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INOUT in Accelerometer Project

1. Creating Your Accelerometer Project

In this tutorial, you will learn how to develop and program an FPGA project using ChipInventor, with a practical example of implementing an SPI communication system for an accelerometer. At the end of the tutorial, the accelerometer data will be transmitted via UART to an external device, such as a computer.

The SPI protocol (Serial Peripheral Interface) is widely used for data transfer between microcontrollers and sensors. In ChipInventor, you will use predefined blocks to build your circuit quickly and efficiently.

Creating a New Project:

  • Open ChipInventor.

  • Click on New Project.

  • Fill in the details:

    • Name: Accelerometer SPI

    • Description: SPI communication project for accelerometer

    • Type: FPGA

  • Click Create to finish creating the project.

2. Accelerometer in the Blocks Tab

For this project, we will use four main blocks:

  • spi_ctrl: Controls SPI communication with the accelerometer.

  • acc_controller: Processes data read from the sensor.

  • twos_complement_to_ascii: Converts data to ASCII.

  • uart_tx: Transmits data via UART.

Connecting the Blocks:

  • spi_ctrl Block

    • Input: clk (System clock)

    • Outputs:

      • acc_mosi (sends commands to the accelerometer)

      • acc_sclk (SPI clock)

      • acc_cs (selects the accelerometer chip)

  • acc_controller Block

    • Input: acc_miso (receives data from the accelerometer)

    • Outputs: Processed data for conversion

  • twos_complement_to_ascii Block

    • Input: Processed data from the accelerometer

    • Output: Data converted to ASCII

  • uart_tx Block

    • Input: ASCII data

    • Output: uart_tx (transmits data via UART to a PC or other device)

3. Simulation

  • Click the Simulate tab on the top menu.

  • Select Advanced Simulation.

  • In advanced mode, click on Menu and then Run Iverilog.

  • Check the message that appears:

    • If there are no errors, your design is ready for the next step.

    • If there are errors, adjust the blocks and connections and repeat the process.

4. Synthesis and Programming the FPGA

After confirming your design is error-free:

  • Click the Synthesize tab.

  • Select Start Synthesis.

  • If all items turn green, the synthesis was successful.

  • Connect the FPGA to your computer.

  • Select the correct serial port, the enhanced port.

  • Click Flashing to start programming.

[GIF]

5. Validation on the FPGA

After programming the FPGA, let’s test the hardware:

  • On the top menu, click Main.

  • Access the Serial Console.

  • Configure the correct baud rate (e.g., 115200 baud).

  • On the serial monitor, view the data received from the accelerometer.

  • If data is not received correctly, review the blocks and parameters in ChipInventor.

[GIF]

6. Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to configure and connect blocks in ChipInventor to create an SPI system for an accelerometer, check for errors in simulation, synthesize the circuit, and program the FPGA.

If you have any questions, review the steps, make adjustments, and keep exploring more advanced projects in ChipInventor!

 

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