Kart

Revision as of 10:44, 7 January 2013

The Kart module is a Summer School module for students at the end of the first year.

System Architecture

The kart is controlled by a smartPhone via BlueTooth.

A BlueTooth receiver on the kart control board communicates via an RS232 serial link with the control board FPGA.

BlueTooth communication

A BlueTooth communication transfers serial port data. A receiver chip creates the RS232 signals for the FPGA. The protocol defines how the registers are accessed.

The FPGA receives following controls:

• the propulsion DC motor speed and direction
• the steering stepper motor target angle and step period
• two LEDs

The FPGA sends following information back:

• the battery level
• the actual steering angle
• the distance sensor data
• the hall sensor status

Sensors

• VCNL4000 i2c Distance/Ambience Light Sensor
• SS311PT Hall Sensor

Board connectors

The FPGA board has following connections:

• a 26 pin Header connector
• a 9 pole DSub connector for RS232
• the FPGA JTAG programming connector
• the PIC RJ11 programming connector

Boards

For special designs, some boards have larger FPGAs:

• Board 29 has a AGL125V5
• Board 30 has a AGL250V5

Within the Actel Project manager, the settings of the FPGA have to be changed: in Project Manager, change FPGA type in Project -> Settings -> Device -> Die.

For the AGL250V5, pin 46 associated to jtagIo[3] is not available. Edit the motorControl.pdc constraints file and change the jtagIo[3] constraint to pin 43.

Getting started

In order to start the projects you should do the following:

• Read carefully the specifications above
• Consulte the guide for the first steps

Additional Information

Additional informations for collaborators