Alpha Clock Serial v2 - Revision history

Windell: Add SetArduinoClock

2021-06-13T23:09:08Z

Add SetArduinoClock

Evilminion1: update to scientist

2012-11-15T20:56:22Z

update to scientist

Windell at 13:23, 29 October 2012

2012-10-29T13:23:21Z

Windell at 01:32, 29 October 2012

2012-10-29T01:32:30Z

Windell at 00:56, 29 October 2012

2012-10-29T00:56:09Z

Windell at 23:58, 28 October 2012

2012-10-28T23:58:03Z

Windell at 13:13, 28 October 2012

2012-10-28T13:13:27Z

Windell at 12:09, 28 October 2012

2012-10-28T12:09:09Z

Windell at 10:22, 28 October 2012

2012-10-28T10:22:39Z

Windell at 03:28, 28 October 2012

2012-10-28T03:28:59Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:09, 13 June 2021
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	Alpha Clock Five usually resets when the serial connection is opened; this is a side-effect of the auto-reset circuitry used for reprogramming the clock using the bootloader. If this is problematic and you expect to never update the firmware, you can disable auto-reset by removing capacitor C10 from the circuit board or by clipping the lead at pin RTS* on J2. Alternatively, if you wish to sync the time to your computer and do not have a Chronodot RTC present, you may wish to physically disconnect the interface cable from J2 after syncing the time, so that the clock does not reset when you open a subsequent connection.		Alpha Clock Five usually resets when the serial connection is opened; this is a side-effect of the auto-reset circuitry used for reprogramming the clock using the bootloader. If this is problematic and you expect to never update the firmware, you can disable auto-reset by removing capacitor C10 from the circuit board or by clipping the lead at pin RTS* on J2. Alternatively, if you wish to sync the time to your computer and do not have a Chronodot RTC present, you may wish to physically disconnect the interface cable from J2 after syncing the time, so that the clock does not reset when you open a subsequent connection.
		+
		+	== Setting time alone ==
		+
		+	If you wish to set the time on your Alpha Clock Five via computer -- and not do any additional interfacing -- there is a Processing sketch called SetArduinoClock, [https://bcdn.evilmadscientist.com/source/SetArduinoClock.zip available here], for just that purpose. Run this sketch with [http://processing.org/ Processing].

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:56, 15 November 2012
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−	The serial port on Alpha Clock Five is a "TTL Serial" type that is connected directly to the microcontroller. To interface with a computer, it is normally used with an FTDI serial interface such as the [http://~~evilmadscience~~.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/130-usbttl FTDI TTL-232R] or the Adafruit [http://~~evilmadscience~~.com/productsmenu/accessories/210 FTDI Friend]. Note that since the interface supports logic-level signals, it cannot be interfaced directly to a traditional RS232 serial port on a computer.	+	The serial port on Alpha Clock Five is a "TTL Serial" type that is connected directly to the microcontroller. To interface with a computer, it is normally used with an FTDI serial interface such as the [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/130-usbttl FTDI TTL-232R] or the Adafruit [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/accessories/210 FTDI Friend]. Note that since the interface supports logic-level signals, it cannot be interfaced directly to a traditional RS232 serial port on a computer.

