PEBBLE - Picaxe Electronic Bread Board Layout Emulator

Lorian

New Member
Many thanks I have it mostly working.

The PROTO777 board is a little strange in that it has two rows that are not in line with the rest of the board. I have left the "higher" of the two sets of points turned on. Obviously you could connect flexible components to these, but not IC's even though Pebble thinks it can. Nothing much we can do about this without a "half way row" function, probably not worthwhile coding.

The other issue is the very bottom of the board (it's quite big) is over-written by the bottom grey box, and I'm not quite sure why?

With the caveat that I haven't done much testing yet, here are the files. I also have to apologise for the quality of the background picture wich is very poor. It's all I have from the manufacturer's site until the boards actually arrive. I'll scan one then and post an updated photo & code.

http://www.bug-byte.co.uk/proto777.zip

This is the changelog:

Code:
in imagedata.js
------------

var BB60 = new Image(); // Futurlec large stripboard PROTO777


in PEBBLE of IE.html
-----------------

<option value="BB60">42R Lrg Stripbrd Futurlec PROTO777


in breadboard.js
-------------

	case "BB60" :
		globalBreadBoardSize = "PROTO777";
		globalBBPower = "PROTO777";
		o.style.width = "1240px";
		o.style.height = "1024px";
		if(globalTopParkVisible == "false" || globalTopParkVisible == false || globalTopParkVisible == null)
		{
			q.style.top = "1044px";
		}
		else
		{
			q.style.top = "1339px";
		}
		break;
	}


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


if(globalBreadBoardSize == "PROTO777")
        {
                var bbrows = 42 ;
                var bbxr = 54;
                var lsmarg = 45;
        }

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

               if(globalBreadBoardSize == "PROTO777")     // Two missing Rows near outside
                {
                        if(i == 2 || i == 40 ) // leave a vertical gap both sides of the main board area
                        {
                                continue;
                        }
		}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	if (globalBBPower == "PROTO777")
	{
		bbcols = 39;  // Protoboard
	}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                if (globalBBPower == "PROTO777")    // Futurlec small stripboard
                {
                        if(m == 2 || m == 5 || m == 11 || m == 16 || m == 18 || m == 20 || m == 26 || m == 31 || m == 34 )
                        {
                                continue;
                        }
                }

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	case "BB60" :
		BB60.src = "images/BB42804.gif";
		break;


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Thanks Lorian


With respect to the offset holes agree taht can be an issue.
Gadget Gangsters BOSS board also has a range of hole sizes (not such a big issue) and many holes offset from the regular matrix.

I had tried to apply some "artist license" but after a couple of starts have never completed a hand drawn image of that board.



It is good to see that others are starting to look at adding their own "favourite"/required components/boards to PEBBLE.

At some stage I hope to get back and write up some words on how to create a new component category for those who are keen to do that.
 

Lorian

New Member
Thanks, it seems to cope with the offsets rows OK.

It was well worth the effort, as the boards while not perfect, are very cheap.

i have already designed a quick memory expansion board on half of one without any problems.

One thing I did notice is when inserting components it only seems to accept or reject positioning based on the availability of a hole under the top left leg of a component - should it check all legs have holes available?
 
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westaust55

Moderator
One thing I did notice is when inserting components it only seems to accept or reject positioning based on the availability of a hole under the top left leg of a component - should it check all legs have holes available?
Ah yes, that topic has come up before.

PEBBLE is more a layout aid and not intended to be an auto placement or auto routing type program.

With a wire for example what is to say that the first wire ends in "free space" and that that user will next add another segment of wire at a differnt orientation or offset that continues to a hole. Where does one stop . . .


Certainly nothing is impossible but tentatively it would take a lot of code and potentially time to start adding auto placement features. Javascipt is a bit like BASIC and takes time to interpret. The more checks one ads the slower it can become.

The present goal is to clearly depict a layout for a user, not automatically do the layout for them.
I look upon it as leaving something for the students amongst us to make sure they correctly place components on a bread/proto board layout.
 

Lorian

New Member
Sorry I jumped in 50 odd pages late, and have lots to catch up on :)

Pebble will be very useful, thanks again.
 

slimplynth

Senior Member
Hi Westy, that link didn't work for me... cheers for all your efforts with PEBBLE have recently decided that I love bread boards, would like to do something artistic with them, just not had a spark of perspiration :D yet..

