Going retro with Zorkduino

Zork is considered one of the earliest interactive fiction computer titles, with roots drawn from the original genre game, Colossal Cave Adventure.

According to Wikipedia, the first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 using the MDL programming language on a DEC PDP-10 computer. The authors – Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling – were all members of MIT’s Dynamic Modeling Group.

Recently, an experienced modder by the name of Rossum decided to rekindle fond memories of long nights playing Zork on his Atari 800 by building the aptly named Zorkduino.

The Atmel-based, Arduino-powered platform generates both audio and video. As expected, Zorkduino is built to be hooked up to a TV and keyboard. 

Key components include:

• Atmel-based Arduino Uno, Pro, or Pro Mini.
• SD card or micro SD card + breakout board (from Adafruit, eBay etc).
• RCA A/V Cable (eBay).
• 470ohm, 1k and 100k resistors.
• Breadboard, wires, etc.
• WebTV or MsnTV IR Keyboard or PS2.
• IR receiver TSOP38238,TSOP4838 or equivalent.

So, how does the retro gaming platform work? Well, as HackADay’s Brian Benchoff reports, Rossum capitalizes on the onboard hardware of the Arduino.

“Video is generated by using SPI mode on a UART at top speed – 8 MHz. This just shifts out pixels from the video buffer on an SD card,” writes Benchoff.

“The keyboard is handled like any other PS/2 keyboard project on the Arduino, [while] audio is generated by toggling a pin at 1000Hz for a keypress and 3600Hz for SD card access.”

As a bonus, Rossum includes an number of additional games on the SD card, including Leather Goddesses of Phobos, along with the ability to run Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Interested in learning more about the Zorkduino? You can check out Rossum’s original blog post on the subject here and the project’s official HackADay page here.

Atmel looks back at Q1 2014 wins and launches

Yesterday, Atmel execs detailed the company’s Q1 2014 highlights. Key launches, collaborative projects and product wins spanned multiple markets, including:

Winning with maXTouch (smartphones) – LG’s G Pro 2, G2 Mini and L Series 3 L90; Verizon’s Lucid 3, Xiaomi’s RedRice 5.5″, Gionee’s Elife S5.5 and ZTE’s Grand S Lite.

Winning with maXTouch (Android and Windows 8 tablets) – Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4 10.1,” Galaxy Tab 12.2,” Galaxy Note 12.2″ and HP’s EliteBook 1000 G2.

Collaborating with Corning – Developing ultra-thin, next-generation capacitive touchscreens using Gorilla Glass and XSense.

Working with Mentor Graphics – Accelerating development of next-gen IoT devices using Atmel’s ARM-based Cortex M3 and M4 based microcontrollers under the auspices of the Embedded Nucleus Innovate Program.

Launching maXTouch 1066T and 1068T – Extending product leadership in the large screen capacitive touch market with devices targeted at 7″ – 8.9″ high performance tablets.

Introducing the new automotive maXTouch S lineup – Targeting touchscreens up to 14″ in center consoles, navigation systems, radio interfaces and rear-seat entertainment systems.

Debuting the SmartConnect platform – Integrating Atmel’s ultra-low power microcontrollers (MCUs) and wireless connectivity solutions into turnkey solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Introducing new low-power ARM Cortex M0+ microcontrollers (SAM D21, D10 and D11) – Offering Atmel’s peripheral event system, support for capacitive touch button, slider and wheel user interfaces, multiple serial communications modules, along with a full-speed USB interface, as well as additional pin and memory combinations.

Unveiling new $79 SAMA5D3 Xplained evaluation kit – Providing a low-cost, fast prototyping and evaluation platform for microprocessor-based design built around Atmel’s SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 processor-based MPU.

Xplaining 8-bit development– Offering a development board for Makers and engineers based on Atmel’s 8-bit AVR technology.

Launching the ATPL230A – Introducing a Power Line Communications (PLC) modem designed to implement the physical layer of the PRIME standard (Power Line Intelligent Metrology Evolution).

