Tag Archives: Arduino

1802 Membership Card Loader

By Don Meyer on | 5 Comments

So I built Lee Hart’s slick little 1802 Membership Card and its Front Panel card. Next I wanted to load some programs onto it! There was that nice DB-25 connector all ready to connect to my PC’s parallel port. However… I’ve got a Mac, and haven’t seen a computer parallel port in perhaps a decade.

My solution to this problem was to create my own interface hardware based on an Arduino. I considered using a Spark Core to allow doing things wirelessly via WiFi, but decided that for this purpose the Arduino was something more people were likely to have, and it was just a somewhat simpler solution.

The final design uses an Arduino, a 16-line I2C port expander chip, and some software. The software consists of the Arduino program and a Python program that runs on my Mac. Since it’s Python, it should also run on a Windows system, a Linux box, etc.
You can also forego the Python side of things and directly control the Arduino loader from a terminal, or from your own software if you prefer.

Why go to all this trouble? Just a fun little project!

It’s been a good mental exercise and a nice trip down memory lane.

Here is the Git repository with the source code and documentation:  https://github.com/donmeyer/membership-card

 

1802 Loader Documentation

Coming up next – an 1802 Emulator

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Embedded Development – The Hobby Edition

By Don Meyer on | Leave a comment

Ok, so here are pictures of embedded controllers and such. Just a snapshot of my hobby embedded environment.

Not shown is my workbench, which gets set up and taken down on the kitchen table as needed. (apartment living!)
This includes soldering station, digital oscilloscope, and tools.

The table top near the desk:

Spark Core, RaspBerryPi, Arduino and so forth. Plus an old-time iPod!

The RaspberryPi runs the home automation system, and is connected to an XBee used for communication with various peripherals. The Arduino is one of those, in development. The Spark Core is my development core, with others already in use around the house.

IMG 6078

Drawer #1:

Arduino stuff, XBee modules, and various shields and parts from Adafruit.

IMG 6079

Drawer #2:

RaspberryPi and Spark Core. Power supplies, and a fairly ancient Radio Shack multimeter.

IMG 6080

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