After Imaginings: "BBBOT" - Transformers styled Bot made from bread boards, look a bit like a cricket batsman i guess... Oz. vs. UK? anyone fancy an international round of picaxe top trumps?
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Following a couple of recent forum queries and PM's about breadboard layout software, I thought it may be worth a "bump" to bring this thread back to the front page for a day.

I have checked today and all the links in post 1 (First page) are still functioning. Thanks to all those who are hosting on my behalf.

No new developments with PEBBLE at this time (only so many hours in a day).
Maybe I should be looking to add the new X2 and M2 PICAXE chips . . . .
 

russbow

Senior Member
Want to use Pebble as a teaching aid for a 9 year old. Trouble is I can't drive it !!!

Unzipped ok and all appears well, but how do I access those lovely images? The default ones - switches, resistor, diode etc work ok but how do I load the battery, motor, display et cet to the screen?

Skimmed the last 50 pages, but can't lock on.

Thanks,

Russ
 

westaust55

Moderator
Want to use Pebble as a teaching aid for a 9 year old. Trouble is I can't drive it !!!

Unzipped ok and all appears well, but how do I access those lovely images? The default ones - switches, resistor, diode etc work ok but how do I load the battery, motor, display et cet to the screen?

Skimmed the last 50 pages, but can't lock on.

Thanks,

Russ
From the menu (which is on the left side when you first start up PEBBLE), you drag the component of the desired type over to your breadboard or strip board.


Then right click on the component to view a pop up edit menu for that component to change the specific type, change orientation, colour, size, etc.

For the battery etc, drag the LDR over and then under that item edit group (miscellaneous items) you will find motors, batteries, piezo devices, etc.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Adding to PEBBLE

Made a start on adding some of the recent PICAXE chips (the 18M2 so far) and some others (74C922 4x4 Keyboard Encoder) into PEBBLE today.
Will add the 20/28/40X2 parts soon. When these are done, will forward to those hosting for all to access.
 

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westaust55

Moderator
20X2 and 28X2 done this morning.
If anyone spots an error :eek: - now is the time to advise

I am trying to add some of the secondary functions for pins but there is only so much room available and abbreviation is essential
 

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westaust55

Moderator
PEBBLE V3.0e updater file

Attached is a zip file - you need to remove the ".dsn" extension - which will update the V3.0c to C3.0e.
Using Winzip select the drive (ie C:\ drive) where you installed PEBBLE - only select the root/main directory not the PEBBLE folder.
Then select/tick "Use Folder Names" and extract all which will put everything into the correct folder of the PEBBLE directory for you.

The update includes:
3.0e 27 Sept 2010
Added PICAXE 18M2
Added PICAXE 20X2
Added PICAXE 28X2
Added PICAXE 40X2
Added 74C922 4x4 matrix Keypad Encoder
Added 74C923 4x5 matrix Keypad Encoder
Added 74HC04 / 74HC05 Hex Inverter IC

3.0d 3 March 2010 (not released)
Added Rev Ed FRM050 chip for PWM Motor Driver chip (for use with L293D or similar)
Added microMega FPU V2 co-processor chip
Added microMega FPU V3 co-processor chip
Added CD4066 Quad 1-Channel Analog Switch
Added MC14551B Quad 2-Channel Analog Switch
Added AMIS30622 i2c Micro-Stepping Motor Controller
Modified program code to allow selection of resistor values in the range 1.0 to 9.9 Ohms (gold 0.1 multiplier band included)


I will shortly post the entire zip to those who are hosting PEBBLE but some may prefer to get a head start and may not want to download the entire 6+ MB download.
 