Rolling out Atmel Studio 6.2 – Upgrading the popular integrated development environment for Atmel AVR and ARM based microcontrollers.

Ramping up with LIN – Extending Atmel’s automotive in-vehicle networking leadership position with the launch of next-generation, low-power local interconnect networking (LIN) systems.

ATMega32U4 drives vacuum florescent display clock

Hobbyist electronic shop Akafugu is selling a slick Atmel-powered vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) clock.

“A VFD display is typically green or blue and emits a bright light with high contrast. A VFD display tube looks like an old Vacuum Tube, the predecessor to the transistor. The inside of the tube contains segments that can be lit up to form numbers and letters,” an Akafugu rep explained in an official product description.

“Most tubes contain segments for one digit and several must be stacked together to make a complete display. [However, our] clock is modular, it comes with a base board, which is powered by [Atmel’s] ATmega32U4 microcontroller (MCU) and contains a high-voltage VFD driver used to light up the display shield that sits on the top board.”

Aside from the ATmega32U4 MCU packing an Arduino Leonardo bootloader, key product features and specs include:

• Swappable display tube shields.
• HV5812 VFD driver with 20 outputs.
• Capable of driving up to four 16-segment alphanumeric displays or twelve 7-segment numerical displays.
• Open source firmware (available at GitHub).
• DS3231M Real Time Clock (RTC) with battery backup.

Akafugu is also selling several different display shields, each coded with a three-bit numerical identifier.

“This allows the firmware to automatically recognize the shield that is plugged in and it will adjust the display automatically. Support for shields added in the future will be released as firmware upgrades,” the rep added.

Interested in learning more about Akafugu’s VFD Modular Clock (mkII – IV-4 – 6 digit)? You can check out the product’s official page here.

Hydrogen fuel cell tech to power the IoT

Earlier this week, The Register’s Bob Dormon attended Twickenham’s Future World Symposium.

Since many of the UK-based vendors displayed handheld devices and sensor nodes supporting the Internet of Things (IoT), keeping power consumption down, or at the very least making it practical, was understandably a clear priority for many of the exhibitors.

“[That is why] London-based outfit Arcola Energy strives to deliver the best of both worlds with its adaptations of hydrogen fuel cell tech,” Dormon writes.

Image Credit: Bob Dormon, The Register

“As an integrator, the company covers a broad scale of fuel cell applications from transportation to providing remote power sources. It also caters for developers with its kits, complete with an [Atmel-based] Arduino Uno board (ATmega328 MCU) starting at £350 ($591) … There’s mbed compatibility too.”

According to Dormin, the dev kits allow engineers to precisely determine what type of energy lifespan they can can expect from a design.

“Besides the boards and fuel cell shield electronic controller, you get a refillable 12 litre HydroStik hydride that feeds a shiny metal box complete with fan that is the actual fuel cell,” he explained. “The fuel cell determines the overall output of the system. With the Arduino One kit it’s 1.5W.”

Interested in learning more about Arcola Energy’s fuel cell kits? Developers can find Arcola’s software for the fuel cell inventor kit on Github here, while the full text of Bob Dormon’s “Inventors: Feast your eyes on fuel cell tech that’ll power up Internet of Thingies” can be read on The Register here.

Recycled greenhouse goes off-the-grid with Uno

Students at the Kennebunk High School in Maine have successfully constructed and maintained an off-the-grid greenhouse using Atmel-based Arduino boards, solar panels and a sprinkler system.

Photo Credit: Alex Acquisto, Kennebunk Post

According to Alex Acquisto of the Kennebunk Post, Arduino Uno boards (ATmega328 MCU) are deployed in the greenhouse as soil moisture sensors.

“If the soil is too dry, the Arduino will trigger the battery-powered sprinkler system, also designed by students. The greenhouse is powered exclusively by a solar panel and depletes no other electrical sources, thus it is considered off the grid,” he explained.

