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AMiRo-OS is an operating system for the base version of the Autonomous Mini
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Robot (AMiRo) [1]. It utilizes ChibiOS (a real-time operating system for
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embedded devices developed by Giovanni di Sirio; see <http://chibios.org>) as
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system kernel and extends it with platform specific configurations and further
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functionalities and abstractions.
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Copyright (C) 2016..2019  Thomas Schöpping et al.
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(a complete list of all authors is given below)
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This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
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your option) any later version.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
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WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
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General Public License for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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This research/work was supported by the Cluster of Excellence
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Cognitive Interaction Technology 'CITEC' (EXC 277) at Bielefeld
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University, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
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Authors:
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 - Thomas Schöpping          <tschoepp[at]cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de>
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 - Marc Rothmann
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References:
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 [1] S. Herbrechtsmeier, T. Korthals, T. Schopping and U. Rückert, "AMiRo: A
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     modular & customizable open-source mini robot platform," 2016 20th
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     International Conference on System Theory, Control and Computing (ICSTCC),
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     Sinaia, 2016, pp. 687-692.
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################################################################################
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#                                                                              #
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#        RRRRRRRR   EEEEEEEE     AAA     DDDDDDDD   MM     MM  EEEEEEEE        #
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#        RR     RR  EE          AA AA    DD     DD  MMM   MMM  EE              #
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#        RR     RR  EE         AA   AA   DD     DD  MMMM MMMM  EE              #
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#        RRRRRRRR   EEEEEE    AA     AA  DD     DD  MM MMM MM  EEEEEE          #
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#        RR   RR    EE        AAAAAAAAA  DD     DD  MM     MM  EE              #
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#        RR     RR  EEEEEEEE  AA     AA  DDDDDDDD   MM     MM  EEEEEEEE        #
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#                                                                              #
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################################################################################
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This file will help you to setup all required software on your system, compile
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the source code, and flash it to the AMiRo modules.
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================================================================================
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CONTENTS:
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  1  Required Software
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    1.1  Git
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    1.2  Bootloader & Tools
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    1.3  System Kernel
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    1.4  Low-Level Drivers
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  2  Recommended Software
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    2.1  gtkterm and hterm
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    2.2  QtCreator IDE
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    2.3  Doxygen & Graphviz
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  3  Building and Flashing
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  4  Developer Guides
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    4.1  Adding a New Module
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    4.2  Handling a Custom I/O Event in the Main Thread
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    4.3  Implementing a New Low-Level Driver
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    4.4  Writing a Unit Test
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================================================================================
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1 - REQUIRED SOFTWARE
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=====================
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In order to compile the source code, you need to install the GNU ARM Embedded
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Toolchain. Since this project uses GNU Make for configuring and calling the
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compiler, this tool is requried too. AMiRo-OS uses ChibiOS as system kernel,
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so you need a copy of that project as well.
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1.1 - Git
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---------
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Since all main- and subprojects are available as Git repositories, installing a
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recent version of the tool is mandatory.
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1.2 Bootloader & Tools
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----------------------
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AMiRo-OS can take advantage of an installed bootloader if such exists and
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provides an interface. By default, AMiRo-BLT is included as a Git submodule and
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can easily be initialized via the ./setup.sh script. If requried, you can
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replace the used bootloader by adding an according subfolder in the ./bootloader
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directory. Note that you will have to adapt the makefiles and scripts, and
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probably the operating system as well.
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AMiRo-BLT furthermore has its own required and recommended software tools as
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described in its README.txt file. Follow th instructions to initialize the
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development environment manually or use the ./setup.sh script.
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1.3 System Kernel
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-----------------
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Since AMiRo-OS uses ChibiOS as underlying system kernel, you need to acquire a
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copy of it as well. For the sake of compatibility, it is included in AMiRo-OS as
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a Git submodule. It is highly recommended to use the ./setup.sh script for
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initialization. Moreover, you have to apply the patches to ChibiOS in order to
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make AMiRo-OS work properly. It is recommended to use the .setup.sh script for
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this purpose.
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If you would like to use a different kernel, you can add a subfolder in the
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./kernel/ directory and adapt the scripts and operating system source code.
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1.4 Low-Level Drivers
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---------------------
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Any required low-level drivers for the AMiRo hardware are available in an
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additional project: AMiRo-LLD. It is included as a Git subodule and can be
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initialized via the ./setup.sh script.
