[sdiy] Re: FPGA metal detector...

[Scott Gravenhorst]

"Barry Klein" <barryklein at cox.net> wrote:
>How much power do these use?  Too much for a battery powered
>product?  A friend mentioned an Actel Igloo Icicle kit that just came out - 
>is cheap
>and supposedly low power.  But I told him of all the projects out there 
>using
>the Xilinx.... trying to get him to take that ship rather than Actel so I 
>can pick
>his brain if I ever get my feet wet with the stuff.
>
>Barry


Power...  I dunno, I have mine powered by USB, but that doesn't say much.  

I just went thru all the docs I have on the board and while voltages are mentioned, I don't see
current.  I presume this may be because it's not intended to be anything more than a development
tool.  They will sell only 5 per customer, so it's obvious they don't want people making the board
the core of some specific commercial product.

I presume that one could get a rough idea by looking up max power consumption for each of the
component parts - but that would tell you only max, not what your application would draw.

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Scott Gravenhorst" <music.maker at gte.net>
>To: <barryklein at cox.net>
>Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2010 8:52 AM
>Subject: Re: FPGA metal detector...
>
>
>> "Barry Klein" <barryklein at cox.net> wrote:
>>>Hi Scott,
>>>Another interest of mine is metal detector technology.
>>>A guy is beginning to develop one using the Digilent 3E Spartan
>>>board that costs like $150.  That has a display.  What would be
>>>involved to port his code over to this board and support the display?
>>>The reason I ask is others are hesitant to get involved due to the
>>>cost of the Digilent platform.
>>
>> Hi Barry,
>>
>> I have the 3E board too, (with LCD, rotary encoder, etc).  If I read what 
>> you wrote
>> correctly - you are asking about porting his code from the -3E board to 
>> the $49 Avnet
>> board below?
>>
>> The code port itself is probably trivial unless the design is too big. 
>> Bear in mind
>> that the FPGA on the $49 board is 80% the size of the -3E board FPGA, but 
>> it has the
>> same number of multipliers and block RAMs.
>>
>> Since the Avnet board has no display, that would have to be added.  I've 
>> worked with the
>> code for the LCD on the -3E board, so I could probably code for a 
>> different LCD that
>> could be connected to the Avnet board through the 40 pin connector on the 
>> board.  The
>> Avnet board also has Flash on it for "booting" the FPGA though I have not 
>> tried to write
>> a design into it yet.  The LCD on the -3E board has logic coded for the 
>> PicoBlaze
>> embedded soft microcontroller and I would do the same with an Avnet -3A 
>> board.
>>
>> I would say that it's quite likely possible and the code port should not 
>> be a head banger.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>From: "Scott Gravenhorst" <music.maker at gte.net>
>>>To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
>>>Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2010 7:12 AM
>>>Subject: Re: [sdiy] FPGA Synth Music
>>>
>>>
>>>> simon.oo.o at xs4all.nl wrote:
>>>>>Hi Scott,
>>>>>
>>>>>Scott Gravenhorst schreef:
>>>>>> http://electro-music.com/forum/download.php?id=21668
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A modified version of my 16 voice eight operator (4 x 2-op) bell 
>>>>>> synth.
>>>>>> The modifications accomodate an alternative scale of 96ET.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This piece was recorded using one $49 FPGA development board
>>>>>>
>>>>>What development board are you using? The cheapest FPGA devkit I can
>>>>>find at Farnell costs some 150 euro.
>>>>
>>>>
>
>>>http://www.em.avnet.com/evk/home/0,1707,RID%253D0%2526CID%253D46501%2526CCD%253DUSA%2526SID%253D32214%2526DID%253DDF2%2526LID%253D32232%2526PRT%253D0%2526PVW%253D%2526BID%253DDF2%2526CTP%253DEVK,00.html

>> >>> > The page shows that the price for the board is $49 (US). 
>> > >>The board has a Xilinx Spartan-3A 400K equivalent gate 
>count >>FPGA. The > price includes > everything to get going, 
>board, >>cable, etc. Can be USB powered or > external supply. > 
>Only a DAC >>and an electrical MIDI connection are required to 
>turn the > >>board into a > digital synthesizer. > >>An 
>impressive >>demonstration by the way :) > > Thanks! Glad you 
>enjoyed it. > >>>>-- >>Vriendelijke groet, >>Simon Brouwer. >> 
>>>>>_______________________________________________ >>Synth-diy 
>>>mailing list >>Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl 
>>>>>http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy >> > > -- 
>>>ScottG > 
>>>________________________________________________________________________ 
>>>> -- Scott Gravenhorst > -- FPGA MIDI Synthesizer Information: 
>>>home1.gte.net/res0658s/FPGA_synth/ > -- FatMan: 
>>>home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/ > -- NonFatMan: 
>>>home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/ > -- When the going gets 
>>>tough, the tough use the command line. > > 
>>>_______________________________________________ > Synth-diy 
>>>mailing list > Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl > 
>>>http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy >> > > -- 
>ScottG > 
>________________________________________________________________________ 
>> -- Scott Gravenhorst > -- FPGA MIDI Synthesizer Information: 
>home1.gte.net/res0658s/FPGA_synth/ > -- FatMan: 
>home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/ > -- NonFatMan: 
>home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/ > -- When the going gets 
>tough, the tough use the command line. > > 
>
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>Synth-diy mailing list
>Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>

-- ScottG
________________________________________________________________________
-- Scott Gravenhorst
-- FPGA MIDI Synthesizer Information: home1.gte.net/res0658s/FPGA_synth/
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/
-- When the going gets tough, the tough use the command line.