[chbot] FPGA stuff

[hamster]

Hi,

Hope everybody is OK after the shake. Sorry I couldn't attend the meeting
on Monday, my son had hip surgery last week and is in "concrete trousers"
:-( 

I gave it a crack and got the AVR8 core (originally from OpenCores.org) up
and running on my board while staying overnight with him in hospital.  I am
now able to write C in "AVR Studio", compile it and then include it in the
FPGA board's configuration bitstream. UART and ports are all functional,
and I'm on to adding a VGA controller and audio playback....

But it reinforced why a full development board has value over minimal
board, unless you have a logic analyser handy...

1. I could use the LEDs to debug.
2. I could use the switches/buttons to control reset lines and so on.
3. I used the Seven Segment displays to show a trace of the program
counter.
4. It has an LVTTL<->RS232 level converter and DB9 socket allowing easy
testing.

The only issue I found was that the examples are not written to run on the
ATmega103 (that the soft core implements), and needed a few UART PORT
constants updated. An inexpensive board that can run this (and other
projects) costs US$49,
(http://www.gadgetfactory.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=18)


Mike