Get Started with the Microvisor Nucleo Development Board

The Twilio Microvisor Nucleo Development Board (NDB) is a complete evaluation and development platform for Twilio Microvisor and the STMicroelectronics STM32U585 microcontroller. It is based on the familiar STMicroelectronics Nucleo form-factor. You will use it to explore the Microvisor platform, and to develop and prototype your IoT applications.

This Quick Start Guide will help you get your NDB powered, connected, and running a sample application that you will deploy to the board over the air via the Twilio cloud.

New to Microvisor?

Take a moment to learn what Microvisor is all about, its ARM TrustZone-based secure architecture, and the benefits it will bring to your IoT application.

What’s in the box?

Your NDB, which has been pre-registered with your Twilio account, comes with the following items:

• A USB-C cable to power the NDB.
• A USB AC power adapter.
• A Quectel EG21-G global cellular module PCIe card.
• A cellular antenna and connector cable.
• A Twilio Super SIM.
• A Micro-USB cable for provisioning WiFi credentials.

Super SIM setup

Your NDB comes with a Twilio Super SIM that has been set up for you to provide you with global cellular connectivity. The SIM has already been fitted into your board, so you are ready to go.

Hardware setup

1. Unpack the cellular modem card and fit its connector into the slot on the NDB:
   

   

2. Push the card gently down onto the board until the two restraining clips snap to hold it firmly in place:
   

   

3. Fit the antenna cable’s female u.FL connector to the male connector on the modem card marked MAIN:
   

   

4. Screw the large antenna onto the board’s jack:
   

   

5. Remove the nano-size SIM card from the Super SIM packaging and slot it into the receptacle on the NDB. The contacts should be face down, and the edge with the notch inserted first. This may have been done for you:
   

   

   
   See the note below if you are only using WiFi and/or Ethernet.
6. Plug in the AC adapter and use the USB-C cable to power the NDB:
   

   

Software setup

The Microvisor application development process goes like this. You will use your computer to build new versions of your application. You run each new build through Microvisor’s bundle creation tool to generate the file that will be uploaded to the Twilio Cloud from where it will be deployed to the device or devices that you specify, such as your NDB, at a time you choose.

Platform Support

We support Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Linux as the primary Microvisor development environment. While we hope to support other platforms in due course, for now Windows and macOS users will have to choose between interacting with the Microvisor development tools through Docker or from within a virtual machine running Ubuntu. This guide assumes you are using Ubuntu at the command line or Docker.

For Windows 10 or Windows 11, we recommend using Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL). You will need Administrator privileges to install WSL.

1. Open an Administrator-level Powershell or Command Prompt instance.
2. Run wsl --install -d Ubuntu-20.04.
3. Open the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS shell from your Start menu.
4. Follow the steps below.

Alternatively, you can use Docker. You can also try native tools, but this is unsupported at this time.

For Mac, we support Docker or, if you’re happy not to be supported, you can try native tools.

The first thing to do is set up your computer for Microvisor application development.

1. Install the prerequisites

Ignore this step if you are using Docker.

sudo bash -c 'apt update && apt install -y gcc-arm-none-eabi binutils-arm-none-eabi \
  build-essential libsecret-1-dev cmake curl git jq wget'

2. Install the Twilio CLI

To install and set up the Twilio CLI on your development machine, please jump to the Twilio CLI Quickstart and then return here when you’re done.

3. Install the Microvisor plugin

twilio plugins:install @twilio/plugin-microvisor

4. Sign in to Twilio

Run twilio login. You will be asked for your account SID and your account Auth Token, both of which you can call up from the Console if you don’t have them handy. Do keep them nearby — you’ll need them in the next section. You will also be prompted to enter a ‘shorthand identifier’, a local ID for your credentials. Enter your initials or any phrase you prefer.

5. Download the Microvisor FreeRTOS Demo

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/twilio/twilio-microvisor-freertos
cd twilio-microvisor-freertos

Get to know your board

Before you build your first application, let’s go on a quick tour of the NDB’s key features:

1. GPIO header.
2. Antenna jack.
3. Reset button.
4. Network activity LED.
5. Power brownout LED.
6. Application-controllable LED.
7. STM32U585 with Microvisor.
8. Quectel EG21-G global cellular modem.
9. USB-C power input.
10. System LED
11. Twilio Super SIM.
12. ESP32 WiFi/BLE module.
13. RJ-45 Ethernet jack.
14. UART control port.

