chipKIT uno32 Arduino MD experiments

[chudster]

hello chudster

so you have a uno 32 also,

If your planning to follow the thread, a big Welcome Aboard!



hopefully i can be some help to ya.

Philip

Yes Philip. I do plan to follow this thread. Very interested in the new innovations coming through. I think that this year might be an interesting year for home brew metal detection.

I have a strong microcontroller background and am very interested in how we could get the most out of the PIC32 architecture as it is powerful for its cost. Compared to what I used to program in fact it is quite a remarkable piece of silicon.

On power consumption of the UNO32. Remember this is a dev board. The MAX32 draws another 15mA. I haven't looked at the power consumption of the core versus the rest of the fruit. We could also probably reduce power by dropping the clock speed but its nice having a 12.5nS timer tick. I would think we could shave some mA off if we were to lay out our own board. On that note its fantastic that the UNO32 eagle files are available if that is wanted.

You've probably seen some of my posts especially on Moodz' thread which I am following and also very interested in the QED and Tinkerer's thread. In fact the whole forum fascinates me.

Are you planning to move this thread to the Projects area?

Chudster

[hdphilip]

Are you planning to move this thread to the Projects area?

I think that carls decision,

my latest pcb is delayed, i had a soic 8 package on the board for the voltage reg (Lp2989)

but i received a msop8, oops!!

so i new pcb is soaking in etchant right now..............

Philip

[hdphilip]

chudster

I have a strong microcontroller background and am very interested in how we could get the most out of the PIC32 architecture as it is powerful for its cost. Compared to what I used to program in fact it is quite a remarkable piece of silicon.

oh that would be great!!!

i'm ok at programing, but right now, i'm a bit rusty on interrupts and DSP, my current level
could be discribed as "C" for dummies....

But as you can see in my posts, i'm having pretty good luck in making it work.

do you have an lcd display hooked up to your uno?

philip

[chudster]

chudster



oh that would be great!!!

i'm ok at programing, but right now, i'm a bit rusty on interrupts and DSP, my current level
could be discribed as "C" for dummies....

But as you can see in my posts, i'm having pretty good luck in making it work.

do you have an lcd display hooked up to your uno?

philip

DSP and real time programming is something I have had a little to do with.

Not hooked up yet although I have a nokia 5110 display- taking from your lead. They are so cheap and available that combined with the UNO32 architecture it will make a fantastic display for a final detector design- if I ever get there. At the moment I am using the serial monitor function for a display.

Chudster

[hdphilip]

chudster

I'm thinking when you get the nokia working, the serial monitor might only be used to import data to a second party program like "processing" to analyzes the "target logging"

it's kinda sweet having different information right their, plus you'll find it's best to keep your computer away from your metal detector when your doing testing,

next I'm going to work on a higher speed ADC I'm thinking the AD7980, would go higher (in bits), but in reading spec sheet even "better adc " ENOB drops down, I'm thinking having a shorter conv time might be an idea worth pursuing.

Philip

[chudster]

The PIC32 has a lot of power the key is to build an effective "OS" for detectors which is what I am thinking about and its why I am trying to understand the basics of the waveforms that must be characterized and processed.

I had a look at the 7980. The challenge is getting the max sampling speed in through the SPI otherwise it seems to be a good chip. Looks like 1 MSPS is needed.

[hdphilip]

chudster

am thinking about and its why I am trying to understand the basics of the waveforms that must be characterized and processed.

i'm thinking when you can look at the waveforms on a oscilloscope for yourself, it'll be a lot easier to understand

I have though about going to a parallel interface usuing pin 26 thru 33, and a higher bits adc, but to to this i would need to have the PCB made. but i am finding my PCB process has been working pretty good with the msop and the tsop packages. so maybe i can step it up a bit and try it out

right now I'm working on my GEN-2 frontend board, It has the changes we talked about, the board is made, the plan is, maybe tonite, i'll be able to test it out, and i'll post some pictures of it.
a quick rundown

7 IC's......

Philip

[chudster]

chudster



i'm thinking when you can look at the waveforms on a oscilloscope for yourself, it'll be a lot easier to understand

I have though about going to a parallel interface usuing pin 26 thru 33, and a higher bits adc, but to to this i would need to have the PCB made. but i am finding my PCB process has been working pretty good with the msop and the tsop packages. so maybe i can step it up a bit and try it out

right now I'm working on my GEN-2 frontend board, It has the changes we talked about, the board is made, the plan is, maybe tonite, i'll be able to test it out, and i'll post some pictures of it.
a quick rundown

7 IC's......

Philip

I think try the 7980 as its most compatible with your existing software. I am concerned that a 16 bit parallel ADC might chew too many other pins of the PIC32.

