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TV Demonstrator
Posted by benryves on Sunday, 27th February 2011
The TV demonstrator is an easy-to-build electronic device that allows you to take a screenshot of your calculator display and show it on an NTSC or PAL television set. It's based around an inexpensive ATmega168 microcontroller and only requires a handful of additional components.
Unlike the TI-Presenter™ this does not require a special calculator or a USB adaptor; it uses the 2.5mm link port. The chief disadvantage of this method is that it does not automatically mirror what is shown on the calculator's display on the television; you need to press a button to manually capture the calculator's display.
The TV Demonstrator will only work in situations where the calculator allows you to capture a screenshot via the link port. It will therefore work in most places within the calculator's operating system, but will not work when the calculator is busy or otherwise not responding to screenshot requests. If in doubt, try using the screenshot function within your calculator linking software of choice to determine when it will work and when it won't.
For more information as well as downloads, please see the dedicated TV Demonstrator page.
Mini Programming Competition!
Posted by tr1p1ea on Saturday, 30th May 2009
Hi guys!
Just thought i could maybe spice the community up a tiny bit with a mini programming comp!
The subject of the competition is: Rain Effect
As long as it has something to do with rain, then its valid.
The target platforms are TI-82, TI-83, TI-83+, TI-83+SE, TI-84+ and TI-84+SE and there are 2 categories: ASM(any shell) and TIBASIC. Hybrid BASIC+ASMLib is NOT allowed. ASM entries may take advantage of built in shell routines.
If you are currently working on an unreleased project and want to add a rain effect to it as part of this competition then that is fine, as long coding (for the rain effect) wasnt commenced prior to this announcement. Ill leave this up to the honesty system.
The competition is open effective immediately and will close 30th of July 2009 at midnight GMT (or there abouts).
Please email your entries to: tr1p1ea(at)gmail.com which i will compile into a list for judging. Judging will be done by the community by means of a week long poll.
The winner of each category (ASM and BASIC) shall recieve a crisp $50 note in Australian currency, posted to anywhere in the world. Even though I know it might not translate to a great deal in your respective currency. They will also recieve a cool trophy or plaque with something along the lines of "MaxCoderz Programming Competition 2009 - WINNER! Best Rain Effect", i am still to have these made up but i will post a pic when i do
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Comments? Questions? Feel free to post them here and happy coding! Good luck!
BBC BASIC Beta Testing - 2009/03/06 r720
Posted by benryves on Tuesday, 13th January 2009
After several months of work I'm happy to announce the first beta of BBC BASIC (Z80) for the TI-83+/TI-84+.
The host interface code is a fairly complex beast and I am sure that there are conditions where it does not act as it is supposed to, so I would greatly appreciate your help in finding any bugs, quirks, oddities or missing features.
Full documentation is included as is a (Windows-only) .NET 2.0 utility to edit BBC BASIC program files and a (Mono-compatible) utility to convert text files to BBC BASIC programs and vice-versa.
Have fun, and I welcome your suggestions and bug reports in this thread.
If you are having difficulty reading the help please see this post or browse the documentation online.
SonyIR and Infrared - remote control libraries
Posted by benryves on Monday, 30th April 2007
Warning:
I don't know how much current the link port can safely source, so using it to sink current when driving the IR LED might not be exactly safe. It works fine for me but my 5V source is from a regulated 9V PP3, which delivers a very low maximum current anyway.
It might be a good idea to build a small transistor power amplifier so that you only sink a very small current through the link port.
SonyIR is a library that can be used to send and receive commands using the Sony infrared controller (SIRCS) protocol.
Libraries are rather dull on their own, so I've also thrown together a program (likewise called SonyIR) that can be used to turn your calculator into a programmable remote control.
You can download the latest version or download a video (controlling a Sony TV - 960KB WMV).
Features
- Send and receive data using the SIRCS protocol to control Sony devices via infrared.
- Support for 12-, 15- and 20-bit command words.
Sending
- Minimal hardware required (cheap single IR LED and optional resistor, depending on circuit) thanks to software modulation.
- Easily send single commands or repeated commands spaced at 45mS.
Receiving
- Simple hardware thanks to cheap single-package IR module.
- Routine returns button code, device ID and number of bits (or an error condition).
Usual disclaimers apply; this is a first version so I'd like to hear if you encounter any bugs.
Conway's Game of Life!
Posted by tr1p1ea on Saturday, 10th March 2007
Conway's Game of Life!
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Introduction:
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This program will simulate the famed cellular automaton devised by the British
mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970, "The Game of Life".
Conway's "Game of Life" is the best known example of a cellular automaton.
This is a 'zero-player' game, the way in which it evolves is determined by its
initial state (in our case, a PIC). You simply create an initial PIC and then
observe how it evolves.
Basically what it does is take every pixel on the screen and applys some rules:
1: Any live cell with < 2 neighbours dies of loneliness
2: Any live cell with > 3 neighbours dies of overcrowding
3: Any dead cell with exactly 3 neighbours is bought to life
4: Any live cell with 2 or 3 neighours remains unchanged
Note: births and deaths can occur during 1 generation
More info can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conways_Game_of_Life
Features:
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*NEW* Algorithm - Fast!
Estimate ~10fps on 83(+), ~25fps on SE
Speed control (4 speeds: Min, 25%, 75%, Max)
Infinite yet enclosed universe via screen wrapping (can toggle on/off)
Uses TIOS PIC variables
PIC variables can be in RAM or ARCHIVE
Screenshots:
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Download:
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http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fi ... 39705.html
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