new devboard

[tomf]

purchased this to develope a product line around matrix orbital displays.
the documentation is not very informative.

I want to display a menu from my pic micro
1. I assume i need to use ttl???

2. do i use the rs-232 port.

3. what is this amtel chip for?

4. is there an example of code to display "hello world"

5. is there c libraries for the pic somewhere?

[Clark]

Hi Tom,

Your protocol choice will depend on the device you use to host the display; for a pic micro TTL would make sense, but I would recommend consulting the documentation for your controller. Using a serial protocol, RS232 or TTL, you can mate to either the serial or four pin header to communicate and use the AC adapter to power the unit. The Atmel onboard controls the display to provide the same functionality and features found on a standard display. You can check out the AppNote section linked in the manual for a few coding ideas, once you get started I'm sure you'll find the protocol easy to master.

~Troy

[Ray]

purchased this to develope a product line around matrix orbital displays.
the documentation is not very informative.

What manual are you refering to? All our product manuals have documentation on how to use the product, Can you point me at the section that confuses you so we can see what we can do about improving it in future revisions?

I want to display a menu from my pic micro
1. I assume i need to use ttl???

The module supports both rs232 and TTL levels, given your pic has ttl levels its easier to use TTL mode indeed.

2. do i use the rs-232 port.

If you want to use the rs232 port fine with us, if you don't have a free uart on your pic I2C is also always an option.

3. what is this amtel chip for?

It drives the display.

4. is there an example of code to display "hello world"

Not for pic, but any serial port example you pick up should do the trick all you need to do is send 'hello world' over the serial port and you're done.

5. is there c libraries for the pic somewhere?

No, sorry.

[tomf]

first off. thank you for your quick replies. your service is the number one reason we use your screens in our products.

it feels like there is a lack of info in the dev manual

please check out this link
http://home.iae.nl/users/pouweha/lcd/lc ... l#transfer

infact that how page makes it easier to understand the communication

a table like this explaining the serial logic in transmitting the info to the display. Im using a micro-controller not a computer

transmitting 'hello world' makes a certain amount of common sense however i know there are other codes to send to the display such as reposition of the curser. I see in the manual the "special codes" start with dec(254) which looks like a funny character code on the display charset..
example: dec(254 88, clears the screen)

i need to know how to distinguish between a screen code and plan txt to display.. this does not seem to be explained well.


which leads me to another question.. the manual shows 2 ascii tables one with Japanese chars the other with what looks like Greek chars.

why are there two tables? are there two different models of display. are the two modes???


also there are buttons on this devboard. i can make an assumption that they allow input of information.... but how.

in the manual is shows codes returned on button press...... will i find these codes pulsed back on the rs232 port?

the amtel is a chip that drives the display....... does that mean i should be writing my code on the amtel?? is there a in circuit programmer pins i should be using to put my software on this board.

[Ray]

first off. thank you for your quick replies. your service is the number one reason we use your screens in our products.

it feels like there is a lack of info in the dev manual

please check out this link
http://home.iae.nl/users/pouweha/lcd/lc ... l#transfer

infact that how page makes it easier to understand the communication

a table like this explaining the serial logic in transmitting the info to the display. Im using a micro-controller not a computer

Thats documentation on how to drive the actual LCD Controller, the atmel on our board takes care of all that, all you need to do it feed the display power and a serial port and we'll take care of all the nasty bits, there is no translation from that sheet needed all the bare controlelr has to offer is exposed and improved as a serials commands you can send. All commands are in the manual and start with 254.

transmitting 'hello world' makes a certain amount of common sense however i know there are other codes to send to the display such as reposition of the curser. I see in the manual the "special codes" start with dec(254) which looks like a funny character code on the display charset..
example: dec(254 88, clears the screen)

i need to know how to distinguish between a screen code and plan txt to display.. this does not seem to be explained well.

Anything startig with 254 is a command, unless you are in the middle of sending a command anything else will be displayed directly as text on the unit.

which leads me to another question.. the manual shows 2 ascii tables one with Japanese chars the other with what looks like Greek chars.

why are there two tables? are there two different models of display. are the two modes???

The manual is for both the VFD and LCD versions of the board, below the table there is a note on what flavour the table applies to.

also there are buttons on this devboard. i can make an assumption that they allow input of information.... but how. in the manual is shows codes returned on button press......

You just answered your own question Keypresses are send back over the serial port so your code can take action on them.

will i find these codes pulsed back on the rs232 port?

Yes you will!

the amtel is a chip that drives the display....... does that mean i should be writing my code on the amtel?? is there a in circuit programmer pins i should be using to put my software on this board.

No our code sits in the atmel that translates the commands you send over rs232/i2c. Your pic will talk to our atmel and its really as easy as using the serial port.

[Henry]

What is wrong with the plethora of application notes we have provided? Yes they might not be 100% specific to the platform you might be using, but should be more than adequate to cover most questions?

http://www.matrixorbital.ca/appnotes/SimpleAppNote/
http://www.matrixorbital.ca/appnotes/

[tomf]

your links look like they might be helpful.... until now i didnt know about the existence.... you might want to reference it in the dev documentation or link it form the dev board info page.

Ill check into it today

What is wrong with the plethora of application notes we have provided? Yes they might not be 100% specific to the platform you might be using, but should be more than adequate to cover most questions?

http://www.matrixorbital.ca/appnotes/SimpleAppNote/
http://www.matrixorbital.ca/appnotes/

[Clark]

Hi Tom,

I did dedicate a small section in the DevDevil manual on page 9, complete with at least one of the links provided above because I know how helpful those app notes can be. I'll look into adding additional references.

~Troy

[tomf]

Pg 9 is the I^2C section. I can see how i would completely miss it.. as im not doing anything with i^2C. you may want to move reference to software into its own separate section.

ultimately the c# was not useful ...... while visual studio might be able to assemble something from those files. none of the text editors i tried on those files produced any describable code.....

i would expect a dev kit to have at the very least instructions like this

1. attach rs232 cable here
2. attach rs232 cable here
3. set dipswitc XYZ
4. run this
5. you should see "hello world"
6. press button X on dev board and display changes to "goodbye world"
7. here is source code for the preceding program. (C code)

c can be ported with minimal changes by the customer onto windows, mac ....and micro-controllers!!!!


...switchign back to lumax since i am not having any road block with those displays.

Hi Tom,

I did dedicate a small section in the DevDevil manual on page 9, complete with at least one of the links provided above because I know how helpful those app notes can be. I'll look into adding additional references.

~Troy

[Raquel]

Hello,

If you please check out the instructions on page 6, which is the Serial section of the manual. It has pictures to hopefully make it easier to follow.

The Serial section of the manual mentions the use of uProject and Hyperterminal. Try Hyperterminal to start as it is readily available on Windows. Instructions on doing this can be found on page 8.

As per the App Notes link which is on page 9, please note this is not under the I2C section, but under the Software, Code section.

I hope you will give the Dev Devil another chance, let me know if this helps.