	The interface is normally configured for 19,200 baud, 8N1.		The interface is normally configured for 19,200 baud, 8N1.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 == Daisy-Chained Serial ==
-Alpha Clock Five features a second hardware serial port, located at location J5 on the circuit board.   For daisy chaining, you can use a [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/586 six pin SIL F-F header cable] to connect from J5 directly to the main serial port (J2) on a second Alpha Clock Five unit.    Multiple Alpha Clock Five units can be connected together in this same way, to produce larger yet alphanumeric displays.
+Alpha Clock Five features a second hardware serial port, located at location J5 on the circuit board.   For daisy chaining, you can use a [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/586 six pin SIL F-F header cable] to connect from J5 directly to the main serial port (J2) on a second Alpha Clock Five unit.    Multiple Alpha Clock Five units can be connected together in this same way, to produce larger-yet alphanumeric displays.
 In revision B of the circuit board, J5 is located just below the middle chip, U2.   Pin 1, where the "black" side of the cable goes is indicated by an arrow.   In revision C of the circuit board,  J5 is located below U3, on the lower right side of the circuit board.    Pin 1, where the "black" side of the cable goes is indicated by an arrow.  Pin 1 is also indicated as the ''square'' pin of header J5.    If your kit did not come with a header at location J5, you will need to add one at that location in order to have a place to attach the cable.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 == Supported commands ==
-Firmware version 2.0 supports three serial commands: Set time (ST), Ascii display (A0), and Mode Time (MT).
+Firmware version 2.0 supports several serial commands: Set time (ST), Ascii display (A0/A''x''), Set Parameter (B0/B''x'') and Mode Time (MT).
 Each command consists of exactly 13 bytes:  A single header byte (0xFF), followed by a two-letter command code and then 10 additional bytes of data.
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
-The Alpha Clock Five library (v. 2.0 and above) includes a set of Processing sketches, including an example program (AlphaClock_SetTime) that can sync the time on your Alpha Clock Five to that on your PC.  To run the example sketches, download Processing [http://processing.org from processing.org].
+The Alpha Clock Five library (v. 2.0 and above) includes a set of Processing sketches, including an example program (AlphaClock_SetTime) that can sync the time on your Alpha Clock Five to that on your PC.  (Sample applications to communicate with Alpha Clock Five are provided as .pde files, for use with the Processing development environment.  Processing is a free, cross-platform programming environment, and you can download your copy [http://processing.org/ at processing.org].)
@@ Line 71: / Line 72: @@
 Note that the decimal point protocol has been changed from that in firmware v1, for which the display characters were 'U', 'L', and 'B' for upper, lower, or both decimal points.
@@ Line 92: / Line 95: @@
 When Alpha Clock Five receives an A''x'' command on its main serial port (where ''x'' is not equal to zero), it relays that command out through its second serial port, decrementing it from A''x'' to A''(x-1)''.  For example, suppose that two Alpha Clock Five units are connected together via their serial ports. Then, the command A1, followed by a text/decimal string, will be received by the first Alpha Clock Five and then sent to the next as an A0 command, so that it will display that text/decimal string on the second unit.
@@ Line 123: / Line 134: @@
 '''B02''': Edit font character
-The shape of any character in the font table can be redefined by using the B02 command.   Following the "B02" are nine bytes of data that specify the ASCII character to be redefined, and the shape of that character.  The font shape is specified by three sequential values, the "A", "B", and "C" values that indicate which LEDs will be lit when that character is displayed.  Depending on those three values, a font character may include alphanumeric segments, decimal points (upper and/or lower), or both.
+The shape of any character in the font table can be redefined by using the B02 command.   Following the "B02" are nine bytes of data that specify the ASCII character to be redefined, and the shape of that character.  The font shape is specified by three sequential values, the "A", "B", and "C" values that indicate which LEDs will be lit when that character is displayed.  Depending on those three values, a font character may include alphanumeric segments, decimal points (upper and/or lower), or both.   This command can be used to put arbitrarily shaped characters or data on the Alpha Clock Five display, for example by overwriting the 'a' through 'e' characters, and then displaying those characters with the A0 command.
 In detail, the full B02 command is given as follows:
@@ Line 148: / Line 160: @@
-==== B''x'': Set Parameters (Daisy-Chained)   ====
+The relevant example sketches are as follows:
-==== MT: Mode Time ====
+==== B''x'': Set Parameters (Daisy-Chained)   ====
-The MT function is used to resume normal display mode-- typically showing the time --after command A0 has been issued.
+The B''x'' function is a "daisy-chained" version of the B0 command.  It is used to adjust certain parameters on more than one Alpha Clock Five, connected through their serial interfaces.
 The full command consists of 13 bytes, as follows:
-The full command consists of 13 bytes, as follows:
+* The header byte, 0xFF
-* The header byte, 0xFF
+* The command letter 'B', a single ASCII character
-* The command MT
+* The distance value ''x'', a single byte.  This may be an ASCII value of '0' - '9' or a binary value from 0 to 47. This value indicates how many daisy-chained Alpha Clock Five units should "relay" the command before executing the "B0" command.
-* A 10-character string (the contents of this string will be ignored).
+* One more character, either 0, 1, or 2, which indicates which parameter to adjust.
-Download this file [http://evilmadscientist.s3.amazonaws.com/source/alphafive/AlphaClock_SetText.pde here] (2 kB .pde file).    --NOT YET UPDATED FOR v2.
+The relevant example sketches are as follows:
-Note that you may need to edit the file to select the correct serial port, defined by the "portIndex" variable, in order to select the serial port where your clock is attached.
+==== MT: Mode Time ====

