Project Logs

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• Update on the state of the project

  Vlad Ivanov • 05/27/2018 at 06:14 • 0 comments

  I haven't been posting updates for quite some time. Reasons for that are my almost finished master's thesis, production delays for logic board I planned to use and other real life stuff. I have finally received my Snickerdoodle board a few days ago (it was ordered in the first half of January) — so hopefully this summer I'll have time to do something with it.
  

  
  

• ***

  Vlad Ivanov • 11/12/2017 at 14:33 • 0 comments

  https://gfycat.com/GargantuanBigheartedInsect

• oops #1

  Vlad Ivanov • 10/16/2017 at 19:05 • 0 comments

  
  
  
  Lesson learned: double check CAD models downloaded from the Internet. Luckily, this one can be fixed quite easily.
  

• PCB update

  Vlad Ivanov • 09/30/2017 at 16:22 • 0 comments

  The boards I ordered earlier have arrived and I started populating them.
  

  As for mechanical parts, they were on their way too, but the shipping company managed to lose them. Now I have to wait until Aliexpress buyer protection takes place so I can get a refund and reorder.

• FPGA design overview

  Vlad Ivanov • 09/12/2017 at 19:29 • 0 comments

  While the boards and the mechanic components are being delivered I thought I'd make an overview of the planned FPGA design stuff.

  On this diagram, Zynq refers to the Processing System block inside the SoC. As you can see, there are three ADCs, which output 12-bit samples. Samples from each one of them are stored in a small FIFO buffer. The capture controller module scans each FIFO periodically and, once there is enough data, submits a number of transfers through AXI HP interface. Using FIFOs allows us to account for system bus availability and also to store data in bursts, which is faster, especially on some low-budget Zynq boards.
  
  Finally, the AXI Lite interface for both of these blocks is needed to actually interact with the software through the register interface. And while we're at it and have an FPGA, the stepper driver can also be put in the programmable logic.
  

• Acrylic frame is ready

  Vlad Ivanov • 09/10/2017 at 18:23 • 0 comments

  Acrylic frame has been manufactured. A local advertising company had a laser cutter, and they cut the parts at a reasonable price. I had quite a hard time looking for M2 screws and nuts — these turned out to be less common than I thought.
  

• Image sensors PCBs have been ordered

  Vlad Ivanov • 09/10/2017 at 18:16 • 0 comments

  I have finished the design of image sensor PCB. I had to move one of the mounting holes a little bit to fit the flex cable connector and keep the manufacturing process cheap. These boards are now being manufactured by Elecrow.
  

  
  

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