Photo Credit: Alex Acquisto, Kennebunk Post

“As the soil moisture sensor triggers the sprinkler system if it’s too dry, students are preparing a temperature sensor to test the heat level inside the greenhouse. If the heat becomes too high, the goal is that the window, by programming another Arduino robot, will peel open on its own.”

Acquisto also noted that much of the greenhouse material is recycled.

“The six rain barrels were at one time used by a restaurant to store soy sauce, [while] the screen window students [recently] began installing was pulled from a dumpster behind the school,” he said.

Photo Credit: Alex Acquisto, Kennebunk Post

“It sounds like the work of trained professionals, but most of the students only became familiar with what it takes to maintain a greenhouse this year.”

In related news, Roberts Farm in Maine is currently testing an inexpensive Arduino-powered agricultural system that automatically monitors and waters crops. As Scott Taylor of the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal reports, the system has already proven itself by allowing Earl Morse, a retired teacher and volunteer at the Roberts Farm project, to successfully harvest a crop of spinach grown last winter in an exterior green house.

“[The system] keeps watch on the soil temperature and interior moisture through freezing temperatures and darkness. It works, not with hundreds of dollars worth of computer equipment but hobbyist-grade, [Atmel-based] Arduino boards,” wrote Taylor. “While the farm’s goal is teach local kids about growing their own food and the technology behind farming, Morse hopes to create an automated system that not only gives the plants light and keeps them watered but extends the growing season — and does it cheaply.”

According to Taylor, Morse hopes to publicly release the open source, Arduino-based system this fall.

“What we’re trying to do is make all the mistakes now, so it’s ready for everyone else to use,” said Morse.”That’s basically what we’re trying to do, make a farm robot. Maybe a robot farmer.”

Interested in learning more about farming with Atmel-based systems? You can browse through some of our previous stories on technology and farming including “The Internet of Things, Stalk by Stalk,” “Smart Urban Aquaponics in West Oakland,” “DIY Farming with Atmel and Arduino,” “Open Source Aquaponics with APDuino,” Agricultural Monitoring with Atmel AVR
” and “Arduino-Based Farming in Maine.”

EE Times features Atmel’s next-gen touch controllers

Writing for the EE Times, Max Maxfield notes that Atmel is a major player in the touchscreen tech arena, especially in the large format screen space. Indeed, Atmel boasts a wide range of ultra-low-power single-chip touchscreen controllers for screens ranging from 1.5 to 15.6 inches. Earlier this week, the company expanded its popular maXTouch T lineup of touchscreen controllers with the mXT106xT2 family of devices.

“These devices include the high-end touchscreen features associated with state-of-the-art smartphone-sized products, but they target the larger format market with products whose screens are in the 7- to 8.9-inch range,” Maxfield explains.

“The mXT1066T2 and mXT1068T2 controllers support both mutual-capacitance and self-capacitance sensing. By intelligently switching back and forth between the two and using a hybrid approach, designers can achieve optimal power consumption and noise immunity, even in high humidity and moisture environments, while supporting bare finger and gloved operation.”

As Maxfield points out, mXT1068T2 controllers also supports hover operation in which the user’s finger can be up to 20mm above the touch surface. Indeed, hover adds another dimension to the user-touchscreen interface by allowing the touchscreen to detect, track and interact with a floating finger without physical contact.

“Currently, only single-finger hover is supported, but one can easily imagine how useful this would be if using a tablet to read a recipe when one’s hands are covered in food. In the future, multi-fingered hover control might allow the user to ‘grab’ objects and rotate them,” says Maxfield.

“Hover is one element in an increasingly sophisticated realm of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that also include gesture recognition. In the not-so-distant future, people will interact with electronic systems using a mixture of voice control, gesture recognition and touchscreens, including hover technology.”

Last, but certainly not least, Maxfield notes that the mXT106xT2 lineup features a peripheral touch controller (PTC) capability that enables capacitive sensing of up to 12 channels via a dedicated hardware block in the mXT chip.

