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Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day

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JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> writes:
> As stated before - MPE's MSP430 LITE and 4e4th.

Ah, ok, I wasn't completely understanding this earlier.

> The LITE version was especially done by MPE after many discussions to
> have a commercial product, but foc to start with. And it is resident,
> just add a terminal. Umbilical is possible with it as well.

Do you (or Stephen) happen to know the code size for the resident
interpreter on the 2553?  Is it possible to compile to flash from the
interpreter on the 2553 directly, without the Launchpad FET?

> And there is another and very strong reason: all the software and the
> examples now done for the MSP430 can be easily ported to the MPE ARM
> LITE - probably not possible with any other compiler solution as far
> as I know.

I expect this is possible with eForth.  4e4th is based on Camelforth
which at the moment doesn't appear to run on the ARM, but run on various
other cpus so maybe it can be ported to the ARM someday.

> I had mentioned this hardware a year ago - the resulting comments
> showed how wide the interest and the wishes go. Well there are enough
> Arduinos and Pis out there. 

I agree this seems like a really nice project for teaching MCU
electronics.  

> Using LP - fine, but who would give us 1000 Launchpads for free for
> this project -

Well you could ask TI about it... FWIW they are having a sale on the
FRAM MSP430 Launchpad that has an LCD display.  But, using a ready-made
board is more for teaching programming than electronics.

> and the electronic badge would be a bit large and heavy to carry
> around. And you cannot put it in your pocket.

Do you mean the electronic badge from the Noisebridge page I linked?
I've seen them and want one myself sometime.  It's really cool and you
can easily put it in your pocket when you're not wearing it.  

The people taking the Noisebridge class do have to pay for those kits
themselves, which gives a bit more flexibility about what can go into
them.  If your Scout event has to give away all the hardware for free,
it's understandable that your possibilities are much more limited.

> Well the Pong idea is brilliant, can you please expand on the hardware
> implementation and the software approach you are offering please.

I was imagining something like the GA144 architecture, where each node
would have 4 connections to its orthogonal neighbors.  Originally I
thought of just passing data, but (like the GA and per some of Bernd P's
posts) it would be really cool to connect the ports up to the Forth
interpreter, using software UARTs if necessary.  The MPE interpreter
apparently has multitasking, which could be useful for that.

The cute thing about this is the nodes wouldn't have to know their own
coordinates.  They'd all run exactly the same code and start with the
same data.  One of them would have an additional connection to an
outside terminal.  There could be a command like

  : LED-ON ( x y -- ) ... ;

which would turn on the node's LED if x and y are both 0.  Otherwise it
would adjust x and y and pass the command to a neighboring node, i.e.  
8 5 LED-ON on Jane's node would send "8 4 LED-ON" to Jane's node's
rightward neighbor and so on, so eventually the node 8 upward and 5 to
the right of Jane's would turn on its LED.

It could also be cool to have hypercube wiring instead of the horizontal
grid.  I guess both of these make the wiring much more complicated than
your broadcast bus idea though.

You'd want to have a header on the board so each kid could wire up his
or her own node to its neighbors on the big panel with solderless
breadboard jumpers.  The header would also make it easier to connect up
the board to other devices.

> Our plan is to build a 1024 bit unit with an LED each - bit
> adresseable.  Any shape is possible as the TicTac Boxes are just
> mounted on the shape required.

I didn't know TicTac boxes were involved, or that they could hold the
board and batteries.  Sounds nice.

I guess you were thinking of a giant broadcast bus rather than some kind
of fanout scheme, so ok, I guess that's doable.  

> Build a software UART but not standard 8 bit, a lot longer, 1024 bits

This doesn't seem like a great idea.  I'd go with standard 8 bit.  The
nodes could still all listen to it for data that interested them.  You
could send Forth commands like $25 BLINK to tell node #25 (hex) to blink
its led, or something like RLEBLINK to broadcast a 1024 bit RLE encoded
bit stream, where each node would blink its led if the appropriate bit
was set.

> A test hardware consisting of around 32 units will be built for
> software testing soon.

Nice.  Maybe you could make the initial ones on protoboards:

   http://www.adafruit.com/products/1608  (soldered)
   http://www.adafruit.com/products/65    (solderless)

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1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-17 14:53 -0700
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Mark Wills <markwills1970@gmail.com> - 2015-06-18 00:07 -0700
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-18 09:23 -0700
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Alexander Skobelev <al.skobelev@gmail.com> - 2015-06-19 17:48 +0300
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-19 10:46 -0700
      Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Alexander Skobelev <al.skobelev@gmail.com> - 2015-06-22 12:43 +0300
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-19 21:08 -0700
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-19 23:00 -0700
      Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-20 15:33 -0700
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Mark Wills <markwills1970@gmail.com> - 2015-06-20 21:35 -0700
          Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-20 21:57 -0700
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-21 00:50 -0700
          Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-21 10:39 -0700
            Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-22 00:13 -0700
              Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-22 12:47 -0700
            Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2015-06-22 10:46 +0000
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2015-06-21 14:37 +0000
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Howerd <howerdo@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-06-20 15:20 -0700
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-21 19:37 -0700
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-22 00:21 -0700
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-23 12:10 +0200
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-23 06:09 -0700
      Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day foxaudioresearch@gmail.com - 2015-06-23 15:10 -0700
      Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-24 14:50 +0200
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-24 13:57 -0700
          Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-24 17:13 -0700
            Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-25 00:05 -0700
              Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-25 15:03 +0200
              Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-25 15:51 +0200
            Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-25 14:43 +0200
          Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-25 15:07 +0200
            Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-25 10:36 -0700
              Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-26 11:15 +0200
              Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Matthias Koch <matthias.koch@hot.uni-hannover.de> - 2015-06-26 11:21 +0200
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-26 07:45 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-26 07:59 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-26 07:51 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-26 13:10 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-26 13:12 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-06-26 14:54 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-07-19 00:30 -0700
                Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2015-07-20 15:18 -0700
  Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Mark Wills <markwills1970@gmail.com> - 2015-07-21 01:02 -0700
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-07-21 10:02 -0700
      Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-07-23 09:11 -0700
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Howerd <howerdo@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-07-23 15:03 -0700
        Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day Mark Wills <markwills1970@gmail.com> - 2015-07-24 01:13 -0700
          Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-08-04 06:56 -0700
    Re: 1000 Scouts to solder together MSP430 Forth systems - a Forth computer each end of July - and planned to connect them all as a 1000 Bit Display on the last day JUERGEN <epldfpga@aol.com> - 2015-07-23 09:15 -0700

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