This github site is the central repository for various projects from donnaware, I do not everything up to date or loaded here
because it would be a big hassle but I present some of my favorites and post updates and source files from time to time when
there is interest or if I feel like it.
COOL PROJECTS FROM DONNAWARE
ESP8266 SDK
EASY PEASY ESP8266 SDK This is a super simple to use SDK for the ESP8266. This SDK is designed to work on Windows 7 or higher machines without the need to install anything, no Virtual Machines, No Linux or anything else, just download and unzip to a directory and away you go. It includes some good example apps with source code.
Check out more details here: ESP8266 SDK
The yPU SoC Development Environtment
Synthetic System on a Chip generator, complete CPU on an FPGA that can be synthisized, after using a super simple, user friendly GUI to pick all the peripherals that you want on your SoC. Simply drag and drop the desired resources to your target, compile and download and you have the perfect chip for you app. any combination of RS232 ports, PWM, LCD, GPIO, SPI, SD card and so on. (sorry no github files yet, waiting on some legalities). Try it and see: ypu maker
zPhone Project
The purpose of the "zPhone Project" is to create a hand held Ultra-Thin Client device operating over a wireless connection such as WiFi or 4G. An Ultra-Thin Client (UTC) is a client implemented in hardware (FPGA). thin client has no intelligence or computing power of its own and hence, relies completely a server for operation. Because the UTC is completely hardware, the cost and power consumption of the device are drastically reduced (no software licensing for OS or programming), everything runs completely virtualized in the cloud!
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
A device by which atoms may be imaged using the Quantum Tunneling effect. STM involves the tunneling of electrons through
gap from the tip of the STM to the sample. This can be considered as tunneling between two metallic electrodes,
separated by a vacuum region. The potential in the vacuum region acts as a barrier to electrons. In this
simplified form, one can apply the solution of the Schrodinger equation, applied to a rectangular barrier: psi = exp{kx},
where k = sqrt[2m(Vb - E)/(h2)] where, Vb represents the barrier potential, E is the energy of the particular state, and
h corresponds to the reduced Planck constant. In General, the tunneling current through the vacuum is proportional to the
separation between the tip and the sample. An atomically sharp tip is used, the tunneling current from the first atom of the tip can be
determined while the tip is scanned using piezo-electric nano-positioning probe and the measured tunneling current is numerically processed to an
image. --->
Zero Board Computer
ZBC is a PC-AT Clone implemented as anSoC (System on a Chip) using the Altera Cyclone III FPGA. ZBC is intended to be fun and educational and able to run DOS and uCLinux. The motivation for this project was to emulate the Intel 80186 CPU using Verilog HDL and to synthesis a working computer by utilizing custom and open source (www.opencores.org peripheral IP Cores (Intellectual Property) to form a complete bootable OS from an SD Card rather than a hard drive.
The completed project also implemented complete TCP/IP,UDP,HTTP,FTP,ARP,ICMP stack in a driver called TinySOCK I developed using nothing but RFC's.
Check out all the source code here: The-Zero-Board-Computer
Roto-Cell 2000
The Roto-Cell 2000 is just a fun project that uses an old style Rotary Phone with the original internal components removed and replaced with a cell phone bluetooth adapter mounted on a PCB board and a micro-controller to interface the old style dialer and ringer. The microcontroller translates the rotary dialed digits into RS232 commands that are sent to the Bluetooth adapter to make a call and also receives messages from the Bluetooth adapter when a call comes in and rings the original bell.
The Audio interface converts the old style carbon mic in the phone to the necessary levels to interface to a PCM Codec implemented on an FPGA along with the Bluetooth stack. You just pair it with whatever cell phone you want, you put your phone in your pocket and now you have yourself a wireless Rotary phone! For this project I used an old timey rotary phone that I bought at a garage sale.
Apollo Guidance Computer Replica
The AGC (Apollo Guidance Computer) was a very early computer, designed in 1964, it was the first to use Integrated Circuits and the first modern embedded processor. Implemented using FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can think of that as the equivalent of thousands of the TTL chips that is endlessly and completely reconfigurable. I used the Altera Cyclone FPGA which has a lot of memory right on the FPGA. I also developed the user interface using a custom LCD controller using a CLPD and a Microcontroller with a USB interface so code can be downloaded from your PC. You can check out the source on this one at: AGC
FPGA SDR
A Software Defined Radio was simulated and synthesized using Verilog HDL and implemented in a prototype set up. The design demonstrated OFDM modulation scheme to transmit video images and further demonstrated that is software reconfigurable by altering in software to transmit NTSC video over standard broadcast or FM Radio. This project was used for Masters EE program project and was implemented using an FPGA and an embedded MCU.
TabX1 Open Tablet Project
TabX1 is an open source Linux based tablet computer. The idea behind it is to create a functional tablet at a very low cost using a low cost low power SoC ARM chip and de-load much of the processing to an attached FPGA chip. TabX1 is running Linux 3 with Busybox Filesystem, X11 Xwindows, Fluxbox desktop and I am using Rox Filer and Netsurf browser. It has 5.7" Color LCD display with Touchscreen, Mouse, Keyboard, 100BaseT, USB Host port, Wifi, 4G wireless, custom graphics driver (implemented on FPGA along with custom audio driver on FPGA), USB device, 4 RS232 ports, 32 GPIO lines Accellerometer, RTC, 64MBytes system RAM, SD card for disk, 128MB graphics RAM Technical details: TabX1
There are a ton of other fun projects I have dont over the years, eventually I hope to get around to posting all the source code and schematics for all of them. ElectroSketch 2000 - portable electronic sketch device using an LCD, FPGA Prototype boards, FPGA Based General Purpose Graphic LCD Driver Microcontroller Ultrasonic distance measurement device, Video Frame Grabber Video Generator, Telescope CCD, Computer controlled HeNe Laser, Micro-controlled Laser diode driver, CCD Linear Scanner, Microcontroller based Sunrise Sunset Timer (turn lights on and off )based on calculated position of the sun), USB Microcontroller interface, Microcontroller VGA generator, Microcontroller FM Radio, Microcontroller TV Tuner, Homebrew MP3 Player, 78 RPM MP3 Ripper, Pong implemented in an FPGA, Topographic Data viewer, Harmonograph Simulator, Dterm RS232 / Telnet Terminal emulator, Mp3 Player, Chess Engine (Chess game), Black hole simulator in java, Code editor, PC based Signal Generator, PC FPGA Oscilloscope, Disk Viewer, Global Temperature viewer, WMAP data viewer, and on and on.
GREAT QUOTES
"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life."
Henry Miller
"Courage is the price that life extracts for granting peace with yourself."
Amelia Earhart
"Imagination is more important than intelligence."
Albert Einstein