The new devices in the maXTouch T Series are currently in production, with the 8.3” screen size evaluation kit slated to ship in May.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s popular maXTouch T lineup of touchscreen controllers? You can check out the product’s official page here.

ATxmega Wolverine board controls light and sound

Powered by Atmel’s ATxmega128A3U microcontroller (MCU), the Wolverine is a programmable light, sound and motion controller board.

“[Simply] plug it into your computer (via the micro USB port), write some code (in C/C++) using the Arduino IDE and upload it,” Wolverine creator Shawn Swift wrote in a recent Indiegogo post.

“Then you can attach a constant-current LED driver (no resistors needed that way), or an LCD/OLED display, and maybe a servo controller or a sensor (for example, an accelerometer) using the SPI and I2C ports, place some sound effects (in 44khz mono or stereo .WAV format) on a microSD card, connect an amplifier to the line out, attach a power source (which can be 4 AA batteries or a LiPo – the board accepts a wide range of input voltages), and then connect some buttons or switches, a potentiometer, or even a keypad to the DIGITAL and ANALOG ports.”

Aside from Atmel’s MCU, key project specs and features include:

• 8K of RAM and 128K of flash memory.
• Programmable via microUSB using Arduino IDE or Atmel Studio.
• PDI port for advanced programming/debugging in Atmel Studio.
• MicroSD slot with support for SD and SDHC cards up to 32 GB.
• Stereo line-out via 3.5mm jack or adjacent pads.
• 5V 3A buck regulator supplies power to 3.3V regulator, LED  and servos.
• 3.3V linear regulator provides low noise supply for MCU, MicroSD and audio circuitry, with plenty of power to spare (over 800mA typically) for I2C and SPI devices.
• Power connector is rated for 3A continuous current and has reverse voltage and short protection via the combination of a PFET and PTC fuse.
• 16MHz crystal on board provides a stable reference for the system clock, while leaving the internal resonator free for USB communications.
• PWM port features four NFETs rated for up to 3A continuous current.

So, what can Wolverine be used for? Well, according to Swift, the board is the perfect choice for helping to make costume props come to life.

“For example, let’s say you have a toy Star Wars blaster. With the addition of the Wolverine, a tiny amplifier, a speaker or two, a switch for the trigger, a button to select modes, a 3W RGB LED and a little paint, you’ve got yourself the makings of a high end prop that’s sure to impress,” he explained.

“In fact, the precursor to this board, which I designed a couple years ago after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, is currently being used by over a hundred fans of the movie Ghostbusters. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, so with this campaign I’m launching version 2.0 of my Proton Pack Kit. My Ghost Trap kit will finally be making it’s debut as well.”

Interested in learning more about the Atmel-powered Wolverine? You can check out the project’s official Indiegogo page here.

Arduino LilyPad plays MP3 workout shirt

BBrodsky has created an MP3-equipped workout shirt powered by an Atmel-based (ATmega328P) Arduino LilyPad (MP3).

“[The] workout shirt utilizes the MP3 player and an accelerometer to detect whether or not the wearer is moving. If so, it plays his or her music. The goal of the system is to promote an active lifestyle for wearers,” BBrodsky wrote in a recent Instructables post.

“The price of our system ranges between $60 and $100 based on parts used, the cost of the shirt, etc. It is affordable, easy to understand and create and will help promote healthiness and physical activity in society.”

Aside from the LilyPad MP3 player, key project components include:

• LilyPad accelerometer
• RGB rotary encoder
• 
3.7V Lipo (lithium ion) battery
• Micro SD card
• Headphones or speakers
• 
Conductive thread and a sewing needle
• Soldering iron
• Solder coil
• Alligator clips (for testing the circuitry before sewing)
• Rainbow LEDs (optional)
• Vibration board (optional)
• Button (optional)
• On/off switch (optional)
• Extra fabric and card stock (optional)

BBrodsky kicks off his Instructables by providing a brief overview of the MP3-equipped workout shirt.

