Subject:
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Re: Brainstorms
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Fri, 9 Aug 2002 04:22:14 GMT
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Original-From:
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Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.netSPAMLESS>
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Reply-To:
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sjbaker1@airmail=nomorespam=.net
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Viewed:
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921 times
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I2C devices are *tiny* because they don't need many pins. If you look at the
CPU chip inside the RCX, it's 4cm long and 2cm wide - that's because it has
thirty-some I/O pins on it. An I2C device typically needs two pins for power
and ground, a couple more for the I2C bus and a couple to drive whatever it
is it actually *does*. Dinky little 8 pin devices are common - and would
comfortably fit inside a 2x4 - or even a 2x2 brick.
Take a look at the I2C offerings from just one company:
http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/buses/i2c/products/index.html
Then there is the Pascalite II Piccolo microprocessor
which is in an 8 pin package and would actually fit
into a 2x2 Lego brick if you could figure out a small enough connector!
http://www.controlplus.nl/index.htm
It has power, ground, I2C in and out, RS232 in and out and one general
digital input and one output...enough for a 'START' button and an LED!
All of it's memory is hooked up via I2C - so you'd put a boot ROM in
a second brick and a RAM in another. There are of course both ROM and
RAM in 8 pin I2C formats. There is also an EEPROM that can be used as
slow RAM to allow non-demanding programs to run in just two 8 pin chips!
There is a Philips application note showing how an NE5570 motor controller
can be interfaced to I2C - so that part's not difficult.
There are lots of parallel port chips - so reading rotation and bump
sensors shouldn't be hard. There are a couple of Philips AtoD convertors
so light and temperature sensors should be easy to make.
The point is that all of these things are single chip solutions - and
in most cases, the chip is small enough to fit in a single 2x4 Lego brick.
----------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------------
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | SV: Brainstorms
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| There is a description including PCB and parts list of how to make an RCX to I2C interface in the Elector Electronics magazine No. 309,APRIL 2002: (URL) overview: I2C Interface for Lego RCX 'Brick' (Parts List) It has, by now, become well known that (...) (22 years ago, 31-Aug-02, to lugnet.robotics)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | RE: Brainstorms
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| Elijah has IMHO a nice starting point for a series of modules for Robotics. My extensions, would be based upon a common addressing system ala Dalas Semi 1 wire. This allows for simple stacking of 1wire devices. Compiler/Interpreter keeping track of (...) (22 years ago, 9-Aug-02, to lugnet.robotics)
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