Whack-A-Mole with the Nexys 2
When was the last time you played Whack-a-Mole? There’s a newer, more technologically advanced version now…
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FPGAs and Microcontrollers
FPGA or microcontroller? Do I have to choose? We’re here with some of the differences between the two and appropriate times to use each.
Read More8-Step FPGA Sequencer and Synthesizer
Music is one of the more delightful aspects of being human. Listening to it provides such a thrill, but creating it — that takes real work. But what if there were a way to simplify that? Of course there is!
Read MoreDigilent Product Accessories: What They Are, How to Use Them / How-To Guides and Technical Workflows – Digilent Blog
Creating Custom Sounds
A little while ago, you likely saw the post that I did on my Color Invaders project. It’s a lot of fun to play as is, but it was suggested that the game could be made even better if there were some sound effects included as well. I got it done with a few tweaks…
Read MoreColor/Colour Invaders!
I was recently inspired to try out by Hamster’s own Colour Invaders project. As the name suggests, this project is similar in design to the classic Space Invaders game or (more similarly) the Casio’s Number Invaders on the calculator. The idea behind the game is that different colored “invaders” start marching down the LED strip and you have to fire missiles that match the color of the oncoming invader. Naturally, as you successfully destroy more of the attackers, the faster they come towards your base. Here is what you need to get started.
Read MoreDemystifiying The Linux Kernel
You’ll often hear about the “Linux kernel”, but what does that mean? Today we’re going to go about explaining what the Linux kernel is in terms that people can understand.
Read MoreHow Much Is One GB of Memory?
We hear words like gigabyte (GB) and terabyte thrown around a lot, but what can we actually do with that much memory? At the most basic level of computing, we have bits, which are going to be either a 1 or 0. A byte is 8 bits. We’re going to represent a byte as a dot.
Read MoreTic-Tac-Toe with FPGAs
Who doesn’t love the classic game of tic-tac-toe? And now it can be made new and fresh with the Nexys 2 FPGA board!
Read MoreLibraries
This week happens to be National Library week, and although Digilent is not a library, we certainly use them! I’m not referring to public libraries, though (although I am personally a fan of them); rather, I’m talking about the C++ libraries that are widely used with our microcontrollers. Although C++ libraries are not quite the same as an IP for FPGAs, they serve a similar purpose. These libraries include a set of predefined functions that perform a specific task, such as sending and receiving a set of data over SPI, that the user can use without having to define what they do.
Read MoreBreadboard Battleship
Did you ever play the game Battleship as a child? I remember finding it incredibly fun. This weekend, I found a new take on it! The version on Instructables uses a breadboard, wires, and other electrical components. It’s designed to teach children the basics of breadboarding — and to have fun, of course!
Read MoreHow Do I Use Digilent Products at School? (Digital Edition)
As you learned from my previous post (the Analog Edition version of this post), we used the Analog Parts Kit and Analog Discovery in EE352 at Washington State University (WSU) to make an AM radio transmitter and receiver. Not only do we use Digilent products in EE352, but we also used Digilent parts in EE324 (Fundamentals of Digital Systems) — the digital lab class I was taking.
Read MoreA Listening Calculator
When working with microcontrollers, it’s pretty straightforward to have your system board “listen” for an input that you would give it and have it do some sort of action to show that it noticed your input, such as pressing a button to light up an LED. Listening to a set of inputs and then comparing them to a predetermined set, like in the Simon Says game, is a little more involved but definitely doable. But what if we did not compare to any internal values and the system board has no idea how many inputs we might provide?
Read MoreFPGA Products: What They Are & How to Use Them - Digilent / How-To Guides and Technical Workflows – Digilent Blog
What Are Muxes and Demuxes?
A huge part of FPGA design is using logic blocks in design. With logic blocks, you can compartmentalize your design, rather than trying implement everything in one shot. Designing without smaller blocks would be like trying to design a car without subsystems like the braking system or engine. About half of the way through the course there is a project that covers a variety of basic logic blocks, including multiplexers (muxes) and demultiplexers (demuxes). So what are muxes and demuxes?
Read MoreSimon Says… with LEDs!
At one point or another, we have all played the “Simon Says” game. In this game, one person, Simon (or Susan, Chad, or whoever happens to be the leader), will say “Simon says” and tell all of the other players to do something, such as raise their left hand. The catch in this game is that if the leader tells the other players to do something without saying the words “Simon says” and the other players do it anyway, they’re out. I personally really enjoy playing Simon Says, but I thought it could even be more fun if you could play Simon Says with a bunch of LEDs…
Read MoreTransistor Basics
So what are transistors, what do they do, and how can I use them?
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