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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : mad idea - micromite and second cpu
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| plasma Guru  Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
hi , what do you think about a pic32 mx150f128b-i which works like a tellymate clone ? i think about 2 ways 1 : use a second pic to provide a small display for the micromite over rs232 such like tellymate 2 : dont know if it possible but use a second chip which emulate (terraterm or something ) but with keyboard ? ok we have cool i2c lcd displays and much moore but i think this and a little screen give us extraordinary possibilities 
gtx |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
Possible. I would be inclined to use I2C between the main uM chip(just cos I am trying to learn it at the moment!), and the one controlling the LCD, but you could also use serial. If you used I2C, you could implement a keypad on the LCD side of things, connected to the 2nd uM chip, and send commands to the LCD from the 1st uM, and from the keypad on the 2nd uM back to the 1st uM. You could use your 2nd uM chip, to accept commands from the 1st uM, convert them to SPI and talk to the LCD module - well worth checking out, especially as a uM controlling the LCD that jman uses, would be a VERY cheap way of adding a full graphical LCD to any uM chip for less then ten bucks(ignoring the keypad for the moment) - pretty attractive idea. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2817 |
Hi Grogster, Excuse my ignorance, when you say 'less than ten bucks', are you meaning US$, NZ$ or AU$? Thanks for clarifying . . . For everything Micromite visit micromite.org Direct Email: whitewizzard@micromite.o |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
Sounds like you are over complicating things. Can you draw a sketch of your proposed hook-ups? David M. |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
second pic 3,50 euro , one tantal 30 cent and a screen from Ebay screen google for tellymate but for this we need to a original tellymate or a pic clone ;) |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I mean in NZ dollars, as the LCD's are $3, and the PIC32 chip is another $3, so 6-10 bucks in NZ money. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
Are you referring to me or plasma? For the TellyMate, which I have used, members can find it here: TellyMate It is actually very clever, albeit black-and-white, and a very cheap way to add basic video to just about any microcontroller. Rather then use a uM as a TellyMate clone, I would be inclined to simply use the TellyMate as-is.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
Either or both. It just seems to me like this thread is saying the same thing in different ways. I'd like to see a block diagram of individual thoughts. Much of what I understand is being proposed can already be done with one uMite and existing i2c modules. Maybe I'm a bit confused? David M. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I think the orginal idea of having the TellYMate thing is not a bad idea - I think I got the wrong idea in terms of LCD & keypad on 2nd uM - my bad.
It would seem that plasma was really talking about using a uM to act as a TellyMate clone thing, that can generate composite video output. That's when I chimed in with the thought that if I needed a TellyMate, I would just use a TellyMate - it's all open source too, and easy to get going. Using a uM to act as a composite video generator like the TellyMate is probably do-able, but why re-invent the wheel?(rhetorical) Not sure about that even. uM might not be fast enough at MMBasic level. Generating any kind of video natively, normally needs assembly and raw speed.  CMM MMBasic has VGA output, but the actual generation of the video is done at assembly level, and MMBasic just passes the commands to the video sub-system, from what I understand.
Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
That's the part that puzzles me. It seems to be a back door way of re-creating the MMite. Why not just use a MM and add-ons as needed? If you want keyboard (not keypad) input, I did a PS2 to i2c module a few years ago as well as a 4"x3" (ish) graphics display (usart driven)also pic based. I think the uMite is better suited as a controller where manual key input and display output (LCD/7segment etc) is a minimum. David M. |
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Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3196 |
Something like this is on the way via Silicon Chip. It uses the PIC32MX250F128 (same series as the Micromite) and has composite or VGA plus keyboard and USB. It is VT100 compatible so it will work with the Micromite's editor. 
This is an early prototype. It might look complicated but that is because of the various I/O connectors. If you wanted to design it into a project you would only use the inputs/outputs that you wanted. For example to design composite video into a project you would only need the chip plus six passive components. I have this running with a cheap ($25) reversing monitor and it is a great way to display text/graphics from the Micromite. I have had a minor medical hiccup which has put me a month behind in schedule so it will probably appear in the May issue of Silicon Chip (editor willing). Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6101 |
I have been looking closely at a Video overlay shield from seeedstudio. It was going to be used to overlay maximite data on the reversing camera screen but I have now sold the van and truck so no need to continue. http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Video-Overlay-Shield-p-1232 .html Geoff, Your new project looks good. Jim VK7JH MMedit  MMBasic Help |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
Thx Geoff , this is what i thinking about . For all other " sorry for my bad english " i know sometimes people are confused about my text. I mean this is not " recreating a maximite " this is expand the possibilitis for the micromite. @ Geoff micromite is a funny little thing , i love it |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I hope you feel better now. 
Will this thing be B/W or colour? Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3196 |
Oh yes, I am OK now. It was small but enough for me to miss the deadline. The ASCII Serial Terminal will be monochrome, not enough RAM for colour. Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
That's what I thought, but I figured I would ask anyway, just to clarify! 
Glad you are OK - we NEED you! Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
Hi . Geoff , i have no chance to get the Silicon Chip Gazette here so i ask : will this become Freeware or opensource ? ( glad you are ok now also) |
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| Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3196 |
Yes, and all the details (parts list, PCB gerbers, etc) will be on my website after the magazine hits the streets. Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
Great but you have no "donate" Button
thx |
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psergiu Regular Member  Joined: 09/02/2013 Location: United StatesPosts: 83 |
But will it have at least VT100 attributes ? (bold, inverse …) Are you using a bitmap video memory map like on MaxiMite (in this case colour requiring 3x of a large ammount of RAM) or a CGA/EGA/VGA PC Text-Mode map (2 bytes for each char on screen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA-compatible_text_mode ). ? Thanks. |
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