ZSOM-Mini Quick start guide
This guide is for users who have already made their first steps with the ZSOM-Control or the ZSOM-Control Starter Kit and now move their application to the ZSOM-Mini. It focuses on what is different on the ZSOM-Mini.
This page is tailored for ZSOM-Mini-Standard boards. Some of the points may differ for ZSOM-Mini-Embedded based on the individual base board.
If you are new to the ZSOM platform, start with the Quick start guide for the ZSOM-Control first.
What you need
- ZSOM-Mini-Standard, or ZSOM-Mini-Embedded on a base board (see ZSOM-Mini-Standard vs ZSOM-Mini-Embedded)
- DC power supply 9–28 V, at least 1 A, e.g. the ZSOM Power Supply
- A push button for the Go input (or a wire for first tests)
- USB-C cable (USB 3.0 capable)
- The same host software as for the ZSOM-Control (see Quick start guide) plus the ZSOM Mini package of the SDK from the download page (requires the common package)
Main differences to the ZSOM-Control
| Topic | ZSOM-Control | ZSOM-Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Power-up | Boots as soon as power is applied | Does not boot automatically: use the Go input or an alarm of the precise RTC (or the Always-on jumper) |
| Power-down by software | – | Kill signal from the FPGA |
| Board regions | Always powered | Most regions are off by default and must be enabled by the application via GPIOs, see Power and GPIOs |
| Connection to the PC | USB-C or Ethernet | USB-C only (Ethernet over USB) |
| I/O | 12 analog in, 4 analog out, 16 DIO, 10 DIN, 6 DOUT | 6 analog in, 10 DIO, 4 DIN, 4 DOUT |
| Display, | yes | no |
| switchable 5 V / 3.3 V outputs | yes | no |
| extension connector for Mini-Add-Ons | no | yes |
| miniPCIe (4G, GPS, Wi-Fi) | on board | via the extension connector with the ZSOM-Mini-Connect add-on (in development) |
| CLIP | ZSOM-Control CLIP | ZSOM-Mini CLIP (e.g. ZSOM_Mini_STD_002), see CLIP |
| Pinout | ZSOM-Control pinout | ZSOM-Mini pinout |
Step 1: Connect power and switch on
- Connect the power supply to +Vin (pin 29) and GND (pin 28 or 30), or via power connector see pinout.
- Connect a push button between the Go input (pin 1) and GND (pin 2).
- Press the button for more than 50 ms. The ZSOM-Mini boots; the Status LED stays on during boot and turns off when the boot has finished.
- Holding the button for more than 5 s switches the ZSOM-Mini off.
If your application must start whenever power is applied, fit the Always-on jumper.
Step 2: Connect to the PC
- Connect the ZSOM-Mini to your PC with the USB-C cable. The boot process takes about 20 seconds.
- The ZSOM-Mini is reachable at the IP address 172.22.11.2, see Connect via USB.
- Install matching software on the target with NI MAX, as on the ZSOM-Control (see Installing Software on the ZSOM).
The ZSOM-Mini has no Ethernet port. For tasks that need internet access on the target (e.g. the kernel update), the sbRIO-9651 module can temporarily be plugged onto a ZSOM-Control.
Step 3: Move your application to the ZSOM-Mini
- Start from the ZSOM-Mini examples of the SDK (NI Example Finder). The AllIO example can be used as project template; further examples cover GPIOs, ADC, RTC, IMU and storage (SD card, USB drive).
- Use the ZSOM-Mini CLIP in your project.
- Enable the required board regions at the start of your FPGA code:
- Adapt your code to the lower number of channels.
Further reading
- ZSOM-Mini BMS for battery-powered applications