Power Suppy Design and Construction

I know, I said I was working on something, disappear for a few months, than say I am working on something else. Well unfortunately I did it again. This time I am working on a power-supply which, I am hoping, will be used often as I am developing this to ease my development of other electronic circuits. Currently it has the ability to regulate voltage (step-down converter) using a switch-mode type system so effeciency will hopefully be extremely well (goal is > 85%).  Overall I have a design goal of holding up to 1A of continious current but the design will allow for far more for future revisions. I am working around a microcontroller from Microchip, more specificially the PIC18F2550. Unfortunately I am utilizing every single pin of this device, so future advancements will require core hardware updates, but I want this to be small so the 18F2550 will do. Here is the pin utilization, though may change during prototyping:

PORTA
0    Vsense
1    Isense
2    LCD.CTRL.CS2 / ~LCD.CTRL.CS1
3    LCD.CTRL.RST
4    LCD.CTRL.R/~W
5    LCD.CTRL.D/~I
6    LCD.CTRL.E [H->L]

PORTB
0    LCD.DATA.0
1    ..
2    ..
3    ..
4    ..
5    ..
6    ..
7    LCD.DATA.1

PORTC
0    Button.Up
1.CCP2    Boost Converter Pwm
2.CCP1    Buck Converter Pwm
4.USB    \
5.USB    -’- PC Connectivity
6    Rotatory 1
7    Rotatory 2

PORTE
3    Button.Down

The system will be able to handle buck and boost mode conversions, but currently boost-mode is only in sub-priority but hardware will be implemented for later firmware updates to support boost-mode. Two regulation modes are Voltage, and Current. The whole device will be controlled by a rotatory encoder and 2 push-buttons. The user will be able to read-back information with a 128×64 graphics lcd. This project will be enclosed in a basic hobbiest project box (black), with power jacks for input and output to give the final result a professional feel.

I will also be bringing in some pictures of the progress, hopefully within the next few days.

“Radio Controlled” Vehicle Construction

I understand I haven’t been active in this blog, but I have been having some major personal issues which has been hindering my ability to put much effort into my work. Although this hinderence is still present, I am attempting to become more resourceful with the time I have between class and work (not very much, unfortunately). As I may have implied by random post-and-delete messages, I cannot wrap my head tight enough around programming to get any decent progress through any project. Recently I started learning C# and that is coming nicely, but I am still strugling as it just feels uncomfortable (not getting into detail, but I have already tried different forms of programming including functional programming).

So what I would like to bring forth today is the fact that I am working on a new electronics project. I am trying to re-engineer a basic controller (transmitter and reciever) circuit which will give full analog control over an radio controlled vehicle which origionally had its guts ripped out many years ago. The following goals are what is to be desired as the outcome of this project:

1) Analog Speed Control (Forward and Reverse)
2) Analog Steering with Feedback
3) Wireless Communication (Targetting IR Communication)
4) Battery Powered, Semi Battery-Effecient

I will post specifics and images later on when I get a bit more time, but so far I can say I am progressing. It also helps that I have people in my electronics class which are interested in the final result, which is nice to have actual encouragement. I am determined to complete this project within the next few weeks.

2D Game Programming – ‘Hard’ Shadows

I am working on the theory behind shadowing in a 2D environment for any of the 2D games I develope later on. The code that finds the shadow volume is no where near optimal and will have to be refined but it works so far! I am happy with it and once I get blending done I can actually form the shadow demonstrations.

In-Development 2D Hard-Shadow Lightning