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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Other Commands

Show version:

ev5-dev-tools --version

Show help:

ev5-dev-tools --help

Example Project Structure

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

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.

Template Repository

Templates are maintained separately:

• ev5-dev-tools-templates

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

License

MIT