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pilko

Senior Member
New PEBBLE Stripboard

Hi Westaust,
I am posting my message to you and your reply,also a JPG image:-

"Hi Westaust,
I am trying to add a large stripboard from Maplin, it is 39 strips wide by 62 holes high.
I have tried to add it myself by following your PDF instructions, but I am afraid I don't have the computer skills.
Do you have the time to add it to PEBBLE? if not ,I will keep woking at it.
I was also wondering if it would be possible to have a generic stripboard where it would be possible to select the number of horizantal and vertical holes.
Regards
pilko"

"Hi Pilko,
It would not be easy to have a dynamic image for variable sized strip board but lets not say it is impossible.
There are a lot of maths going on in the background to set the spacing for holes etc.
If you have a specific board and an image, just post it on the forum thread and I can look into that quickly.
Might take a lot longer to work out a means for having a variable sized board - but I will think about it."

ps -- Unable to send image as it is too big at 27 pixels per hole centre and 39 X 62 holes

pilko

pps -- adding image
 

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westaust55

Moderator
I am trying to add a large stripboard from Maplin, it is 39 strips wide by 62 holes high.
I have tried to add it myself by following your PDF instructions, but I am afraid I don't have the computer skills.
Do you have the time to add it to PEBBLE? if not ,I will keep working at it.
I was also wondering if it would be possible to have a generic stripboard where it would be possible to select the number of horizontal and vertical holes.
Regards
pilko

Okay I created an image for a 43 x 71 strip board the other day and this evening have sorted out the javascript to enable selection on a strip board size from 10 x 10 up to 43 x 71.

edit: the 41 x 71 in the message within the code the image was captured from has been fixed just now to read 43 x 71

I also spotted a bug relating to component position when the top off-board parking area is turned on so will look into that before I release an updater for folks here to test for me.
 

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tgss

New Member
Hi all
I think this is my first post to the forum; if not it's been a very long time since my last one!
First of all, thanks to all who have contributed to the PEBBLE development, especially westaust55 for the incredible amount of work he has put into making it the very useful and attractive tool it is. I'm looking for some help with a problem I'm having with the operation of PEBBLE in Firefox. Although I find that PEBBLE works fine for me in IE on both a WinXP desktop and a Win 7 laptop, it does not work for me in Firefox 3.6.10 on either machine. The app loads and everything looks good. I can select a component (e.g. DIP) and place it on the BB. Right click allows me to select what type of component I want to change to from the default, but when I click "Okay" there is essentially no change - occassionaly part of the default component may disappear, but basically nothing changes. Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour? I have AVG Free installed which does install a "Safe Search" add-on and a "Security Toolbar", but I get the same behaviour from PEBBLE whether or not they are enabled.
 

westaust55

Moderator
Firstly, welcome to the PICAXE fiorum

there are two html files in the PEBBLE root (main) directory/folder.

The first is "PEBBLE for IE", and
the second is "PEBBLE for FF"

You must select and start via the correct file or the program will not work correctly.
I did start to look into resolving this need for two front ends which came about when I made the component menu bar floating.
Hopefully I may get some time soon and can revisit that topic.

But you seem to be getting started and having problems which I have not experinced and I use with both IE and FF and using a number of different firewall and anti-virus software packages over 4 PC's.


EDIT:
On a just in case basis, I tried PEBBLE in FF and selected the DIP switches that you specifically mentioned. I can select the hex rotary switch or any available length of DIP switch without problems and they always show up okay.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
PEBBLE has variable sized strip board

I have fixed the bug found with vertical positioning of components when the top side off-board area is enabled.

So, attached is an updater file (154kB) with that fix and incorporating the user adjustable strip board size functionality as sought by Pilko and a few others in the past.

Min strip board size is 10 x 10 and max is 43 x 71.

I will give it a short time to see if there are any bug reports or comments before sending out a new full zip file to those who host for me.

EDIT: please use the corrected updater file in post 588
 

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pilko

Senior Member
Hi Westaust,
Thanks for all your effort. I am not able to open the attachment (dsn file)
What am I doing wrong?---sorry to be a nuisance.

pilko
 

tgss

New Member
Thanks for the response westaust55, and for the welcome - I'm happy to be here.
Yes, I was aware of the two versions of PEBBLE and have been using the appropriate version with each browser. Regarding the DIP switch, in fact it was the DIP IC package I was referring to, but it really doesn't make any difference, as all of the component choices are handled (mishandled?) in much the same way. However I now have Firefox on my desktop machine running PEBBLE successfully, although unfortunately I'm not entirely sure why. Disabling the AVG toolbar may have had something to do with it, but I'm not convinced. The copy on my laptop still doesn't function properly with Firefox, but that's running under Win 7, so maybe it's just par for the course??

In any event, I now have 3 out of 4 available options operating, so it's not a show stopper, just frustrating. I'll continue to pick away at it and report back if I find out anything useful. If anyone else runs into a similar problem I'd be happy to share notes.

