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From: -jg on 6 Jul 2010 18:00 On Jul 7, 6:27 am, Didi <d...(a)tgi-sci.com> wrote: > On Jul 5, 11:27 pm, -jg <jim.granvi...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > If it was me, I'd try and 'hook into' as much tested existing > > resource as I could, before heading off to plow green fields ;) > > > Target Source-STEP/Watch debug would be VERY high on that list. > > Jim, are you sure about that? If I get what Jon is after (without > having > followed the complete thread) he wants to get people interested > in that thing. "Click here choose that" is nothing new for most > people. I suppose all of us have started with non-source level > debuggers, memory dumps etc... If Jon manages to get some people > understand *that*, it will be a huge success on his part. Once > past this everyone will understand the rest alone if interested. I see a number of important elements here * engage the student * Allow different learning rates * Do not hold back the smarter ones. and yes, that makes source-level step/watch type operation, important. This was what made TurboPascal so popular. The point I was trying to make, is if the low cost HW allows this, do not side-step it by language choice. With modern Syntax highlighting editors, and close to the same appearance in Debug, novice users do not need memory dumps ;) I did see a nice terminal/message-to-pc Pathway in that low cost TI system, which is a great way to keep the HW costs down. Users can see real run-time actions, coming back on the screen - of course, some Flash/Klunk stuff is still needed, so they know the PC can be disconnected!. -jg
From: linnix on 6 Jul 2010 20:02 > >> Still, I'm mostly focused upon "action, lights, fire, smoke, > >> explosions, and sparkly things" part of this to get attention > >> and interest flowing. > We can let the students control some GP I/O ports via USB without programming. I have posted the Window Apps wdip.exe (talking to com6:), Inf file for the virtual com port and the USB firmware. Wdip connects to the virtual com port and monitor/control 10 GP I/O bits. You can click on the second rows of buttons to toggle input/output direction. For output ports, click on the third rows of buttons to turn it on and off. My virtual com port is com6:. I still have to work on auto-detecting the com port. For now, i will just post wdip4 (com4:), wdip5, wdip6, etc. And yes, i know, i have to line up the buttons. http://linnix.com/udip
From: Frank Buss on 7 Jul 2010 01:42 linnix wrote: > We can let the students control some GP I/O ports via USB without > programming. > > I have posted the Window Apps wdip.exe (talking to com6:), Inf file > for the virtual com port and the USB firmware. Wdip connects to the > virtual com port and monitor/control 10 GP I/O bits. You can click on > the second rows of buttons to toggle input/output direction. For > output ports, click on the third rows of buttons to turn it on and > off. The board looks nice and is in the price range of the OP. But the demo application doesn't sound like an interesting project for students. Maybe enhance it with a simple BASIC interpreter on PC and on the microcontroller? BTW: the virtual COM port can cause problems in Windows. I've used for a customer project LUFA and a generic HID device implementation, which works on Windows without the need to install INF files or other drivers. -- Frank Buss, fb(a)frank-buss.de http://www.frank-buss.de, http://www.it4-systems.de
From: linnix on 7 Jul 2010 12:42 On Jul 6, 10:42 pm, Frank Buss <f...(a)frank-buss.de> wrote: > linnix wrote: > > We can let the students control some GP I/O ports via USB without > > programming. > > > I have posted the Window Apps wdip.exe (talking to com6:), Inf file > > for the virtual com port and the USB firmware. Wdip connects to the > > virtual com port and monitor/control 10 GP I/O bits. You can click on > > the second rows of buttons to toggle input/output direction. For > > output ports, click on the third rows of buttons to turn it on and > > off. > > The board looks nice and is in the price range of the OP. But the demo > application doesn't sound like an interesting project for students. Maybe > enhance it with a simple BASIC interpreter on PC and on the > microcontroller? Yes, that's the plan. He will do one for the micro and I might (if I have time) do one on the PC. I might do a 6502 ICE on the PC, since the 6502 instruction set is in the public domain (I think). > > BTW: the virtual COM port can cause problems in Windows. I've used for a > customer project LUFA and a generic HID device implementation, which works > on Windows without the need to install INF files or other drivers. It occasionally causes the usb stack to get struck. Fortunately, it can recover by unplugging/plugging the board without rebooting window. We might switch to win32-libusb eventually.
From: Walter Banks on 7 Jul 2010 12:53
linnix wrote: > Yes, that's the plan. He will do one for the micro and I might (if I > have time) do one on the PC. I might do a 6502 ICE on the PC, since > the 6502 instruction set is in the public domain (I think). The real status of the 6502 instruction set is a little fuzzy. The Western Design Center have made some patent related claims that have now probably expired http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/ I have seen a lot of 6502 based processors pop up in asia in some cases with opcodes swapped around for all the instructions except for branches. Regards walter.. -- Walter Banks Byte Craft Limited http://www.bytecraft.com |