FPGA Fractal Explorer
Mandelbrot set explorer implemented in custom hardware on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
Calculated using fixed-point arithmetic in a custom, pipelined architecture. User input provided by a PS/2 mouse. VGA display with external video RAM.
- Original 32-bit VHDL design (project page) (video)
- Pipelined 72-bit VHDL design (project page)
- Generated using Flowpaths Java-to-VHDL research compiler (conference papers: one, two)
Tesla Coil
A high-voltage transformer I built in 2007.
Based on the work of Nikola Tesla. 120V 60Hz AC power is kicked up to 15kV using a neon sign transformer. This charges up a capacitor, which is then discharged across a spark gap at high frequency. This excites the secondary coil, where a very high voltage is produced!
Dedicated to my uncle, Tony Bowers (1948-2007).
DIP FPGA Module
Mercury - a breadboard-friendly FPGA module.
Packs a Xilinx Spartan-3A FPGA onto a 3"-by-1" board,
with an 8 channel ADC, SRAM and Flash memory,
5V tolerance circuity and a USB programmer.Designed by myself and Jason Gorski.
For sale at MicroNova LLC.
HCS12 VGA Driver
VGA display driver implemented with an HCS12 microcontroller, without the aid of external hardware.
The video buffer is read from RAM and written out to an IO port via a cycle-accurate interrupt service routine.
Outputs an industry-standard 640x480 60Hz signal.
Video buffer is 80x60 pixels, due to internal RAM limits.
Nixie Tube Clocks
Clocks made using Soviet-era Nixie display tubes.
Article coming soon!