Finally

We have a game that kind of works at 14:45 Tuesday afternoon ;-) so come and see it live!
I(Åke) couldn't come to school yesterday or today, but I've remotely controlled a computer that was hooked up to our project to debug the software with the help of my dear team mates. Thank god for "TeamViewer" we couldn't have managed it without it (this is not a hidden advertisement, it is a totally open one)

Catastrophy

On Sunday we were supposed to lay the finishing hands on the physical appearance and the software. The physical part is finished, but the USB to 1-wire controller broke down so we couldn't do any coding. Hopefully we will have a new one on Monday and maybe we'll get some time to get something working at least...

Super Busy

It's getting close to exhibition time and we are working hard to get everything ready. Right now we are doing "assembly line production" of all the power plant / factory phicons.

Also we need to get the map ready - attach the circuits for the three gauge meters, lcd display, bus relays and turn button. Also we need decide which attachment points belong to which bus and wire them up. On the top side of the map we need to visualize rivers, add the cities and do some more "beautification".

The software can now handle all the output and input (with the exception of the power grid connection cord that isn't detectable yet). There is still some programming required for the game logic but hopefully it'll be finished in time.

Iteration report IV - Implementation

Iteration report IV - Implementation

Were getting there

Today we built the power regulator circuit and attached it to a heat sink. We also got the LCD working and finished a program to display text on it.
Now we need to build the bus switching relay circuit and figure out why the demo program for the DS2408 is acting wierd when we try to use with the R/2R DAC connected to the gauge.
And do the main program...

Gauge meter circuit

In my point of view, pull-up resistors for DS2408 are always needed. I did test on Friday, before I connected them(9 10k resistors), P0~P7 never become high. As long as I connected them as this picture show, I can controll P0~P7 for high or low.
The second photo shows the number of voltage after R/2R DAC and the after Opa.

1111 1111 4.80V -->1.93V
1111 0111 2.98V -->1.21V

Map circuit

Here is a link to a almost finished circuit for the map. The circuit pdf will be updated to reflect the current status of the project.

Notes for the schematic:

• The OP-AMP has the wrong part nr, we use OPA337 but I couldn't find that one in Eagle.
• The relays also has a wrong part number.
  
• The circuit does not show that the site connectors also should have +5 and GND connected to the (only the 1-wire data cable, OW)
• The LCD display has the wrong part nr, but it follows the Hitachi HD44780 standard