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2 - RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE
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========================
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AMiRo-OS can take advantage of an installed bootloader, which is recommended for
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the best experience. In order to use all features of AMiRo-OS it is also
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recommended to install either the 'hterm' or 'gtkterm' application for accessing
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the robot. To ease further development, this project offers support for the
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QtCreator IDE.
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2.1 - gtkterm and hterm
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-----------------------
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Depending on your operating system it is recommended to install 'gtkterm' for
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Linux (available in the Ubuntu repositories), or 'hterm' for Windows. For
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gtkterm you need to modify the configuration file ~/.gtktermrc (generated
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automatically when you start the application for the first time) as follows:
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  port	= /dev/ttyAMiRo0
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  speed	= 115200
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  bits	= 8
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  stopbits	= 1
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  parity	= none
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  flow	= none
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  wait_delay	= 0
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  wait_char	= -1
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  rs485_rts_time_before_tx	= 30
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  rs485_rts_time_after_tx	= 30
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  echo	= False
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  crlfauto	= True
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For hterm you need to configure the tool analogously. With either tool the robot
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can be reset by toggling the RTS signal on and off again, and you can access the
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system shell of AMiRo-OS. If you need legacy support for older version of
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AMiRo-BLT, you can replace the port value by '/dev/ttyUSB0'.
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Advanced users can use several connections to multiple modules simultaneously.
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Each additional programmer will be available as '/dev/ttyAMiRo<N>' (and
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'/dev/USB<N>' respectively) with <N> being an integer number starting from zero.
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Please note: Those interfaces are ordered by the time when they have been
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detected by the operating system.
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2.2 - QtCreator IDE
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-------------------
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In order to setup QtCreator projects for the three AMiRo base modules, you can
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use the provided ./setup.sh script. Further instructions for a more advanced
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configuration of the IDE are provided in the ./tools/qtcreator/README.txt file.
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2.3  Doxygen & Graphviz
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-----------------------
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In order to generate the documentation from the source code, Doxygen and
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Graphviz are requried. It is recommended to install these tool using the
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default versions for your system. Ubuntu users should simply run
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  >$ sudo apt-get install doxygen graphviz
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3 - BUILDING AND FLASHING
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=========================
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Each time you modify any part of AMiRo-OS, you need to recompile the whole
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project for the according AMiRo module. Therefore you can use the ./Makefile by
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simply executing 'make' and follow the instructions. Alternatively, you can
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either use the makefiles provided per module in ./os/modules/<ModuleToCompile>
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or - if you want to compile all modules at once - the makefile in the
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./os/modules folder. After the build process has finished successfully, you
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always have to flash the generated program to the robot. Therefore you need an
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appropriate tool, such as stm32flash (if you don't use a bootloader) or
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SerialBoot (highly recommended; provided by AMiRo-BLT). Similarly to the
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compilation procedure as described above, you can flash either each module
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separately, or all modules at once by executing 'make flash' from the according
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directory.
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When using SerialBoot, please note that you must connect the programming cable
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either to the DiWheelDrive or the PowerManagement module for flashing the
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operating system. All other modules are powered off after reset so that only
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these two offer a running bootloader, which is required for flashing.
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4 - DEVELOPER GUIDES
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====================
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Due to the complexity of AMiRo-OS it can be quite troublesome to get started
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with the framework at the beginning. The guides in this chapter will help you
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getting things done, without thorough knowledge of the software structure.
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Whereas the textual descriptions of the guides provide additional informatio
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about the underlying concepts and mechanisms, a short summary is provided at the
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end of each chapter.
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4.1  Adding a New Module
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------------------------
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The very first thing to do when adding a new module to support AMiRo-OS is to
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create an according folder in the modules/ directory. The name of this folder
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should be as unambiguous as possible (e.g. containing name and version number).
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All files, which directly depent on the hardware, and thus are not portable,
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belong here. Conversely, any code that can be reused on diferent hardware must
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not be put in the module folder.
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In a second step you have to initialize all requried files (see below) in the
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newlly created module directory. It is recommended to use another module as
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template for your configuration:
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- alldconf.h
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  Configuration header for the AMiRo-LLD project, which is part of AMiRo-OS.
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- aosconf.h
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  Configuration header for the AMiRo-OS project.
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- board.h & board.c
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  Contains definitions of GPIO names and initialization setting of those, as
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  well as initialization functions.
