Game of Life on Propeller with LED Matrix
smbaker
Posts: 164
Since there was a discussion the last week or two about interfacing a LED matrix to a prop, I thought I'd share my latest prototype. It's Conway's Game of Life implemented on a prop with an 8x8 LED matrix.
The anodes were sourced via 100 ohm resistors directly from the prop. Cathodes were sinked via a ULN2803 darlington array. I operated the display in a straightforward common-cathode manner, energizing the cathodes one at a time while setting the appropriate 8 anode bits. The design used 16 IO lines from the prop. As discussed in the other threads, this could certainly have been reduced by using latches or shift registers. However, the sole purpose of the board was to operate the display, so only half of the prop's IO pins were even needed.
There are empty pads for mounting a dallas RTC, and headers for joining multiple boards into a grid should I ever choose to do so.
It's also my first SMD board, and I'm pleased to say that I assembled it correctly and it powered up the first time with no problems!
If I'd had it to do over again, I might have mounted the display to the opposite side of the board rather than putting it on the same side as the components.
The anodes were sourced via 100 ohm resistors directly from the prop. Cathodes were sinked via a ULN2803 darlington array. I operated the display in a straightforward common-cathode manner, energizing the cathodes one at a time while setting the appropriate 8 anode bits. The design used 16 IO lines from the prop. As discussed in the other threads, this could certainly have been reduced by using latches or shift registers. However, the sole purpose of the board was to operate the display, so only half of the prop's IO pins were even needed.
There are empty pads for mounting a dallas RTC, and headers for joining multiple boards into a grid should I ever choose to do so.
It's also my first SMD board, and I'm pleased to say that I assembled it correctly and it powered up the first time with no problems!
If I'd had it to do over again, I might have mounted the display to the opposite side of the board rather than putting it on the same side as the components.
1024 x 993 - 201K
1024 x 428 - 122K
Comments
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
For me, the past is not over yet.
-Phil
http://www.sparetimegizmos.com/Hardware/Life_Game.htm
I built one from the blank PCB and have it hanging up at work.
Robert
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
May the road rise to meet you; may the sun shine on your back.
May you create something useful, even if it's just a hack.
The Dallas RTC pad and crystal are intended so I can make a binary clock out of one of the modules. Creating a binary clock was my original plan when I got started tinkering with props last year and strangely enough remains the one project that keeps getting pushed off into the future.
As far as how to get one, I wasn't really planning on selling them. The layout is at batchpcb.com, so I could make it publicly available for ordering if people were interested. The biggest issue is the matrix display. It's an 8x8 matrix that I believe came from 'All Electronics'. I think they were surplus and aren't sold there anymore. I have been able to find similar matrices on ebay from China or Hong Kong that can be ordered in 10-quantity, but I haven't been able to find them in small quantity at any US part houses. The matrix has a rather strange and inconvenient pinout. At the time, I couldn't even get a datasheet and had to figure it out on my own, which was a bit tedious.
Scott
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
My Prop Products:· http://www.rayslogic.com/Propeller/Products/Products.htm