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DIY 10" sunlight readable plotter
#11
looks good!
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#12
Hi all,

currently i am working on the schematic. A lot of work, a lot of new technologies.
How does HDMI work internally? How to drive TFT panels?

I try to get everything done with cheap chinese components. Except special parts like
HDMI video decoder, driver and switches.

The plotter will have some buttons additional to the touch screen. I think OpenCPN
is unusable without keyboard and mouse so I added a keypad:

[Image: acb4fc106b_album.jpg]

There are some buttons going to GPIO pins of the pi and some buttons going to the
electronic directly. There will be a 8pin PIC microcontroller providing the pwm frequency
for the LCD backlight and switching the HDMI source.

I am almost finished with the schematic. The plotter will have a 7 port USB hub integrated,
a 2 to 1 HDMI switch, a RTC, battery backup and charger, IR receiver for remote and so on.

The housing will be made of pvc foam. I got 24 mm pvc foam, called "Forex". The front
and back have printing quality. This is the main usage of this kind of foam. The borders are
covered with melamine. Basically this is the same you are using for tables. It makes a very
hard and nice surface and it is very cheap.

The front will be milled to get a pocket for LCD and touch. The back will be milled to get
a pocket for the electronic. A sticky film and 0.8 mm anti glare coversheet will close the
plotter on the front. On the backside M4 brass nuts will be pressed in to hold a aluminium
cover plate in place.

Two of the seven USB ports are kept internally. Five of them are usable to connect
mouse/keyboard, wifi, bluetooth or memory devices. But all of them are kept within the
housing. The Aluminium plate will cover them to get everything waterproof.

The pcb will not contain boat related interfaces or sensosr except one NMEA 0183. There
is one connector with access to GPIOs, I2C, USB and so one and a dedicated space for
an additional pcb.

It will be possible to connect another pcb to the system that contains GPS, sensors,
or I/O. So ideas regarding this pcb are welcome. AIS? GPS, NMEA2k?

Best wishes,
Chris
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#13
Hi there,

some progress! I was in the maker-space last week and cnc-milled a housing for the 10" display:

[Image: 9ae6ed5ae1_album.jpg]

[Image: d468f5327a_album.jpg]

Front with LCD, touch panel, anti-glare cover and keyboard:

[Image: c7e48f6a89_album.jpg]

Rear with battery and touch board. Still waiting for the control pcb:

[Image: 7503ed6c4d_album.jpg]

Currently i am routing the controller board. I guess I will finish it the next days and
order some samples in china. This is how it looks like:

[Image: 248d5efcb1_album.jpg]

The upper left space can be used for expansion boards. There is a 30pin connector
on the pcb with all the I2C, SPI, UART signals and power of course.

Chris
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#14
That looks awesome!
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#15
very nice where is the netflix button
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#16
Interesting device: https://lookingglassfactory.com
Price: 599$

[Image: 1*cQZMInvvnWkJHPxjj2hYIQ.gif]
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#17
Hi Chris! I hope you got the controller and continue to progress with this project. Tell me more !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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#18
Hi all,

i populated three pcbs, two of them fully and one partly, this means without video
engine, HDMI switch and LVDS driver to bring up the power supply.

After fixing some wrong wiring and optimizing the switcher feedback loops i got
a stable picture:

[Image: 8e9a803cba_album.jpg]

This week i made the schematic and pcb design of the keyboard pcb and etched it
at home. This is how the plotter actually looks like:

[Image: ff786c28fa_album.jpg]

Basically the buttons and sound output are working. Currently i am writing a script to
detect buttons and pass the right key codes to OpenCPN.

Next step is to bring up the PIC microcontroller that generates the pwm to control the
display brightness and HDMI-source selection.

Chris
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#19
Wow! It looks great Chris!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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#20
Really amazing work hats off! What else are you considering adding? Something like the Moitessier HAT with AIS/GPS ...... ? Looking forward to following your work.
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