PIC16F8x simulator:

This is a learning and developping interface written in PLT Scheme for the 8 bits MCU built by Microchip PIC16F8x.
Datasheet of component. Documentation in french and english are given with the package. Display is 1024x768.
This Project is open source, and given not compiled. You need PLT scheme to run it.
Warning: Registers number in the real MCU are not 256 ! To produce real code, you need to stay between 0x0c and 0x50.

• Programmable directly in PICasm
• View of all registers in the same window
• Inputs/Outputs are visible and modifiable
• Output PORTB to parallel port (using a C program)
  
• Variable speed of exectution
• Loading/Saving files
• Interrupt handling
• Assembling (hex code generation)
• Disassembling from hex file into virtual scheme asm. - not yet implemented in GUI

• EEPROM
• WatchDog Timer
• Config bits
• Transfering to the PIC

 Download project sources: PIC-simulator-scm.tar.gz
 Documentation in english: doc_en.txt
 Documentation in french: documentation.txt
 Screenshot

 Project stalled.

 Updates 28-03-2004: (docs still not updated)
  fixed assembling.
  made hex2scheme function: takes a hex string and gives the scheme program runnable in the project.

 Updates 19-01-2004: (docs not updated for this)
  fixed bug with ORG and NOP for missing lines.
  hex output bug fix with no END keyword at eof.
  inputs remade.
  load file remade.
  files are (really!) in plain text format.

 Thanks to the PLT-scheme mailing list and Mr Roy :-)

Stepper motor interface:

This is a parallel port interface, software oriented, for stepper motors. It can drives two motors, with 500mA output current per phase. As parport cannot directly give this power, we use two ULN2003 darlington array of 7 pairs (we need 8 pairs...). What you only need is :

• Parallel port connector
• One ULN2003A per motor. Datasheet
• Stepper motor(s) like those in scanners or printers like this one. Datasheet
• 12V Power supply (I use a PC ATX supply...)

 Not hard to build ! The board with one motor plugged - The back of the board
 Here is the basic code to make it turn. stepper.c and port.h.
 It must be run as root, compiled with a correct PORT value (watch your dmesg).

Philips webcam viewer program (linux)

This little utilty is used to display images grabbed from a philips webcam under linux. It was designed to be fast, using MIT X Shared memory extension and Xlib. It also dumps ppm files.
Keybindings are: 'd' for dump, 'g' to switch black and white or color mode, 'q' to quit.
The harder was to find a fast yuv420p to rgb color conversion routine...
You will need several libraries and includes to compile, for example:

 gcc -O3 -o webcam webcam-xlib-shm.c -I/usr/src/linux/drivers/usb/media/ -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11 -lXext

 warning: include dir in new pwc (free version 10) is /usr/src/linux/drivers/usb/media/pwc

 If you have two philips cameras and that you want to display them at the same time ? (this does not work with some versions of linux and pwc, kernel bugs...)

Philips webcam on NetBSD and FreeBSD

Takafumi Mizuno userland utilities for NetBSD/FreeBSD. Patch for pwc-9.0.2, patch for pwc-10.0.5 (free pwc) with support of VGA images.

3D scanner

You think building a 3D scanner is hard ? Take your webcam and check this out !