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uChip VGA 2.0 is an Open hardware DIY retro-gaming console

Posted on 30 November, 202017 April, 2024 by Tope Oluyemi

Itaca Innovation has launched a campaign on Crowdsupply for a DIY open hardware retro-gaming console called uSVC. The uSVC is a simple, DIY game console that enables you to create and play retro-style 8-bit games with standard USB controllers and keyboards. It comes as a kit, so you will need to assemble it, and you only need basic through-hole soldering skills to assemble it. The only thing you do not have to solder is the microSD card socket.

The uSVC can be viewed as:

A DIY soldering kit that is optimized for simplicity and fun
A retro-gaming console with three pre-installed games
An educational platform featuring a comprehensive Application Programming Interface (API), and a series of guides that will enable you design your own games in no time
A development framework that encompasses more than gaming use, but also with the expansion headers you can connect third-party peripherals, and you’ve got everything you need to design any number of low-cost devices that depend on USB connectivity and VGA output

The uSVC’s capabilities are a testament to the intricate technology that fuels both gaming consoles and digital entertainment platforms. It’s fascinating to think about how this technology parallels the complex systems that operate behind online gaming sites, like 빅토리카지노. It provides a rich, immersive experience with a vast array of games that cater to the preferences of diverse users, powered by similarly sophisticated software to ensure smooth and engaging gameplay. The dedication to delivering high-quality audiovisuals is paramount in both fields, ensuring that whether it’s gaming hardware or an online casino platform, users get the best experience possible.

Tiled modes support sprites with the following features:

Sprites up to 128 pixels in width or height are automatically handled by the graphics engine, so you don’t need to join smaller sprites to achieve larger ones
Up to 128 8×8 sprites can be drawn in one 256-color frame if they are 8-pixel aligned
For arbitrary alignment, up to 66 sprites can be displayed in one 256-color frame
All tiled modes support horizontal and vertical sprite flipping
The 256-color tiled mode supports 90°, 180°, and 270° sprite rotation and x/y swapping
By blending sprites and background graphics in 256-color mode, uSVC also supports partially transparent sprites that can be used to represent explosions, smoke, ghosts, and other lighting effects
Choose whether to give layer priority to sprites or tiles

The uSVC also features a smooth, full-screen, arbitrary-x/y scrolling in tiled modes. Its color-change engine for 16-color mode supports per-line changes to the entire palette or to any one of its 16 colors. Color-change also functions at high (400 line) resolution for smoother dithering effects and up to 256 on-screen colors. Its Per-line vertical row remapping feature enables you to produce reflection effects, such as water and split or flipped screens. Also, row remapping works at high (400 line) resolution. It also supports an optional, bottom- or top-fixed section to display status information such as a running score. About uSVC, the company says:

“uSVC is made up of a single chip and a handful of standard, through-hole components, so it’s perfect for beginning solderers. The only SMD component is the micro SD card reader, which we’ve pre-soldered onto the PCB. The tiny uChip that drives uSVC is, of course, fully assembled; you just have to slot it into its socket when you’re done putting everything else together.”

In the kit you will find:

One uChip with pre-soldered 카지노 사이트 headers and the open-source uSVC game loader pre-programmed. (The game loader sits on top of the standard uChip bootloader, so you can always repurpose the uChip for other projects and reflash the game loader on down the road.)
The PCB, with a pre-soldered SMD MicroSD card reader.
All of the components you will need to build your uSVC, including screws and spacers
The Bill of Material (BOM) and assembly drawings. (Additional instructions, schematics, layouts, firmware, game code, and map editor code will be available on our website before the end of the campaign.)

For the enclosure, if you can’t print your own, the company will provide a stylish, 3D-printed case—designed and printed by Stefano Rubini to the precise specifications of uSVC. They will also send a USB Type-B power cable, and a (female) USB Type-A to (male) Micro-USB data cable.