“[The] system uses the accelerometer to sense motion, communicating the detected motion (or lack thereof) to the MP3 player. The MP3 player then runs the corresponding functions based on the values it receives from the accelerometer. The RGB rotary encoder is used as a visual that displays different colors (blue or green) based on what function is being executed,” he explained.

“Once the system is completed and integrated with the shirt, the device should be ready to use. Keeping the device plugged in using via USB to a laptop is useful, as the serial monitor can be used to visualize the processes that the system is running. The headphone jack can also be used to plug in speakers so that the music can be played out loud.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official Instructables page here.

Atmel’s ATPL230A PLC modem targets smart energy apps

Atmel has introduced the ATPL230A, a Power Line Communications (PLC) modem designed to implement the physical layer of the PRIME standard (Power Line Intelligent Metrology Evolution).

According to Atmel exec Kourosh Boutorabi, the ATPL230A offers OEMs a seamless and cost-efficient solution for smart metering platforms.

“Expanding on Atmel’s unique and highly flexible SAM4Cx platform, ATPL230A addresses the fifth pillar of [our] existing platform, the physical communication layer,” Boutorabi explained.

“Atmel’s ATPL230A can be paired with dual 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 RISC processors to deploy an unprecedented level of integration and accuracy for single and multi-chip architecture options for system integrators and OEMs.”

The ATPL230A also boasts a class D line driver for PLC signal amplification, providing optimized signal injection efficiency by up to 62 percent. Combined with low power sipping, this feature enables improved thermal behavior, extends long-term reliability and reduces overall power consumption. Meanwhile, new transmission modes and frequency band extensions facilitate robust power line communications.

To help accelerate the design process for engineers, Atmel is currently offering the ATPL230A evaluation kit which can be used to test the ATPL230A’s smart metering capabilities with embedded PLC.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s Smart Energy Platform? You can check out our recent deep dive on the subject here.

Building the IoT with Mentor Graphics and Atmel

Atmel has joined Mentor’s Embedded Nucleus Innovate Program, an embedded initiative that helps promote development of the rapidly evolving Internet of Thing (IoT).

Specifically, the Mentor Graphics Corporation is offering businesses earning under $1M (in annual revenue) a free license for the Embedded Nucleus RTOS and Sourcery CodeBench toolset. Both software packages run on Atmel’s ARM-based SAM3x and SAM4x microcontrollers (MCU).

Mentor Graphics’ collaboration with Atmel is expected to accelerate the development of medical, industrial, smart energy and consumer applications – helping to power the next generation of devices for the IoT.

“We see tremendous value in the Nucleus Innovate Program with our high-performance MCUs which provide optimized connectivity for IoT development,” explained Atmel VP Steve Pancoast. 
”Mentor’s Nucleus RTOS and Sourcery CodeBench tools supporting our advanced devices will help small businesses realize the potential of their innovative ideas.”

According to Pancoast, a board support package (BSP) will be available for Atmel’s SAM3X ARM Cortex M3 MCUs and SAM4X Cortex-M4 MCUs in the context of Mentor’s initiative. Indeed, Atmel’s device families, combined with the Mentor Embedded RTOS and tools, are ideal for applications that require high-performance connectivity, power efficiency and high memory densities. To be sure, the program offers devs a complete embedded environment for Atmel-based system designs.

“Our Nucleus Innovate Program with Atmel will give small businesses a competitive edge in developing leading-edge products, including applications for IoT,” said Scot Morrison, general manager of runtime solutions, Mentor Graphics Embedded Software division. “We want to be at the forefront of helping these businesses realize their design ideas without having to worry about the capital required to use best-in-class MCUs, RTOS and embedded software development tools.”

According to Morrison, the Nucleus Innovate Program is ideal for applications where small footprint, high-performance and low power are critical.

“Easy-to-use demonstrations and configurations help shorten development time for medical, industrial, automotive and consumer applications—from days to minutes. The Nucleus Innovate Program for Atmel MCUs is a one-year license agreement and includes one BSP,” he added.

Interested in learning more about Mentor Graphics? You can check out the company’s official embedded software page here.