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- chconf.h
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  Configuration header for the ChibiOS/RT system kernel. There are probably only
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  very few configurations one here, since most settings depend on the content of
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  aosconf.h and are handled module unspecific in modules/aos_chconf.h
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- halconf.h
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  Configuration header for ChibiOS/HAL (hardware abstraction layer).
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- Makefile
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  The GNU make script to build and flash AMiRo-OS for the module.
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- mcuconf.h
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  Configuration file for ChibiOS/JAL to initialize the microcontroller (MCU). It
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  is recommended to check the kernel/ChibiOS/demos/ directory for an example
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  using the according MCU and copy the mcuconf.h from there. Depending on your
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  hardware you may have to modify it nevertheless, though.
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- module.h & module.c
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  These files act as some sort of container, where all module specific aliases
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  for interfaces and GPIOs, configurations, hooks, low-level drivers, and unit
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  tests are defined. These are most probably the most comprehensive files in the
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  module folder.
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- <mcu>.ld
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  Linker script, defining the memory layout and region aliases. It is
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  recommended to check ChibiOS (kernel/ChibiOS/os/common/startup/) whether a
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  linker script for the according MCU already exists.
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Since all these files are specific to the module hardware, youl will have to
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modify the contents according to your setup in a third step. Most settings are
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described in detail within the configuration files, but for others you will have
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to consult the datasheet of your MCU and even take a closer look at how certain
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settings are used in other modules.
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Finally, you need to build and flash the project. The compiler might even help
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you getting everything set up correctly. Take time to understand compilation
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errors and warning and get rid of all of those (warnings should not be ignored
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since they are hints that something might be amiss and the program will not act
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as intended).
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Summing up, you have to
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1) create a module directory.
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2) initialize all files (use an existing module or a ChibiOS demo as template).
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3) configure all files according to your hardware setup and preferences.
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4) compile, flash and check for issues.
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4.2  Handling a Custom I/O Event in the Main Thread
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---------------------------------------------------
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In order to handle custom I/O events in the main thread, AMiRo-OS offers several
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hooks to be used. First of all, you need to configure and enable the interrupt
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in the according GPIO. This can be done by implementing the
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MODULE_INIT_INTERRUPTS() hook in the module.h file. For information how to use
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this hook, please have a look at existing modules. In the end, the interrupt
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callback functions has to emit an I/O event with the according bit in the flags
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mask set (like the _intCallback() function in aos_system.c). As result, whenever
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a rising or falling edge (depends on configuration) is detected on that GPIO,
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the interrupt service routine is executed and hence an I/O event is fired, which
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can be catched by any thread in the system.
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Next, you have to configure the main thread to whitelist the event flag (all I/O
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events are blacklisted by default). While system relevant events like power down
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are whitelisted by the OS, any custom events need to be added exl´plicitely.
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This is done via the optional AMIROOS_CFG_MAIN_LOOP_IOEVENT_MASK macro, which
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should be defined in the module.h file. Example:
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  #define AMIROOS_CFG_MAIN_LOOP_IOEVENT_MASK                \
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    (AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padX) | AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padY) | AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padZ))
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When AMIROOS_CFG_MAIN_LOOP_IOEVENT_MASK has been defined correctly, the main
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thread will be notified by the according events and execute its event handling
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routine. Hence you have to implement another macro in module.h to handle the
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custom event(s) appropriately: MODULE_MAIN_LOOP_IO_EVENT(eventflags). As you can
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see, the variable 'eventflags' is propagated to the hook. This variable is a
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mask, that allows to identify the GPIO pad(s), which caused the event, by the
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bits set. Following the example above, you can check which GPIOs have caused
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events by using if-clauses in the implementation of the hook:
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  #define MODULE_MAIN_LOOP_IO_EVENT(eventflags) {           \
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    if (eventflags & AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padX)) {              \
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      /* handle event */                                    \
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    }                                                       \
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    if (eventflags & (AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padY) |              \
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          AOS_IOEVENT_FLAG(padZ))) {                        \
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      /* handle combined event */                           \
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    }                                                       \
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  }
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Summing up, you have to
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1) configure and enable the GPIO interrupt.
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2) define the AMIROOS_CFG_MAIN_LOOP_IOEVENT_MASK macro.
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3) implement the MODULE_MAIN_LOOP_IO_EVENT(eventflags) hook.
