Gadget Factory Blog
Hello FPGA lovers! Today’s project is going to be a challenge on mainly 3 fronts. The Project at hand is to build a Hexapod Robot based on FPGA, and the 3 challenges are to get the Hexapod to work with FPGA, design and simulate it with CAD and to carve and glue the parts with plywood. Sounds funny!
The Hexapod Robot basically works on 12 DC servo motors. So if you thought that programming one of those with your FPGA was hard work, then you should definitely try this project to build on experience. The Robot consists of 6 arms, and each arm must have 2 degrees of freedom, the vertical and horizontal axis. For this, 2 motors are used per arm. Other than that, you will need a saw, electric drill, electric grinder, pencil, PU glue, Plywood, screws, nuts, ball bearings and, of course your FPGA board.
But if you are not a fan of all the carpentry work, then you can easily design and print your parts using a 3D printer and then just assemble them.
The Author has sadly not shared the CAD files or VHDL files for this project. However you can leave a request on the comments page to see if you get a response. The different software that you will need for this project is CAD, EDA and VHDL.
Since the VHDL code will be just about controlling 12 DC servo motors with an FPGA, you can use the code here which is the basic module to control one motor. You can simply extend this to 12 motors to get the Hexapod running.
Though the author has not shared the codes, he has been pretty helpful in giving pictures of all the development phases of the Hexapod. You can use these while designing parts in the CAD software.
Now it´s your turn…have fun!
Hello FPGA lovers! Today’s project is going to be a challenge on mainly 3 fronts. The Project at hand is to build a Hexapod Robot based on FPGA, and the 3 challenges are to get the Hexapod to work with FPGA, design and simulate it with CAD and to carve and glue the parts with [...]
Hello FPGA fans! Today’s project is going to be a great domain for you to have a bit of fun (once you’ve completed it) and learn more aspects about FPGA and applications in shift registers and button interfacing with FPGA. The project is based on a bit runner game, and for those unfamiliar with what [...]
Hello FPGA enthusiasts! Today’s post is a rather special one since it throws open doors to a 32 bit CPU that you can quite simply build with a Spartan 6 FPGA board. Hitachi’s SuperH CPU patents have passed the 25 year mark, and this means that the technology can be reproduced at much lower costs [...]
Hello FPGA lovers! Today’s project will be a special one that will pique the interest of FPGA lovers and music makers alike! The project is about how to build an 8 step synthesizer with an FPGA board! The 8 step Synthesizer is a set of 8 switches with a time line that flows from left to [...]
Hello FPGA enthusiasts! Today we have a close enough version of the popular Bop It! Game. For those unfamiliar with what a Bop It! Game is, I will tell you that it is practically a quick reflex based game that has a set of voice commands that give you instructions to perform tasks with the [...]
Hello FPGA and Arcade games fans! A couple of weeks ago we posted about how to play the Snake game on your FPGA in fore easy steps, our community member mkarlsson was not totally satisfied with the amount of FPGA resources the Verilog code uses and decided to rewrite the game to make it use less [...]
Hi again FPGA people! Today I have another game for you to implement using your FPGA, Simon Says for 2 players. I know it´s a pretty old game but I promise you that it´s a very interesting project. In this project you will have to make use of your hand skills both for coding and for [...]
Hello FPGA lovers! Great stuff here today. I have come across an article that gives you great details about how to control a RC Servo with a FPGA. There many versions for RC servos but basically all of them use a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to control their position. Servos should receive 5 V logic [...]
Welcome back again FPGA addicts! Today we have a very interesting and useful project for you: Build your own alarm system with your FPGA. This work was carried out by a group of students and it could perfectly serve as a baseline for any alarm system. The project is developed in 6 easy steps. All you need [...]