Technical Specifications:

uChip
ATSAMD21E18 @ 48 MHz
256 kB of flash (232 kB available for the game)
32 kB of RAM
MicroSD: Can store games and game data
VGA output: 57 Hz vertical frequency, 30 kHz horizontal frequency
Audio: 3.5 mm, 10 bit output jack
Controllers: Uses standard USB controllers and keyboards
Power Input: 5 V via USB cable, 100 mA (up to 80 mA observed)
Dimensions (W x L x H): 48 x 86 x 17 mm (without 1 cm hex standoffs or solder joints)

The uSVC is open source, and funding ends on Dec 03, 2020 at 03:59 PM PST (11:59 PM UTC). You can find more information on Crowdsupply.

RGB LED Controller using Atmega328

This is a 3-channel, PWM based current-adjustable LED driver designed for RGB LED control. The circuit has been designed to control high current RGB LEDs or RGB LEDs strip. Colors of the three RGB LEDs can be set using 3 potentiometers, different colors are possible by adjusting these potentiometers.

RGB LED consists of 3 separate LEDs red, green, blue packaged in a single case. The RGB LEDs can emit different colors by mixing three basic colours.

We have used ATmega328 microcontroller to generate 3 PWM signals by reading analog inputs. These analog inputs are connected to 3 potentiometers. PWM outputs interfaced with gates of 3 x IRLR7843 MOSFETs which drive the high current loads. MC78M05 IC used to power the Atmega328 chip with 5V DC. The operating voltage of this circuit is 12V DC and each channel can drive a continuous load current up to 600mA or 1 A with cool air. Screw terminals provided for an easy connection for RGB LED strip or RGB LEDs. The circuit can drive 12V RGB strip/12V RGB LEDs. Any RGB LED strip with RGB and +V connection will work with this board or use a common anode RGB LED.

This project is built using an Atmega328 microcontroller which requires programming, example code can be found below. This example code is written using Arduino IDE, thus the Atmega328 chip requires boot-loader burning and code uploading. Follow this link to learn Atmega328 Chip programming and Boot-Loader burning.

From Arduino to a Microcontroller on a Breadboard – https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BuiltInExamples/ArduinoToBreadboard

Note: RGB LED without series resistor can be interfaced with this board, in this case, calculate the series resistors R4, R8, R12 values. The default value of these resistors is 0-Ohms.

Features

Supply 12V DC (7V-15V)
Load 600mA Each channel (1Amp with Fan)
3x Potentiometer to Adjust 3X LEDs
PWM Duty Cycle Adjustable 0% to 100%
Frequency 490/975 Hz
Arduino Compatible Code
PCB Dimensions 61 X 67 mm

Schematic

Parts List

Connections

Gerber View

Photos

Video

Current Meter Using 0.96″ OLED Display

This project provides an economical and precise solution for DC current sensing and display on an OLED display. This board uses the ACS715T-20A hall effect-based linear current sensor chip, 0.96 Inch I2C OLED Display and Atmega328 microcontroller chip. It is an Arduino compatible open-source hardware that can be modified to your requirements. It is easily programable using the Arduino IDE. Connector CN2 is provided for Boot-Loader burning and programming of the Atmega328 chip using Arduino IDE. Refer to the wiring diagram below for programming and connections. The board can measure current up to 20A DC. Operating power supply 5V DC and it consumes approx. 20mA current.

ACS715 device consists of a precise, low-offset, linear Hall circuit with a copper conduction path located near the surface of the die. Applied current flowing through this copper conduction path generates a magnetic field which the Hall IC converts into a proportional voltage. Device accuracy is optimized through the close proximity of the magnetic signal to the Hall transducer. A precise, proportional voltage is provided by the low-offset, chopper-stabilized Bi-CMOS Hall IC, which is programmed for accuracy after packaging. The output of the device has a positive slope (>VIOUT(Q)) when an increasing current flows through the primary copper conduction path (from pins 1 and 2, to pins 3 and 4), which is the path used for current sampling. The internal resistance of this conductive path is 1.2 mΩ typical, providing low power loss. The thickness of the copper conductor allows survival of the device at up to 5× overcurrent conditions. The terminals of the conductive path are electrically isolated from the signal leads (pins 5 through 8). This allows the ACS715 to be used in applications requiring electrical isolation without the use of optoisolators or other costly isolation techniques.