Papilio user and tech blogger Duane Benson from All Programmable Planet has a new article on his ongoing quest to create his own robotic tele-presence avatar. This one is about implementing SPI and I2C interfaces on his Papilio One for the project.

Duane’s avatar will need a series of motors and sensor controls for various functions; these will be communicating via I2C. Also, some of the robot’s sensors will require an SPI interface. In his article, Duane explains what he intends to do to hash out the details of getting these systems working. Goals for this phase of building the avatar are laid out below:
[jbox color="blue" vgradient="#fdfeff|#bae3ff"]I’ve already gotten the slave motor drivers working with MCUs in command, so I know they work, which means I can concentrate on making sure I get the FPGA code right. So, here’s the plan (we’ll call it “Plan A” so no one gets confused):

•The FPGA will be the master for both my I2C and SPI interfaces

•My first implementation will be in my Papilio One FPGA development board

•At some point, I’ll port everything to my ZedBoard

•I’ll create a state machine at the heart of my I2C engines (maybe update the SPI too)

•The first incarnation will just send commands to my motor drivers

•Following that, I’ll start receiving data from my sensors[/jbox] Duane goes into more detail, as well as some code in his article, so be sure to take a look for a much more in-depth view of what he’s up to. It’s always great to see the Papilio being put to creative use in these projects. Keep us updated on your progess, Duane!

(via All Programmable Planet)