Audio Application for Qualcomm® Robotics RB3 Platform

 

Skill Level	Area of Focus	Operating System	Platform/Hardware
Beginner	Bluetooth, Robotics, Embedded, Sensors	Linux	Qualcomm Robotics RB3

This project is intended to help you get familiar with the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 development kit, which is based on the Qualcomm® SDA845 processor. We would also verify the initial setup and working of the audio functionality and build a simple audio application.

Objective

The objective of this application is to verify the functionality of audio on the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 development kit. You will download an application from Sample-app-codes section on the Thundercomm website and push the application onto the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 device using ADB. The commands to enable and listen to the audio from the board are shown in the application.

Materials Required / Parts List / Tools

• Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Kit
• Power Adapter - 12 V with 2500 mA required by the 96Boards specification
• USB to Micro USB cable - For serial console interface and ADB, Fast boot commands
• USB to USB Type C cable - For connecting the USB3.0 Type C port and flashing images
• Host PC OS for RB3 SDK build process

Source code: Audio Application

aplay_test.tar

(found on the Thundercomm Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Kit web page, under the Technical Documents tab in the “Sample-apps-codes” section)

Technical Documents for Qualcomm® Robotics RB3 Development Kit

https://www.thundercomm.com/product/qualcomm-rb3-gen-2/

Build / Assembly & Use Instructions

Prerequisites:

Complete the build instructions in the Hello RB3 project, and make sure that the following steps are done before proceeding with running the application on device.

1. Setup the development environment

• 1.1) Install Android SDK tools (ADB, Fastboot)
• 1.2) Install and configure the USB driver on host machine
• 1.3) Flash the firmware image on the board
• 1.4) Setup serial port for debugging purpose
• 1.5) Install the App Toolchain SDK

 

2. Audio Application

• 2.1 From the Thundercomm Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Kit web page, under the Technical Documents tab in the “Sample-apps-codes” section, download source code for the Audio application : "aplay_test.tar"

2.2 After decompressing the .tar file, the directory is as follows:

Look for alsa-utils-build.sh file in the downloaded folder

3. Build and transfer the application

• 3.1 Verify the configuration by executing the configuration script and run the same to compile and build the application using makefile.

3.2 Build the application:

Load the environment setup for arm7 using ‘source’ command

3.3 Connect the board to the host PC via Type C cable and transfer the application using adb:

 

4. Verifying Audio Decoding

To verify the audio decoding functionality, download the Audio test files from the Thundercomm Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Kit web page, under the Technical Documents tab in the “testResource” section:

Extract the contents to find.wav and .mp3 files

5. Use the following commands to playback the WAV file using amixer + aplay

• 5.1 Push audio:

5.2 Enable speaker:

5.3 Play:

To see the list of audio devices, type the following command:

Select the required device from the list to play the audio using following command and it will play the audio the device:

To disable speaker

Enter the command: