0109-2023-07-06.md

6 Jul 2023

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PicoDeo and raybox-bridge updates

• /circle uses SPI bus mode by default, but accepts optional extra arg as spi or direct (but only if delay is also specified; typical is 0x4000), e.g.:

  /circle 4000 direct
  

• /circle accepts these keys now:
  • * - Double delay
  • / - Halve delay
  • + - Increase delay by 1
  • - - Decrease delay by 1
• /cursor command now implemented to allow raybox-bridge to send cursor data to the vga_cursor design using SPI:

  Format:
  /cursor XHEX YHEX [COLOUR] [WIDTH] [HEIGHT]
  - XHEX and YHEX are the cursor top-left as hex values
  - COLOUR represents 3 bits: RGB (0..7)
  - WIDTH is cursor width
  - HEIGHT is cursor height
  

• raybox-bridge modified to use the /cursor command, and it works!

Next steps

• Fix vga_cursor edge/overflow bug.
• Try RP2040 SPI hardware.
• Try faster SPI.
• Modify raybox-bridge code to support other test modes/control of the PicoDeo firmware.
• Implement distinct vga_cursor SPI commands that can set all data at once, or any of cursor_x, cursor_y, color, width, and height.
• Make sure Raybox design still works on FPGA.
• Try implementing SPI control on Raybox and put Raybox player control logic in raybox-bridge.
• TT04 idea: Fake UI generator using rectangles and "bevels"?