Gameduino 3X Dazzler (Shield) Excamera

DESCRIPTION

RETIRED PRODUCT – We’ve stopped stocking this product or it has been retired by the manufacturer and is no longer for sale. This page remains available for its resources and as a source of potential interest.

The Gameduino 3X Dazzler is an Arduino-compatible shield that outputs HD pictures and sound to any HDMI display or TV.

The Dazzler is ideal for game designers using Arduino or CircuitPython, makers who want rich, responsive data and text visualizations, and anyone who wants superb visuals for their Arduino project.

The graphics and sound are generated by a powerful BT815 EVE embedded GPU. The shield also has two Wii Classic ports for a plug-and-play game console. With an easy-to-use graphics drawing API and dozens of samples and demos to use as starting points, it’s by far the most powerful Arduino games system available today.

Every aspect of the design is open source and hackable:

• The PCB design
• The Verilog code for the HDMI, J1 CPU and system peripherals
• The J1 CPU running on the FPGA
• The J1’s firmware that drives the Dazzler’s extra features

The board itself has additional “hacking” interfaces: a JTAG port for FPGA reloading, and a UART header for a direct chat with the onboard FPGA. Its unique combination of tightly-coupled GPU and FPGA opens up new creative possibilities. As a truly open platform, the Dazzler can be anything you want it to be.

FEATURES

• GPU: BT815 1.1 gigapixel/s embedded GPU with 8 Mbyte flash
• FPGA: Xilinx Spartan-6 LX9 FT256 with 8 Mbyte flash
• Video output: HDMI 24-bit at 1280×720 (720p) with 48 kHz stereo audio
• Storage: microSD slot
• Extra input: two Wii Classic controller ports
• Form-factor:
  • Gameduino 3X Dazzler is an Arduino-compatible shield
  • The shield includes the Dazzler Core, which is an SMD module that includes GPU, FPGA, and HDMI
• Hardware interfaces:
  • Standard SPI up to 36 MHz for Arduino communication
  • UART up to 1 Mbps for FPGA connection
  • JTAG for FPGA reloading
  • All inputs are 5 V tolerant
• Programming: Gameduino library for Arduino and CircuitPython. Dozens of examples.
• Terminal mode: functions as an ANSI terminal with high-speed UART
• Current consumption (typical): 180 mA
• Dimensions: 83 mm x 53 mm x 20 mm

The BT815 GPU

The open-source GD library drives the onboard FT815 GPU. This GPU is a state-of-the-art embedded video engine, with:

• 32-bit internal colour precision
• OpenGL-style command set
• Up to 2000 sprites – sprites can be any size
• 1 megabyte of video RAM, 8 megabytes of attached flash
• Smooth sprite rotate and zoom with bilinear filtering
• Smooth circle and line drawing in hardware – 16x antialiased
• Hardware support for JPEG, PNG, and ASTC images
• AVI format video playback
• Built-in rendering of gradients, text, dials, and buttons

Terminal Mode

The Dazzler also has a Terminal Mode. In this mode, it listens on a serial line and simulates an ANSI full-colour terminal. This mode shows your Arduino text output on a large-screen monitor. It’s incredibly useful for debugging and information displays, and of course, requires no graphics programming at all.

RESOURCES

Open Source Hardware, Firmware, Software

• PCB layouts
• Board firmware
• Gameduino 2 library application layer