@@ Line 123: / Line 123: @@
 '''B02''': Edit font character
-The shape of any character in the font table can be redefined by using the B02 command.   Following the "B02" are nine bytes of data that specify the ASCII character to be redefined, and the LEDs that will be lit when that character is displayed.
+The shape of any character in the font table can be redefined by using the B02 command.   Following the "B02" are nine bytes of data that specify the ASCII character to be redefined, and the shape of that character.  The font shape is specified by three sequential values, the "A", "B", and "C" values that indicate which LEDs will be lit when that character is displayed.  Depending on those three values, a font character may include alphanumeric segments, decimal points (upper and/or lower), or both.
 * The character that will be edited, indicated by a single ASCII character in the range from " " (space, ASCII 32) to "e" (lower-case "e", ASCII 101).  Example: 'Q'
 * The "A" value, which is a value in the range 0 to 255, formatted as exactly three ASCII characters, with leading zero fill.  Example 1: "003". Example 2: "015". Example 3: "251".
@@ Line 131: / Line 135: @@
 * One extra byte of data, which will be ignored.
-Example:  (0xFF) followed by "B02Q0160204*" will select replace the font definition for the letter 'Q' with A = 16, B = 0, C = 204.
+Example:  (0xFF) followed by "B02Q0160204*" will replace the font definition for the letter 'Q' with the font character defined by A = 16, B = 0, C = 204 (which happens to draw a "K".)
-A java applet for creating custom characters to add to firmware is [http://wiki.evilmadscience.com/extras/AlphaCharGen/ available here].
+A java applet for interactively calculating these values is also [http://wiki.evilmadscience.com/extras/AlphaCharGen/ available here].

@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
-B00:  Set brightness
+'''B00''':  Set brightness
-The display brightness is specified as a two-character ASCII string indicating the brightness on a scale of 0 to 11.   The string must be exactly two characters long, and leading-zero-filled.  For example, "01" and "10" are acceptable, but "1" and " 1" are not.    The remainder of the data string should consist 7 additional bytes, which will be ignored.
+The display brightness is specified as a two-character ASCII string indicating the brightness on a scale of 0 to 11.   The string must be exactly two characters long, and leading-zero-filled.  For example, "01" and "10" are acceptable, but "1" and " 1" are not.    The remainder of the data string consists of 7 additional bytes, which will be ignored.
 Example:  (0xFF) followed by "B0011*******" will set the brightness to maximum.
-B01: Set number character set
+'''B01''': Set number character set
-Alpha Clock Five features 10 built in number font styles, that you can choose between.   The character set chosen is indicated by a single ASCII character in the range '0' to '9' that follows the B01 command.  The remainder of the 10-byte data string should consist of 8 additional bytes, which will be ignored.
+Alpha Clock Five features 10 built in number font styles, that you can choose between.   The character set chosen is indicated by a single ASCII character in the range '0' to '9' that follows the "B01".  The remainder of the 10-byte data string consists of 8 additional bytes, which will be ignored.
 Example:  (0xFF) followed by "B014********" will select number font style number 4.
-B02: Edit font character
+'''B02''': Edit font character
@@ Line 177: / Line 189: @@
 The listed function names are reserved for use in future firmware.   If you extend the firmware with additional serial command functions, it is strongly advised that you do not use the following function names:
-* B*   (B, followed by any character)
+* SA   (May be used for Set Alarm time in future firmware)
 * M*   Where * is in the range 2-9. (May be used for mode setting in future firmware)
 * TP   (May be used for producing sounds in future firmware)

