Re: [OT] Possible bulk buy on 128 by 64 graphic displays with touch screen

[ian.bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi Frank

Nice to hear from you again.

I first got one of these screens working on a Mega32 which is 32k flash
and either 2k or 4k ram. You need 1k of screen RAM to buffer the output
(i.e. mirror what is on the display) as my routines do not read from the
display. Rather they read and write to the ram buffer and when complete
dump the changed bits to the display. Simpler and faster for me. Other
memory requirements are fairly modest and depend what you are doing in the
rest of the program.

Also, after my conversations with Paul I am thinking of creating the
middleware chip using a Mega 64. If I did this it would be another PCB
with all the gubbins on it and it would present a serial interface to the
world. The screen PCB would plug into it (to retain modularity) and
everything would be generally very small as everything is surface mount.
It would take commands in order to draw on the screen (data) as well as
send back the position of any touch screen presses.

Someone (and Paul may volunteer here) would have to create the PC
application to format and feed this data the screen would need (I would
document the format) and interpret the finger presses returned. This is no
mean task in itself but once done would turn it into pretty much a plug
and play unit with the power of a PC behind it for the task of building
the screens. I already have all the programs to create pictures to display
on the unit from mono bmp images which will make life a lot easier. This
would pretty much hide the embedded code from everyone.

This would not be xPL, xAP or anything else 'public' at this point. It
would work as either a direct serial connection or through an MSS100 and
each update to the screen would probably consist of 1k of data and some
handshaking. There would not be any reason that you could not put an xPL,
xAP front end or glue directly on the screen but I would say it was of
limited value as the data is binary (well, sort of but not readable
anyway). Having the PC application send xPL, xAP messages depending on key
presses would be a lot more worthwhile though but that will have to be
taken up with the PC software writer. It could also display screens on
receipt of a xPL, xAP  message, again very worthwhile. Something like a
plugin architecture where you could load your favourite version of
communications language would be good (or write your own of course).

What do you think? Where would your preferences lie?

I would guess the Atmel based middleware would add to the unit cost as it
is a new PCB plus components, design and testing. I use boot loaders on my
Atmel designs so firmware could be upgraded/changed and I currently plan
to release the code to people who buy a unit.

Thanks

Ian







"Frank Mc Alinden" <frankmc@xxxxxxx>
Sent by: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
08/11/2005 03:37
Please respond to ukha_d


To:     <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
cc:     (bcc: Ian Bird/CV/Novartis)
Subject:        Re: [ukha_d] [OT] Possible bulk buy on 128 by 64 graphic
displays with
touch screen


Hi Ian
I might be interested in a couple , but  as you know i dont
program in a high level language ;-(.....Plus the requirements for 2
serial
ports ...although  i suppose you could use one of those i2c to serial
chips
?? ..What sort of memory requirements for these things ?? I was thinking
of
using the 16F876 chip which is an 8k device...Havent yet played with the
pic18F series which i believe may have 2 serial ports ....

Frank


----- Original Message -----
From: <ian.bird@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Cc: <ian@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 4:06 AM
Subject: [ukha_d] [OT] Possible bulk buy on 128 by 64 graphic displays
with
touch screen


> Hi all
>
> I am looking at buying some of these (see below) touch screen displays
> from Apollo for a project I am working on but the supplier has upped
the
> minimum order quantity to 1000 pounds plus VAT and delivery. This is a
> little more than I wanted to spend so I am looking to share the
burden.
>
> The displays are available in either blue/white mode or amber/dark
blue
> mode. They have a 4 wire resistive touch screen pre bonded onto them.
You
> can see the non touchscreen version in action at the beginning of the
last
> UKHA video. You can get a taster of the work I will do from this page
> although there are no details of the touch controller chip on there.
>
> http://www.mollyology.com/ProjectsGraphicDisplayInterface.php
>
> I am thinking it would be best to sell these on with the touch
controller
> and other hardware fitted onto a small daughter board otherwise
> interfacing would be problematic for most. I would bring out the
> connectors to standard headers unless anyone wanted something
different.
> The PCB's would be professionally produced - not home made.
>
> Here is the link to the suppliers page about the screens
>
> http://www.apollodisplays.co.uk/51553.php
>
> This would mean anyone could get into really neat touch screens for
their
> home made devices at relatively low cost.
>
> I also have some C code to talk to these units using the parallel
> interface as well as a library of functions for circles, ovals, lines,
> rectangles, text, custom characters and pictures which I will share.
The
> code is written for the AVR CodeVision C compiler but should be pretty
> portable. I ported some of it from another compiler in the first place
> anyway.
>
> The touch screen outputs the touch coordinates with a T prefix
followed
by
> two 4 digit comma separated sets of coordinates. A release action
sends
> the same string but the prefix is an R e.g. T0123,0232 or R0212,0232.
> Coordinates are sent across a serial link at 9,600 or 19,200 as long
as
> the screen is being pressed. This enables dragging to be supported if
you
> are really keen.
>
> If anyone is interested please mail me at ian at mollyology dot com or
on
> list if applicable.
>
> I would expect the screen, associated electronics and PCB completely
> assembled and tested to be about 50 to 60 quid. I am not making any
money
> out of this, just breaking even. I simply cannot afford the have 1200
> quids worth of screens sitting on the bench for the next year or two
until
> I complete my current rather complex project.
>
> I am not knocking the LCD shop or other sources of screens but I do
> believe these prices compare very favourably with lesser screens e.g.
the
> 20 by 4 line display Keith mentioned earlier at 20 pounds in single
> quantities. They are simpler to interface but have no touch screen
option
> and are far less versatile.
>
> As always, feedback and suggestions welcome.
>
> Thanks
>
> Ian
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>