LEDs

The NDB has three LEDs, marked with the labels listed below, to provide you with status feedback:

• SYSTEM — This indicator signals system status using patterns of colors and flashes. For example, it slowly flashes green when the board is connected. The more commonly encountered patterns are shown below.
  It’s important to understand that a pattern may take longer to complete than the time Microvisor spends in the indicated state. As soon as it moves to another state, Microvisor will signal the new state, even if it has not yet finished the previous state’s pattern. This means that you should watch this LED for error or success conditions — a pattern being displayed repeatedly without change — not to observe transient states.
  

  

• USER — This is a GPIO connected single-color LED that’s just for you and your application. It is connected to the STM32U585’s GPIO pin PA5. Set this pin high to turn on the LED. You’ll see this in operation in the sample application you’ll deploy shortly:
  

  

• NETLIGHT — This is the modem’s network activity indicator. You can see it in the picture below. This LED will blink slowly while the device is idling (long flash) or searching for the network (short flash), and blink rapidly during data transfer.
• BROWNOUT — This will light when the modem’s power draw has exceeded the power supplied to the board. You will usually see this happen when you are powering the board with your own AC adapter and it is not delivering sufficient power. Make sure your adapter delivers at least 15W (3A at 5V). The adapter and cable supplied with the NDB is rated to meet the peak power draw of the board and modem, so we recommend you use this in place of your own.
  

  

GPIO

All of the STM32U585’s GPIO pins that are available to the user are broken out through the NDB’s two headers, marked CN11 and CN12. Any pins not present are reserved for Microvisor’s use both on this board and on customer implementations. Please see the STM32U585 data sheet for the functionality enabled at each pin. The headers are connected as follows (click on the image for a large view):

NC = Not Connected
CN11 pin 33 is not connected, but bridging W1 will connect it to VDD BAT IN.

We recommend soldering male header pins to the Nucleo. Make sure you choose header pins of 2.54mm pitch in dual-row configuration. These will be available from any good electronics component stockist such as Digikey or Mouser.

Make sure you order tall, stackable headers if you wish to fit a custom board to the pins. This will be required to stand above the Nucleo’s RJ-45 connector.

Device reset

You can manually trigger a device reboot at any time by pushing the RESET button:

Common SYSTEM LED patterns

The table below shows you some color and blink patterns that you may see on the SYSTEM LED. The first six of these signal the NDB’s progress as it comes online. This usually happens quite quickly so you may not see all of them before you see the steady green blink that indicates the NDB is online. The NETLIGHT LED will blink rapidly at this point.

If you do not see the even green blink, match the pattern you do see to those listed above. It will tell you how far the NDB progressed and the likely cause of its failure to connect. For example, if you see the Waiting for SIM pattern, you know to check that the board’s Super SIM has been inserted fully and correctly. A pattern further down the list might indicate a broken antenna connection.

If everything seems slotted correctly, and you’re still not connected — you‘ll see the Checking PPP Connection pattern — you may not have cellular connectivity where you are. Try moving the device to an alternative location. But don’t forget, Twilio Support is ready to assist.

Internet connectivity

The NDB incorporates an ESP32 WiFi/BLE module and Ethernet jack. These features can be used by the NDB to connect to the Internet in place of the cellular modem. This takes place automatically at power on:

• For Ethernet, connect an RJ-45 cable between your NDB and your router, then connect the NDB to power.
• For WiFi, add your wireless network’s credentials to the board (see below) and then power-cycle the NDB.

When it is re-booted, Microvisor will attempt to connect to the Internet in this order:

1. With Ethernet if it is wired up to an active network.
2. With WiFi if it is configured with credentials and the specified network can be found.
3. Cellular via Super SIM.

As soon as a connection is made, no other devices are used. For example, if Ethernet is not connected, Microvisor will attempt to connect by WiFi. If it succeeds, it will not attempt to connect by cellular.

To configure your NDB’s WiFi credentials, follow these steps:

Hello, World!

Let’s build and deploy a classic ‘Hello, World’ application so you can see how you interact with the software you’ve just installed and your newly connected NDB. You’ll use the FreeRTOS demo code that you just installed. It flashes the NDB’s USER LED to signal its presence.

1. Build and bundle the application code

Switch to the twilio-microvisor-freertos directory if you’re not already in it.

Command Line

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

Applications are delivered to the Twilio cloud in the form of a ‘bundle’. This is a zip archive which contains a combination of executable code and data. It also includes a manifest, a signed metadata file which tells Microvisor where to install the code and the data. Build a basic bundle now:

twilio microvisor:apps:bundle build/Demo/gpio_toggle_demo.bin \
  build/Demo/gpio_toggle_demo.zip 

Docker

If you’re using Docker, you will need to set up your environment with these variables:

MV_DEVICE_SID
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN

Now create a container with:

docker build --build-arg UID=$(id -u) --build-arg GID=$(id -g) \
  -t microvisor-freertos-image .

