Learning to use Brushless DC motors

I got to lab #13c and I can now do position control will a brushless DC motor and an incremental optical encoder.

I'm very impressed by the performance of the motor in the evaluation kit. I can run it at 9,000 RPM, and can run it at 0.01 RPM.

The labs are fairly involved, and I needed to go through them about every-other one in order so that I could understand what was going on.

I've got "step-by-step" motion going on and I'll be testing settling time and overshoot this week.

Then I've got to go on and see if I can get it to vary its speed b yits rotor position.

So While it goes around once, I want it to change from 240 RPM, to 160 RPM, to 240 RPM to 160 RPM to 240 RPM all in one revolution.

Installing CCS from the CDROM asks what components you'd like ton install: Everything or "You pick the right things".

Since I didn't know what the right things were, I chose  the "Everything" box.

Big mistake.

Everything installed (after a Looooong time), and I could import Lab #1 "Hello World!" Blinking light.

It compiled and ran on the hardware and I was off to the races.

Loading Lab #2 told me that I didn't have a recent enough compiler for the project. :-( 

OK, no problem. Eclipse-based IDEs have a "Check for updates" feature which, sure enough, told me I had updates. So do it.

After about 15 minutes, it told me it couldn't find some dependency or other.

I messed around for a few hours selecting partial updates, uninstalling things like the MSP430 development pod support bits and had no luck.

So I uninstalled the whole mess (which took another 90 minutes or so) and I reinstalledfrom the CDROM checking just the things I thought I needed. The C2000 compiler and things with C2000 in their name.

Then I had a working setup that, complained about lab #2!

But now the Eclipse update feature got me a new compiler and lab #2 compiled and ran.

What a mess for such a good product.