BasicMicro - Forums

Hello all,

I am a beginner and here I have a question and hope somebody can give me some advice.
I have a gameboy camera and I'd like to interface it with Basic Atom, is it possible or is it pratical?
The resolution of the image from the camera would be ~123x128.
I have a small test on the Basic Atom and found that a clock pulse (High and Low a pin) would take me ~70-80 micro sec. By theory, it seems like it will take me about 1 sec to get one image. I've test the output singal and looks like it actually takes like 3-4 sec to retrieve one image (I am not sure the signal I read is actually the signal I want). I wonder if there is a faster way to work on the basic atom or not. My best hope is to get at least 2 pics in 1 sec, any suggestions?

Thanks


--Macken

The Atom is not a particularly fast device given the "psuedo interpreter" nature of the way the Atom works.

It's much faster than the Stamp, but still not terribly fast.

You'd probably have better luck with the MBasic compiler, which will run your program many times faster than the Atom.

Although BasicMicro has made an Atom video board, it is not suitable for what you want. It does a few lines of limited textual output.

I don't know exactly what you want to do here, but I feel safe in saying the Atom is too limited. The clock is too slow, and that is divided down by four internally to arrive at the internal instruction clock. 5MHz is not going to cut it. There's nowhere near enough memory inside, and external EEPROM is just too slow.

I suggest:
1. You do a search from this forum's home page on "video". Be sure to use the button, not Return, or you'll get a blank page.
2. Go to the Parallax forums at http://forums.parallax.com/forums/ and try a search there. These guys have a swingin' fast processor set, the SX28, -44, and -52. They work up to 75MHz (but can be clocked faster, if you're careful), and the instruction clock is one-for-one, so damn fast. Unfortunately, they too have limited memory. However, you'll find some amazing video products discussed and offered there! Give them a perusal.

And have fun doing it!
kenjj

Is there free MBasic compiler to download?
Do I have to have any special development board to coperate with the compiler?

Hi,
There is no free MBasic to download.
BasicMicro offers their 2840 development board, which is geared towards people doing quick experiments. This will support both 28 pin and 40 pin processors.

You could get the same usability out of a simple breadboard, but you would have to supply an AC-DC adapter, power supply if said adapter doesn't supply a regulated +5 Volts, RS232 chip and DB9 connector for serial communications, and a host of other bits, pieces and parts. All these can be found as plugin boards designed to work with bread boards, but wouldn't be as convenient as having it all on BMicro's development board. Nor as cheap. If you want an LCD for visual messages, check out Parallax.com's $30 serial LCD. It has a backlight, a rare feature for an inexpensive unit. Spring the extra $2 and get the optional 3-wire cable they offer to use with this. It will save a lot of frustration trying to wire this to a breadboard later.

A more helpful and comprehensive Atom board can be had from EL Products(.com). This has an AC adapter(optional?) , power supply, RS232 serial connector and IC, 2x16 LCD, pins to connect several servo motors (good for robotics), 4 switches (and reset switch) and 8 LEDs. It's really a nice board. I own one and can vouch for it. Unfortunately it has no breadboard area and it is more expensive, for obvious reasons.

Hope that helped.
kenjj

Note the main purpose behind MBasic Pro was to allow you to program your own PIC chips on your own board to make your own packaged solution, using MBasic.

As such, on a 20 Mhz PIC16F876 (the platform the Atom uses) MBasic Pro will run at exactly the same speed. So if it's "more speed" you're after, MBasic Pro is not the way to go.

I'm unsure what the interface IS to a "Gameboy Camera", so I can't really say if an Atom or PIC with MBasic Pro would EVER work with it.

First principles -- if you don't have the documentation for the interface, or can't reverse engineer the documentation for the interface, you can't implement the interface.

Thanks alot for all the great helps.
There is still something I am not sure (I am a beginner in electronic field and) and what to have some information.

so say, I have the Ultimate OEM Module:
"http://www.downtowninternet.com/elproducts/ulthexload.jpg"

I foudn that the brain is actually a pic chip; So
1) what is the big big difference between basic atom and basic stamp kit?
2) can I "program" the PIC using the Basic Atom, after that, I took the PIC out and connect it to oscillator (say, 50 mhz), and then put the PIC on a breadboard? Its always hard for me to find a programmer kit for the PIC in the place I live. So I am wondering if the Ultimate OEM Module kit would work as a programmer?

Sorry the above question would prolly make no sense to you guys but I am really not clear in all the concepts and want to try something out.

Thanks.

Hi.
In answer to your questions above:

You say,"I found that the brain is actually a pic chip; So "... Not so. The brain is massively parallel, while a processor like the PIC is a pokey serial device. Yeah, I know, picky, picky, picky...

Q1) what is the big big difference between basic atom and basic stamp
kit?
A1) the Atom is faster (sometimes) and has more memory and internal peripherals, like ADC and a serial USART. Anything you can do on an Atom you can do on a Stamp. The PIC has some features built in (ADC, USART, PWM, CCP, etc.) that can operate in parallel with the logic unit, freeing up the PIC to do computations and comparisons much faster. The Stamp fakes these in software, which loads down the logic processor and slows it over all. More memory allows you to hold more variables, so do more math work, among other things. Most people who start with a Stamp to learn about processors eventually go to the Atom when they have more serious work to do.

Q2) can I "program" the PIC using the Basic Atom, after that, I took the
PIC out and connect it to oscillator (say, 50 mhz), and then put the
PIC on a breadboard?
A2) Umm, yes. Your clock can't be more than 20MHz, however, and removing the processor to a breadboard is not necessary if you are just experimenting. Keep it on the module. You might want to do this if you're moving it to your final design. Read on...

Q3) Its always hard for me to find a programmer kit for
the PIC in the place I live. So I am wondering if the Ultimate OEM
Module kit would work as a programmer?
A3) It will not work as a general purpose standalone programmer. Sorry.
Actually, the Atom takes advantage of the PIC 16F87x's ability to program itself using a bootloader. The bootloader is a small chunk of code programmed into the chip that later can take more code and place it into memory. The Atom's bootloader uses a proprietary method to talk to a PC from the Atom BASIC program to load the program(s) you write. If you erase the PIC you will need a programmer to put another bootloader in place, but MicroBasic ain't gonna share the Atom bootloader code with you, OK? You'll have to buy another Atom processor and plug it into the module. As long as the bootloader is intact in the Atom you can continue programming new code you write 10,000 times... A LONG TIME!


So, you can go two routes: Plug the Atom into a breadboard and develop your project. Then:
1. Unplug the Atom processor with your program from the OEM module and plug it into a socket (or solder it in, whatever) on a board of your own design.
2. Design your final board to take the Atom module in its native form, side pins and all, and solder it in place. This is a little tricky, but doable. Basically, you design the "mother board" to take the Atom and any extra circuitry and connectors needed to do the job.

Actually, there's kind of a #3, but you lose the use of 2 or 3 pins to use this self programming feature, and you have to change jumpers a lot, so we'll skip it for now.

Hope that helped.
kenjj