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PKS (Propeller Keychain System): Now shipping! — Parallax Forums

PKS (Propeller Keychain System): Now shipping!

RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
edited 2011-02-09 18:30 in Propeller 1
We're opening up Coby 151 1.5" keychain digital photoframes and replaced the circuit board with a Prop powered board.

New board is packed with features such as 3-axis accelerometer, USB chip, real time clock (RTC), buzzer/speaker, flash memory, battery...

A 4-pin header and special circuit allows you to use the PKS as a Prop Plug!

Original idea was jazzed from this thread.

Coby_GraphicsDemo.jpg
Finished.jpg


I'm shipping the 3rd unit now. Cost is $60. They take forever to make. Email me if you want one to get on the list, but it's likely to be a while...

You can get more info from the product page here:
http://www.rayslogic.com/Propeller/Products/PKS/PKS.htm
Coby_GraphicsDemo.jpg
1024 x 768 - 129K
Finished.jpg
1024 x 768 - 143K
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Comments

  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-15 10:12
    The codes posted on the product page test all the functions.

    Note: There are two basic types of LCDs that the Coby 151 comes with, TFT and CSTN.
    CSTN is the usual type and there are 2 varieties, you may have to adjust the contrast (see code examples) depending on the exact type you get. If you happen to get the rare TFT type, you'll have to change the driver (see code examples for details).

    It screams for an OS and applets, but that'll take time.

    The great thing about this little guy is that you can take it with you when traveling for prortable Propping :)
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2011-01-15 12:44
    Ray - Really nice job :)
    & I like being able to use it as a propplug too!
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-15 14:12
    Rayman,
    WOW that thing is small. I thought that was a AA battery in the photo, but then I realized it is a AAA.
    I can't wait to get one.

    Bean
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-20 12:34
    Rayman,
    All I can say is "YOU ARE THE MAN!!!".
    The PKS is without a doubt the most incredible product I've seen for the propeller.
    You simply MUST find a supply and make these available for parallax to sell.

    I ran all the demos and they worked great. I love the 3-axis accel.
    I'll have to study the schematic and make a couple demos of my own.

    Thanks for making these available...

    Bean
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-20 17:12
    Thanks Bean! I wish I could make them faster... It's not watchmaking, but it's close!
    I'm about to order a solder stencil which should make it faster...
    If I were a larger company (like Parallax), I could mass produce them fairly easily... All I'd need is a source for new LCDs and a source to clone the cases...

    Thanks for helping with the software. I'd like to do more in that area, but I've got too many pots on the fire right now...
  • RavenkallenRavenkallen Posts: 1,057
    edited 2011-01-20 18:58
    Are there any other I/O pins available? It would be neat to add a small button pad for input.... I might have to buy one of those to:) It sure does hold a lot of potential.
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 03:38
    Well, there's a 4-pin header that is PropPlug compatible. So, that gives you pins 30&31 to work with...
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-21 04:34
    It does have 3 push buttons on top too.

    I want to connect it to a geiger counter to display averages and a graph of counts.
    I'll use the 4 pin PropPlug connector to do that since I only need 1 input.

    Bean
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2011-01-21 05:00
    Absolutely amazing.

    Just to check the specs - I'm guessing 128x128 display with 4096 colors, so 4 bits per color, 12 bits?

    13 pins for the display then a lot of flexibility for the rest.

    For an operating system you could go text or graphic based. Mouse or keyboard? Or just a few pushbuttons?

    Very interesting! Well done.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2011-01-21 07:02
    Dr_Acula wrote: »
    Just to check the specs - I'm guessing 128x128 display with 4096 colors, so 4 bits per color, 12 bits?
    It's up to 65K colors using 5:6:5 format.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-21 07:58
    Rayman,
    Do you have any documentation for the display ? I'd like to make a PropBasic driver for it.

    Bean
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 08:25
    There are, unfortunately, several different types of displays that these units come with...
    So far, as long as I get black or white versions from Amazon.com, they've all had the same connector.
    But, some colored ones from other vendors did not have a compatible connector.
    Anyway, the two basic types with the compatible connectors are TFT and CSTN.
    I had to use different drivers for these two types because the command formats are not compatible.
    The TFT type does allow for 6:6:6 color, so I'm using that for that driver.
    The CSTN types only allow 5:6:5, so I'm using that for those units.

    Ideally, I'd find a source for replacement TFT LCDs and just put a new display in each unit. In that case, I'd just use the case from the Coby.
    But, that'd add some money to the cost...
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2011-01-21 08:52
    Have you checked Alibaba.com? I remember seeing the entire unit at $3 each for 500 pieces.
  • RavenkallenRavenkallen Posts: 1,057
    edited 2011-01-21 09:02
    Oh!!!, there are three buttons, plus pins 30 and 31? I guess one could use the accelerometer as an input device to. Sort of a like a Wii or something. I gotta start saving my quarters:)
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-21 09:37
    Rayman,

    Yeah there really needs to be a standard for this thing to take off.