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4.3  Implementing a New Low-Level Driver
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----------------------------------------
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In the AMiRo-OS framework, low-level drivers are located in the additional Git
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project AMiRo-LLD, which is included in AMiRo-OS as Git submodule at
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periphery-lld/AMiRo-LLD/ and acts similar to a static library. When adding a new
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low-level driver to the framework, you have to implement it, providing a
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(single) header file in periphery-lld/AMiRo-LLD/include/ and the required C
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sources in periphery-lld/AMiRo-LLD/source/. By convention, all filenames use the
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prefix 'alld_' to avoid ambiguities. Furthermore, files should be named by the
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exact designation of the hardware (e.g. 'alld_vcnl4020' instead of
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'alld_proximitysensor'). Since AMiRo-LLD is intended to be usable with other
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operating systems than AMiRo-OS, it provides an interface for accessing
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communication interfaces and basic functionalities of the operating system. On
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the one hand, several types are defined in periphery-lld/AMiRo-LLD/periphALtypes.h.
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The interface functions, on the other hand, are defined by AMiRo-LLD (cf.
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periphery-lld/AMiRo-LLD/templates/periphAL.h), but implemented by the operating
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system (cf. periphery-lld/periphAL.h). For the implementation of the driver, you
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must only use those types and functions to interact with the operating system.
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If you need further functionality, which is not provided by the interface yet,
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you are encouraged to extend periphAL.
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Furthermore, all files must define a guard, so that the whole driver is
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disabled, when the guard is not set explicitely. These guard again are named
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following a convention, but instead of explaning it here, just have a look at
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one of the existing drivers and look for lines like
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  #if defined(AMIROLLD_CFG_USE_VCNL4020) || defined(__DOXYGEN__)
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With these guards in place, the driver will be omitted by default and needs to
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be enabled explicitely. In order to do so, you need to add an according #define
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in the alldconf.h file of any module, which shall use the new driver.
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Now the new driver is available and enabled, but not actually used yet.
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Therefore you have to add according memory structures to the module.h and
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module.c files - just have a look at existing modules how this is done. In some
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cases you will have to configure additional interrupts and/or alter the
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configuration of a communication interface (e.g. I²C). Once again, you should
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take a look at existing modules and search the module.h for the hooks
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MODULE_INIT_INTERRUPTS() and MODULE_INIT_PERIPHERY_COMM().
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Finally, you will probably want to validate your implementation via a unit test.
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How this can be done is explained in detail in the next guide.
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Summing up, you have to
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1) implement the driver in AMiRo-LLD using periphAL only.
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2) fence all code in all files by a guard.
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3) set the guard in alldconf.h to enable the driver.
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4) add the driver to a module.
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5) configure interrupts and interfaces as required.
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6) write a unit test.
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4.4  Writing a Unit Test
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------------------------
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AMiRo-OS provides a unit test framework for conventient testing and the ability
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to opt-out all unit tests via the aosconf.h configuration file. There is also a
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dedicated folder, where all unit test code belongs to. In case you want to
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implement a unit test for a newly developed low-level driver, you should use the
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folders unittests/periphery-lld/inc and unittests/periphery-lld/src
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respectively. As with the low-level drivers, unit test files should use a prefix
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in their name, namely 'ut_' and all code should be fenced via guards that
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disable it by default (have a look at existing unit tests). Before you implement
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a vast test, however, it is highly recommended to start with some sceleton code
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(just copy an existing unit test, scoop out the test function, and rename
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according variables etc.) and make it compile and run.
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After you have initialized the unit test sceleton, you have to add the according
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aos_unittest_t (cf. core/inc/aos_unittest.h) object to the module.h and module.c
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files. These objects again require an shell command, so the unit test can be run
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via the AMiRo-OS shell. As with existing unit tests, this shell command callback
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function as well as any further required data should be implemented directly in
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module.c, so it not accessable from any other context. In most cases this
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callback function is trivial, anyway.
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In order to make the shell command, which executes the unit test, available in
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shell so a user can run it, it has to be associated with the shell. AMiRo-OS
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provides the hook MODULE_INIT_TESTS() for this purpose, which has to be
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implemented in the module.h file. Once again I recommend to have a look at an
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existing module, how to use this hook.
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Since the execution pipeline is set up now, you can fille your unit test with
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life. Remember that the test is executed by the shell thread, so you can access
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any functionality of the system, but might encounter race conditions, depending
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on what other applications run concurrently.
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Summing up, you have to
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1) initialize a unit test sceleton in the unittests/ folder.
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2) introduce an according object and configuration in module.h and module.c.
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3) associate the shell command to a shell via the hook in module.h.
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4) implement the full unit test in the prevously created sceleton files.
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================================================================================