objcopy.exe -O binary main.elf main.bin

Linux Support

• Full Linux support is planned.
• However, since the build and upload logic is implemented in Node.js, core functionality may already work on Linux systems without modification.

Compiler

The CLI now supports using the officially distributed arm-none-eabi compiler instead of the bundled version from Kazi-Scratch.

Original compiler reference:

1. arm-none-eabi-gcc:

arm-none-eabi-gcc.exe (GNU Tools for ARM Embedded Processors) 4.8.4 20140526 (release)

2. arm-none-eabi-objcopy:

GNU objcopy (GNU Tools for ARM Embedded Processors) 2.23.2.20140529

We installed a nearly identical version from Launchpad GCC ARM Embedded Downloads.

Next Steps

• Add WiFi-based program uploading.
• Finalize full Linux support.
• Test and document compatibility with newer versions of arm-none-eabi.

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Template Repository

Templates are maintained separately:

• ev5-dev-tools-templates

You can view, extend, or contribute to available templates.

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License

MIT