    As far as cost, I think you could sell these for about $99 pretty easy. I don't know if that makes it worth while though...

    Is there anyway for the propeller code to determine which type of display is connected ? We could have code with both drivers and if it could determine which to use.

    Bean
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 11:01
    It may be possible to determine the type of LCD using the ID command, but I'm not completely sure how unique that is going to be.

    Another option is to use upper memory of the EEPROM or a file on the flash to store system info...
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 11:03
    jazzed wrote: »
    Have you checked Alibaba.com? I remember seeing the entire unit at $3 each for 500 pieces.

    I've never figured out if Alibaba is a legitimate place or not...
    Anyway, I don't think I'll be making 500 of anything!
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 11:07
    BTW: My latest thought on pricing is to offer $50 as the base unit, $5 to add the 4-pin PropPlug header, and $5 to upgrade to the 32Mbit flash
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2011-01-21 12:26
    Yeah, Alibaba is a legitimate site, but...

    It's a FRONT for other businesses to present their goods.
    Those companies may be legit, or they may be scams.
    Not really a good way to find out.

    You could look at http://www.dealextreme.com or their volume resellers site http://www.volumerate.com for parts.

    Or maybe...
    This can be hacked?
    http://volumerate.com/details.vr/sku.50098
    (1.8" touch LCD .MP3 player. Price starts at $21.08 and drops rapidly to less than $20.)

    On DealeXtreme, shipping is free. On VolumeRate, some items come with free shipping, others not.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-21 15:23
    Rayman,
    I have a PropBasic driver working except that the screen seems to be shifted a couple pixels.
    The left side is cutoff, and I can see some junk pixels all along the right side.

    Is there any way to adjust it ?
    I may have it screwed up by sending bad data while testing, so I'm going to let it die and see if it clears up.

    Bean
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-21 15:40
    Well, one strange thing about the TFT variety is that the actual screen coordinate range used by the driver chip is not 0..127 like you'd expect but something like 3..130 for both x and y. If you look in the init routine, you can see where that is specified... That may cause the effect you're seeing...
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-21 18:34
    Thanks Rayman. I played around with the init values and got it fixed.

    I made my driver a straight "byte per pixel" bitmap using 3:3:2 color encoding. After clean up the code some I'll post the PropBasic library. Of course it will only work on the TFT version.

    Bean
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2011-01-21 19:36
    Rayman: awesome work, again! Nice little board to take advantage of an existing products case/LCD. I'll be on your waiting list soon. I can think of a bunch of ideas for this little guy, especially since many of my logger type projects record data, but do not have any way to display it. This could be programmed to use the header to trip the logger to pause logging, then output the data for the PKS to display the min/max, etc, maybe even a simple graph.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-01-23 07:21
    Rayman,
    I'm trying to understandhow the PropPlug mode works. From the schematic it looks like P24 is connected directly to the RESN pin and to the 4-pin header.
    If you make P24 high won't that prevent the target propeller chip from resetting too ?
    I have no plans to use PropPlug mode, what I'm looking at is getting 3 I/O pins on the header. I may need to cut a track. Can you advise me on this ?

    Bean
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-01-23 09:53
    Bean,

    There's an error in the schematic... You're right, it wouldn't work as drawn... In reality, the reset pin at the 4-pin header is connected to the junction of the 100-Ohm resistor and the NPN transistor's collector.

    Thanks for catching that.
  • DaveJensonDaveJenson Posts: 375
    edited 2011-02-02 13:33
    Rayman,

    Would you be willing to sell the bare PCB alone? I would be interested in getting a couple and trying my hand at assembling it myself.
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-02-02 18:53
    Sure! I think you've discovered that I suggested $12 for the price and that will do. (I'm secretly hoping to sell all these boards so that I can get new, improved ones).

    Only dilemma is that I ship everything I sell in the $5 USPS Priority flat rate box, which is rediculously big for these boards... I should invest in a regular mail system, but haven't yet...

    If there's anybody else, just email mail me at ray@rayslogic.com with your order.
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-02-02 18:57
    BTW: I think these screens are great for lots of projects... I noticed an MP3 playing board out there that uses a similar screen...
    The small size makes them great for any number of things...

    I think (although I haven't tried it) that the PKS board could be used as sort of a breakout board for the display. One could leave the Prop off and run wires from the pads where the Prop would be to your own Prop board...
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2011-02-03 07:34
    Rayman wrote: »
    Only dilemma is that I ship everything I sell in the $5 USPS Priority flat rate box, which is rediculously big for these boards... I should invest in a regular mail system, but haven't yet...

    If its just a bare board, can you tape it to an index card and put it in a regular envelope? I regularly send CD's through the mail in a paper CD jacket with a stamp on it, we never had a problem yet. (knock wood).
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,887
    edited 2011-02-03 08:10
    That sounds like a good idea. But, I don't have index cards, envelopes, or stamps :(

    I'll have to get some next time I'm at the store...
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