Heap size on nano 33 BLE? (64K when I expected >128K)

Arduino Boards
1

This is not a show stopper for me (yet!) but I have just been checking the available heap memory on the arduino nano33 ble port:

import gc

free = gc.mem_free()
alloc = gc.mem_alloc()
total = free+alloc

print("free: {:d} alloc: {:d} total: {:d}".format(free, alloc, total))

yielding (with the latest dev firmware):

free: 62352 alloc: 1664 total: 64016
MPY: soft reboot
OpenMV 8e27bd7; MicroPython f72d922; Arduino Nano 33 BLE SENSE-NRF52840
Type "help()" for more information.
>>>

The nano33 BLE NRF52840 docs say it has 256K on board. Further I think the nano33 port uses this specific linker script nrf52840_1M_256k.ld containing the following:

_flash_size = 1M;
_ram_size   = 256K;

/* produce a link error if there is not this amount of RAM for these sections */
_stack_size = 8K;
_minimum_heap_size = 128K;

which certainly seems to indicate that the heap should be at least 128K.

Just wondering if anyone can shed any additional light on this discrepancy?

Many thanks - Barry

2

We have to allocate space for a frame buffer since Arduino wanted us to support a camera. This is a fixed allocation.

3

OK great, thanks for the clarification.

Presumably that means that in applications not using a camera, it would be possible (in principle at least) to configure this frame buffer back to use as general heap space? I’m guessing that can only be done by rebuilding (a fork of) the full firmware distribution (as opposed to be able to dynamically tweak it in any way with the distributed firmware)? Assuming that to be so, would the mod to the source be as minor as tweaking the #defines in the omv_boardconfig.h file or are changes there likely to require more pervasive modifications elsewhere?

(I don’t quite need to roll up my sleeves to attempt this yet, but I can see it as being a definite possibility in the near future, so any pointers will be appreciated…)

4

Yes it’s possible to increase the heap memory by reducing FB size OMV_FB_SIZE and increasing the OMV_HEAP_SIZE

5

Great - thanks for that clarification.

6

So, we actually have an automated build system via github actions. You just need to fork our repo, enable github actions, then modify the file above and your new firmware will be automatically built.