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 == Interfacing to Alpha Clock Five ==
-Alpha Clock Five has two onboard hardware serial ports.     The main serial port (Arduino PORT0, J2 on the PCB) is normally used for communication with your PC, while the second serial port (Arduino PORT1, J5 on the PCB) is normally used for connecting to another "daisy chained" Alpha Clock Five.      In general, we will refer to the main serial port, J2, as "the serial port" for purposes of communication.
+Alpha Clock Five has two onboard hardware serial ports.     The main serial port (Arduino PORT0, J2 on the PCB) is normally used for communication with your PC, while the second serial port (Arduino PORT1, J5 on the PCB) is normally used for connecting to another "daisy chained" Alpha Clock Five.    In general, we will refer to the main serial port, J2, as "the serial port" for purposes of communication.
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 == Daisy-Chained Serial ==
-Alpha Clock Five features a second hardware serial port, located at location J5 on the circuit board.   For daisy chaining, you can use a [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/586 six pin SIL F-F header cable] to connect from J5 directly to the main serial port (J2) on a second Alpha Clock Five unit.
+Alpha Clock Five features a second hardware serial port, located at location J5 on the circuit board.   For daisy chaining, you can use a [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/586 six pin SIL F-F header cable] to connect from J5 directly to the main serial port (J2) on a second Alpha Clock Five unit.    Multiple Alpha Clock Five units can be connected together in this same way, to produce larger yet alphanumeric displays.
 In revision B of the circuit board, J5 is located just below the middle chip, U2.   Pin 1, where the "black" side of the cable goes is indicated by an arrow.   In revision C of the circuit board,  J5 is located below U3, on the lower right side of the circuit board.    Pin 1, where the "black" side of the cable goes is indicated by an arrow.  Pin 1 is also indicated as the ''square'' pin of header J5.    If your kit did not come with a header at location J5, you will need to add one at that location in order to have a place to attach the cable.
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 == Supported commands ==
-Firmware version 2.0 supports three serial commands: Set time, Ascii display, and Mode Time (which turns off Ascii display).
+Firmware version 2.0 supports three serial commands: Set time (ST), Ascii display (A0), and Mode Time (MT).
 Each command consists of exactly 13 bytes:  A single header byte (0xFF), followed by a two-letter command code and then 10 additional bytes of data.
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
-The Alpha Clock Five library (v. 2.0 and above) includes a set of Processing sketches, including an example program (AlphaClock_SetTime) that can sync the time on your Alpha Clock Five to that on your PC.  To run these sketches, download Processing [http://processing.org from processing.org].
+The Alpha Clock Five library (v. 2.0 and above) includes a set of Processing sketches, including an example program (AlphaClock_SetTime) that can sync the time on your Alpha Clock Five to that on your PC.  To run the example sketches, download Processing [http://processing.org from processing.org].
 ==== A0: Ascii Display ====
-The A0 function is used to display data, for example alphanumeric characters, on the front LEDs of Alpha Clock Five.
+The A0 function is used to display data, for example alphanumeric characters, on the front LEDs of Alpha Clock Five.  It can also be used to blank the display.
@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
-The 5 ASCII characters to display should be in the range " " (space, ASCII 32) to "e" (lower-case "e", ASCII 101).    There are defined characters for A-Z (upper case), 0-9, space, and symbols such as $, %, &, (, ), [, ], =, -, +, /, |, \, _, ., ", and ^.
+The 5 ASCII characters to display should be in the range " " (space, ASCII 32) to "e" (lower-case "e", ASCII 101).    There are defined characters in the default font table for A-Z (upper case), 0-9, space, and symbols such as $, %, &, (, ), [, ], =, -, +, /, |, \, _, ., ", and ^.  ( Please [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_printable_characters see here] or [http://web.cs.mun.ca/~michael/c/ascii-table.html here] for a more complete ASCII chart in the appropriate range. )   The last five characters in the font table, "a" though "e", are extra character "slots" that are  available to be overwritten with custom characters.
-Please see the Sample Programs section below for an example program that can display text on the Alpha Clock Five LEDs.
+To blank the display, you can send an string consisting of five spaces ("     ") for both the ASCII and DP strings.
 ==== A''x'': Daisy-Chained Ascii Display  ====
-The A''x'' function is used to display alphanumeric characters on the front LEDs of more than one Alpha Clock Five, connected through their serial interfaces.
+The A''x'' function is a "daisy-chained" version of the A0 command.  It is used to display alphanumeric characters on the front LEDs of more than one Alpha Clock Five, connected through their serial interfaces.
 The full command consists of 13 bytes, as follows:
@@ Line 95: / Line 91: @@
 When Alpha Clock Five receives an A''x'' command on its main serial port (where ''x'' is not equal to zero), it relays that command out through its second serial port, decrementing it from A''x'' to A''(x-1)''.  For example, suppose that two Alpha Clock Five units are connected together via their serial ports. Then, the command A1, followed by a text/decimal string, will be received by the first Alpha Clock Five and then sent to the next as an A0 command, so that it will display that text/decimal string on the second unit.
@@ Line 100: / Line 133: @@
 ==== MT: Mode Time ====
-The MT function is used to resume normal display mode-- showing the time --after command A0 has been issued.
+The MT function is used to resume normal display mode-- typically showing the time --after command A0 has been issued.