Now run the container to build and bundle the Microvisor demo app:

docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd)/:/home/mvisor/project/ \
  --env-file env.list \
  --name microvisor-freertos microvisor-freertos-image

2. Upload the bundle to the Twilio Cloud

Command Line

Upload the generated bundle to Twilio with this command:

twilio microvisor:apps:create build/Demo/gpio_toggle_demo.zip 

Uploaded bundles are accessed through the Microvisor Apps API, which represents each bundle upload as an App resource. Apps are uniquely identifiable by their SID. This allows you to quickly re-deploy an older version of your code if you need to.

You’ll need the new App’s SID. To retrieve it, run:

twilio api:microvisor:v1:apps:list

Make a note of the new App’s SID in the JSON response to the command you just issued. It’s a 34-character string beginning with KA. The JSON also includes the code’s SHA-256 and the hash value that Microvisor uses to ensure the integrity of Apps it downloads.

Docker

There is nothing to do — this is included in the last command you ran.

3. Get your NDB’s SID

Command Line

Get your NDB’s SID. You’ll need this to instruct Twilio which device to deploy the uploaded bundle to. First, get a list all of your devices:

twilio api:microvisor:v1:devices:list

This will list your devices — possibly just your Nucleo at this stage — with their SIDs and, if set, unique names.

Docker

There is nothing to do — this is included in the last command you ran.

4. NDB, meet application

Ensure your NDB is powered up and connected to the Internet: the SYSTEM LED will be slowly blinking green.

Command Line

Deploy the code to it. To so, make a Microvisor API request like this:

twilio api:microvisor:v1:devices:update \
  --sid <YOUR_NDB_SID> \
  --target-app <YOUR_APP_SID_OR_NAME>

Again, you’ll need to replace the bracketed values with your own values.

Docker

There is nothing to do — this is included in the last command you ran.

All Platforms

In the background, Twilio will signal the device that that an application update is pending, and Microvisor will reboot, reconnect to the Internet, and download your code. After a moment or two, while the NDB connects to the Internet, you’ll see the USER LED flash once a second.

Hello, World!

5. Gather some logs

Microvisor supports the relay of logging statements issued by your application code. To view logs from your device, you’ll use the Twilio CLI.

Command Line

Run:

twilio microvisor:logs:stream <YOUR_NDB_SID>

Docker

Our Docker setup starts logging automatically.

All Platforms

Sit back and watch some messages appear in your terminal.

How does it work? Logging leverages standard Microvisor system calls for application logging.

Change Apps and deployments

If you make changes to the code, aren’t happy with results, and want to revert to an earlier version, use twilio to list your Apps, find the SID or the unique name of the version you want to redeploy, and then use twilio to send it to your NDB:

# Get a list of apps
twilio api:microvisor:v1:apps:list

# Update the target
twilio api:microvisor:v1:devices \
  --sid <YOUR_DEVICE_SID_OR_UNIQUE_NAME> \
  --target-app <THE_ROLLBACK_APP_SID_OR_UNIQUE_NAME>

Delete unwanted Apps

You can delete unwanted App uploads with:

twilio api:microvisor:v1:apps:remove --sid <AN_APP_SID_OR_UNIQUE_NAME>

But you should note that you cannot delete an App which is currently deployed to one or more devices. To fully delete an App, deploy another one to your device(s) first.

Next steps

You have set up your development environment and your Microvisor Development Board. You’ve run a FreeRTOS-based sample application on the device by creating a bundle, transferring it to the Twilio cloud, and then deploying it to your board over the air. You have viewed logging information transmitted by your application.

What next? Microvisor now supports remote debugging: controlling running application on your Microvisor device wherever in the world it is located. To try out this powerful development functionality, work through our Microvisor Remote Debugging guide.

Here are some suggestions for further stages of your Microvisor journey.

• Build some of our demo applications to learn how to integrate specific technologies into your own Microvisor code.
• Get some further guidance on developing applications for Microvisor.
• Check out the functionality Microvisor can provide to your application through its system calls.
• Review STMicro’s STM32U585 Reference Manual and HAL documentation.
• Is designing hardware your focus? If so, find out how to design Microvisor-empowered IoT devices.
• Read about the Microvisor API you use to interact with the Twilio cloud.

We can’t wait to see what you build with Microvisor and the Nucleo Development Board. Make sure you let us know through one of the feedback channels discussed with you!