ECE 4760: Final Project
Daily Laboratory Log

Adam Papamarcos (aip23)
Kerran Flanagan (kaf42)


*********************************** Week 1 ***********************************

4/7 W - built target board, attempted to write spi/osd driver
misc - initial hardware design, ordered/sampled required parts


*********************************** Week 2 ***********************************

4/14 W - soldered ADC, hooked up osd, started debugging spi/osd driver
4/15 R - got "hello world" onscreen (spi write is working)
4/16 F - built op amps to buffer, split, gain NTSC signal,
      tried to get spi read working
4/17 S - HARDWARE: split NTSC signal for ADC & OSD. built biasing/gain op-amp
      circuit for ADC input. wired up ADC, and connected to signal and MCU.
      fixed OSD video output RC circuit. SOFTWARE: tried reading input
      from ADC. tried custom characters on OSD.
4/18 Su - fixed characters on OSD. read a "frame" of NTSC, has some
      timing issues. fixed NTSC biasing circuit.
4/19 - read in an NTSC frame well enough to highlight a stick figure in
      black marker on white paper.
4/20 - set up adam's stk. modified line reading code for the worse
      (ISR approach too slow). fixed adc circuitry (ref voltage)


*********************************** Week 3 ***********************************

4/21 - changed adc clk to timer2 output, now steady 5MHz, no garbage. new
      characters. working on horiztonal alignment fixing now. osd jumps frame
      around a lot (emi noise or overheating?).
4/22 - now osd and adc recieve the exact same input ntsc signal. fixed OSD
       screen alignment problems. increased sampling resolution to 39x60.
	   increase heartbeat to 12Hz. got all but last 2-3 cols good on signal.
4/23 - broke stuff. tried to implement power circuit, something wrong with
      voltages or currents - hardware became unstable. refactored software by
      separating into modular files and reorganized some code.
4/24 - fixed power supply circuitry - mostly stable, fixed array output
4/25 - changed some pins: moved sync pulse inputs and LED output. created
      macros for defining important inputs/outputs. inverted button.
4/26 - mild debugging. added software video filtering. stubbed out game code.
      finished hardware schematic. started work on PCB.
4/27 - designed PCB
4/28 AM - reviewed PCB design and submitted order (to arrive Mon. May 3)


*********************************** Week 4 ***********************************

4/28 PM - added shapes to game. switched to mega644pa. broke 1000 lines of code
4/30 PM - changed res to 39x60. changed shape & human block display to 13x30.
      fixed gui layers. added start button. and enter/toggle buttons.
      boots in debug mode. improved chars. added buttons in hardware
      (need common ground plane). wrapped spi in tin foil, helped a little.
      starting working on write-up.
5/3 - received custom PCB and soldered everything up - debugged and got
      everything back to working - HARDWARE FINISHED! worked on software game
      states (e.g. menu system, game mode, tracking mode).
5/4 - finished up tetris, made brickbreaker game, worked on writeup/website
5/5 - wrapped up project and demoed!