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 Firmware version 2.0 supports three serial commands: Set time, Ascii display, and Mode Time (which turns off Ascii display).
-Each command consists of exactly 13 bytes:  A single header byte (0xFF), followed by a two-letter command code and then 10 bytes of data.   Input data will be ignored until 13 bytes of data are received.
+Each command consists of exactly 13 bytes:  A single header byte (0xFF), followed by a two-letter command code and then 10 additional bytes of data.
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ==== A0: Ascii Display ====
-The A0 function is used to display alphanumeric characters on the front LEDs of Alpha Clock Five.
+The A0 function is used to display data, for example alphanumeric characters, on the front LEDs of Alpha Clock Five.
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 * A 5-character string indicating which (if any) decimal points should be lit (e.g., "_123_")
-The 5 characters to display should be in the range " " (space, ASCII 32) to "`" (grave accent, ASCII 96).  This range includes A-Z (upper case), 0-9, and symbols including $, %, &, (, ), [, ], =, -, +, /, |, \, _, ., ", and ^.  ( Please [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_printable_characters see here] [http://web.cs.mun.ca/~michael/c/ascii-table.html or here] for a more complete ASCII chart in the appropriate range. )   Some symbols, such as the exclamation point or a colon, ''simply do not'' display well on an alphanumeric display.   In certain cases, the decimal points can be used to help make good looking characters, as is the case with the colon, aptly displayed by two decimal points (upper and lower) between two characters.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The standard [[Alpha Clock Firmware]] for [[Alpha Clock Five]] has a built in serial interface protocol that supports several basic functions, including time sync and displaying text on the alphanumeric LED display.
+[[Alpha_Clock_Firmware_v2|Firmware v. 2.0]] for [[Alpha Clock Five]] has a built in serial interface protocol that supports several basic functions, including time sync and displaying text on the alphanumeric LED display, as well as sending serial data to multiple Alpha Clock Five units by "daisy chaining" their serial ports.
 == Interfacing to Alpha Clock Five ==
-The serial interface is a "TTL Serial" type, connected directly to the microcontroller, and supports logic-level signals only.   The interface is normally configured for 19,200 baud, 8N1.
+Alpha Clock Five has two onboard hardware serial ports.     The main serial port (Arduino PORT0, J2 on the PCB) is normally used for communication with your PC, while the second serial port (Arduino PORT1, J5 on the PCB) is normally used for connecting to another "daisy chained" Alpha Clock Five.      In general, we will refer to the main serial port, J2, as "the serial port" for purposes of communication.
-Note that the clock usually resets when the serial connection is opened; this is a side-effect of the auto-reset circuitry used for reprogramming the clock using the bootloader.  If this is problematic and you expect to never update the firmware, you can disable auto-reset by removing capacitor C10 from the circuit board or by clipping the lead at pin RTS* on J2.
+The serial port on Alpha Clock Five is a "TTL Serial" type that is connected directly to the microcontroller.  To interface with a computer, it is normally used with an FTDI serial interface such as the [http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/130-usbttl FTDI TTL-232R] or the Adafruit [http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/accessories/210 FTDI Friend].     Note that since the interface supports logic-level signals, it cannot be interfaced directly to a traditional RS232 serial port on a computer.
@@ Line 75: / Line 88: @@
 * A 5-character string indicating which (if any) decimal points should be lit (e.g., "_123_")
 When Alpha Clock Five receives an A''x'' command on its main serial port (where ''x'' is not equal to zero), it relays that command out through its second serial port, decrementing it from A''x'' to A''(x-1)''.  For example, suppose that two Alpha Clock Five units are connected together via their serial ports. Then, the command A1, followed by a text/decimal string, will be received by the first Alpha Clock Five and then sent to the next as an A0 command, so that it will display that text/decimal string on the second unit.