Absolutely I need to tinker with real waveforms. I have a good idea of the waveforms though from forum posts and task now though to begin putting some UNO code together that forms the basis of a PIC32 OS for metal detecting. Hopefully I can get some hardware going just after I have prelim code and take it from there.

Chudster

[hdphilip]

chudster,

An metal detector os would be great, on the software i wrote, i'm trying to do it by having a bunch of different subroutines, which i can put together like "LEGO's" building blocks to try different ideas

hopefully in a fews days i'll have my new adc board ready for testing..


Here's a picture of my new front end board going through some testing.... So far so good!!!

[chudster]

chudster,

An metal detector os would be great, on the software i wrote, i'm trying to do it by having a bunch of different subroutines, which i can put together like "LEGO's" building blocks to try different ideas

hopefully in a fews days i'll have my new adc board ready for testing..


Here's a picture of my new front end board going through some testing.... So far so good!!!

Wow that looks like a great test set up!

Could you describe:
a) What is the board that hooks over the chipkit (Power?)?
b) What is the board on the side of the chipkit (ADC?)?

Chudster

[hdphilip]

Could you describe:
a) What is the board that hooks over the chipkit (Power?)?
b) What is the board on the side of the chipkit (ADC?)?

a. that's the adc board it has a buffer amp
b. that's the LED board, i use it to indicate different triggers i set up in the software,

one of the Experiments i want to try is using an comparator inside the pic32 to determine when the fly back ends, and maybe show the time in nanos on the LCD screen, it could be usefully, who knows, never seen it done before.

on my test board, i have a un used op-amp to act as a buffer between the trigger input, what do you think?

Philip

[chudster]

Thanks for the answers.

Comparator sounds like an interesting experiment.

Looking forward to some progress. I have started writing code for the UNO32. Would you like me to do experimental code to read the comparator? PM me the details of pins you plan to use and I will see if I can help your experiment along.

[hdphilip]

hello chudster,
That would be great! i'll look at the data sheet, and send you the details, i have skype, so that maybe better, hdphilip1, give it a try.

i'm thinking something straight forward, something that would have a rising edge at the end of the TX pulse, and then at a certain predetermined value it would turn off. the voltage comparator could make it adjustable.

I took a video the other day showing just some basic operations, i'll post it.


Philip

[chudster]

hello chudster,
That would be great! i'll look at the data sheet, and send you the details, i have skype, so that maybe better, hdphilip1, give it a try.

i'm thinking something straight forward, something that would have a rising edge at the end of the TX pulse, and then at a certain predetermined value it would turn off. the voltage comparator could make it adjustable.

I took a video the other day showing just some basic operations, i'll post it.


Philip

I look forward to the video.

Have you thought about making this project (as a group of experiments) more formal? Given the common point of the UNO32, my software background and your hardware we could accelerate results, I am keen to collaborate on your experiments. Lets discuss on skype how we might do that.

Chudster

[hdphilip]

Have you thought about making this project (as a group of experiments) more formal?

well, i really haven't given much thought to formalizing my project, and i haven't ask Carl for my own project thread either, i suppose if Carl had an area for people experimenting with past, present, or future metal detector technology then maybe that would be a good place.


As a hobbyists/experimenters, [We] don't sit and read patents, [We] really don't care how the corporate "widget" people make "widgets".

As a hobbyists/experimenters, I'm not going into the metal detector business, that's about as foolish as quiting my day job and heading to Alaska with a gold pan and strike it rich. oh, wait i'll stop and get a lotto ticket just to cover my expenses

just my 2 cents


chudster, what are your ideas for formalizing a project? and why we would need them?



Philip