ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

TOLP2
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Elite Member

4 years 5 months ago #243112 by TOLP2

Replied by TOLP2 on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

Small update:

the firmware is now supporting RV901T and the various ColorLight cards;
the firmware is expanded with the support for encoders (up to 32 ). This new module has a different layout then the previous layouts, making it faster and more concise to develop;
the target of this project is known: my Emco5 will become the test-bed for this firmware, an example of the config is given below. Have to say, it makes the configuration as easy as it can get.

Code:

{
    "board_name": "test_PWM_GPIO",
    "baseclass": "firmware.boards.RV901T",
    "clock_frequency": 50000000,
    "ethphy": {
        "tx_delay": 0
    },
    "etherbone": {
        "ip_address": "10.0.0.10",
        "mac_address": "0x10e2d5000000"
    },
    "gpio_in": [
        {
            "name": "rapid_override_reset",
            "pin":"J601:7"
        },
        {
            "name": "feed_override_reset",
            "pin":"J601:8"
        },
        {
            "name": "spindle_override_reset",
            "pin":"J601:9"
        }
    ],
    "gpio_out": [
        {
            "name": "rapid_override_active",
            "pin":"J601:15"
        },
        {
            "name": "feed_override_active",
            "pin":"J601:16"
        },
        {
            "name": "spindle_override_active",
            "pin":"J601:17"
        },
        {
            "name": "stepgen_shared_enable",
            "pin":"J600:39"
        }
    ],
    "pwm": [
        {
            "name": "test_otherwise_no_compile",
            "pin":"J601:36"
        }
    ],
    "stepgen": [
        {
            "name": "stepgen_0",
            "step_pin": "J600:38",
            "dir_pin": "J600:36",
            "soft_stop": true
        },
        {
            "name": "stepgen_1",
            "step_pin": "J600:34",
            "dir_pin": "J600:32",
            "soft_stop": true
        },
        {
            "name": "stepgen_2",
            "step_pin": "J600:37",
            "dir_pin": "J600:35",
            "soft_stop": true
        },
        {
            "name": "stepgen_3",
            "step_pin": "J600:33",
            "dir_pin": "J600:31",
            "soft_stop": true
        }
    ],
    "encoders": [
        {
            "name": "rapid_override",
            "pin_A": "J601:7",
            "pin_B": "J601:8"
        },
        {
            "name": "feed_override",
            "pin_A": "J601:9",
            "pin_B": "J601:10"
        },
        {
            "name": "spindle_override",
            "pin_A": "J601:11",
            "pin_B": "J601:12"
        },
        {
            "name": "MPG",
            "pin_A": "J601:13",
            "pin_B": "J601:14"
        }
    ]
}

While developing I found a few bugs which need to be resolved: when no GPIO, PWM or Stepgen is defined, the firmware crashes as it is trying to create a register with a width of 0. At this moment at least one of each have to be defined. When the encoder driver software is finished, I'll tackle this problem as well.

Another nice feat: I'm making a hat for the RV901T, so all the stepper drives, switches and user input can be connected easilty. This board also contains a FTDI232 chipset so it can be reprogrammed on the fly.

The following user(s) said Thank You: kwarup, romanetz, svb

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romanetz
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4 years 5 months ago #243152 by romanetz

Replied by romanetz on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

Which version of Xilinx tools do you use?

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nickXX
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4 years 5 months ago #243161 by nickXX

Replied by nickXX on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

TOLP2, are you planning to create a wiki and release the files fotr the hat, when it's ready?
I can solder and have the experience with programming different chips, but as for the colorcnc, it's pretty hard for me to understand what's going on and what needs to be done ...
Guess a few of us are open to donating, to motivate your work further ..

The following user(s) said Thank You: TOLP2

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TOLP2
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4 years 5 months ago #243275 by TOLP2

Replied by TOLP2 on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

@ramonetz: At this moment I've downloaded version 13.6 for Windows. The space requirements for the latest version of the studio seems a little bit too crazy with 15+ Gb. I also saw it has been renamed to Vivaro.

With the version I've installed I didn't have luck yet to produce a bit-file which seems to work on my RV901T. I did upload the bit-file for blinking the LED and this worked, so I know for sure my JTAG-hack on the board worked. Have to say the toolchain for the 5a-75E (josys) is much more friendly and imposing on a starting user.

@nickXX: all files are available on my github . Within the README-file I want to put all the information to upload the firmware and on how to compile the driver. The first part I still have to write, the latter has been doen (although it can use some expansion on the pins). Because I'm now supporting two different board-types (Colorlight / EPC and RV901T / Xilinx) and it turns out they require different toolchains, I like your idea to convert the README to a wiki.

The design for the hat will also be published in the repository. It will be made in KiCad. The design will not be very refined, because':

my soldering iron and my skills do not suite SMD well, I lack experience;
my preference is to make the hat with my router (own production), which also limits the minimum size of the pads. I have to do some experiments on how small I can go.

What I can do off course is to upload the basic design with the location of the headers J600 and J601, so one can base their design on the correct location of the headers.

The following user(s) said Thank You: besriworld, nickXX

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romanetz
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4 years 5 months ago #243327 by romanetz

Replied by romanetz on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

Well. I managed to compile my version of firmware for RV901T. Still not sure if all timing constraints are met, because I'm not very good with ISE. Today I'll make some tests.

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TOLP2
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4 years 5 months ago - 4 years 5 months ago #243347 by TOLP2

Replied by TOLP2 on topic ColorCNC Colorlight 5A-75E/5A-75B as FPGA controller board

Romanetz, can you please give some guidance how you managed to compile:
- which version of ISE did you use?
- did you only use the verilog code produced by Litex, or did you need any other file as well.

Would love to se a screenshot of your ISE environment.

Edit: after some tinkering I managed to compile the firmware for the board. Turns out Litex dumps some erronous clock constraints at the end of the file. I've deleted those lines and now it compiles. I can read the magic and reset the board. However, as soon as I start reading data from the board, it stops working

. Have made some changes to the firmware, so I have to cross-reference with the 5A-75E to see whether the problem is board specific or that I broke the firmware...

Edit 2: In the branch encoder I have now a working firmware and driver which supports the modules GPIO, PWM/PDM, stepgen en encoders. Now it is time to write down for everybody how to hook this thing up for their specific setup and perform some tests. I suck at soldering SMD, still have to test anything with inputs...

Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by TOLP2. Reason: Added some more progress

The following user(s) said Thank You: nickXX

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