Tom
 

westaust55

Moderator
Realised today that I had neglected to include one of the javascript files in the updater file yesterday :eek:
which will prevent you seeing the new variable sized strip-board when selected.
The attached new file corrects that.
Sorry but you will need to download the updater file again.

Don't forget to change the .dsn file extension to .zip and set winzip to your C: drive (or whereever you have PEBBLE) and place the files in the stated directories
 

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pilko

Senior Member
Hi Westaust,
thanks for the update. I thought I was cracking up when the board would not load. I was almost afraid to ask in case it was me doing something wrong again.
Thanks again for all your effort.
pilko
 

westaust55

Moderator
PEBBLE appearance

Starting to have a look at changing the appearance of the Device/Component edit pop-up windows so they look a bit more WinXP like. The WinXP like "Cancel" icon in the top right of the device properties edit window is active.
Even though there is now a header bar the overall height of many edit windows should become vertically a bit shorter (wire editor is a likely exception).
 

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westaust55

Moderator
I have made some endeavours to reduce the size of the wire editor pop-up window.

Using breadboard hole spacing as a reference, it is now 2 holes wider but reduced 4 holes in height (even after the new header bar is included).

Bit more work to do before I have gone though all the pop-up windows to have a consistent appearance.
 

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westaust55

Moderator
After a few evening work attached is an updater file Version 3.0g which also includes the changes for V3.0f so you can step directly from 3.0e to 3.0g.

V3.0g provides smaller diaglog windows for components and other actions which also have a more WInXP like apearance and active cancel/close icon at the top right of the dialogs.

The "Load/Save" dialog window now also includes a "Select All" button to users do not have to scroll down to select all the text for the purpose of copying to a text editor to save.

Don't forget to change the file extension for .dsn to .zip after you download. Then extract to the root/main directory/folder of the drive where you have previously installed PEBBLE.

Have fun in a PICAXE world :)
 

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westaust55

Moderator
PEBBLE - multi Browser compatible front end

Thanks for the accolades JW.

In view of the problems endeavouring to get the exact same code (ie the same main html file) working for both IE and FF, I have created a small "front end" file which can be executed from any/either browser. That file/script will check the browzer being used (currently as IE or "other") and then execute the appropriate main PEBBLE html file.

If folks can try it, particularly those using Chrome, Opera etc and let me know if it gives grief and if so
which browser you use and which file you have normally been using "PEBBLE for IE" or "PEBBLE for FF" and I can adapt the script accordingly.

For now, just paste the attached file into your PEBBLE folder and change the file extension from .txt to .html.

Next full release of PEBBLE will have this in the zip file with the html extension
 

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pilko

Senior Member
Hi Westaust,
It is working great.
I like the new window format and the stripboard sizing option.
Thanks again for all your work.

Regards,
pilko.
 

westaust55

Moderator
Thanks Pilko. :cool:

Having some feedback is a good way of ensuring that I have not done something silly like leave out a file or put an out of date version into the zip file. :eek:
 

westaust55

Moderator
Version 3.0g has been sent to those hosting and others who may be interested overnight.

Post 1 will be updated as folks confirm they have hosted the latest version.
I will be away "in the bush" for the rest of this week so little or no contact can be expected via email or internet etc.

Have fun in a PICAXE world :) :) :)
 

westaust55

Moderator
PEBBLE V3.0h updater

Attached is an updater file to update PEBBLE V3.0g to 3.0h

The recent additions and fixes are:

3.0h 27 Dec 2010
Corrected outline for SAA1064 to be 0.6 inch wide (not 0.3 inch wide)
Added Speakjet - the Magnevation speech and sound synthesiser chip
Added an "NC" image under misc component set for No Connection indication
Added small tactile momentary switch under the DIP Switch group
Added large tactile momentary switch under the DIP Switch group
Added Jaycar HP9556 Mini Proto Board
Added Jaycar HP9558 Large Proto Board
Added Jaycar HP9540 Small Strip Board 95 x 76 mm
Added Jaycar HP9540 Small Strip Board 95 x 152 mm
Added Jaycar HP9540 Small Strip Board 95 x 303 mm



Don't forget to change the file extension from .dsn to .zip
Then extract all to the location where you have PEBBLE installed
typically C:\PEBBLE

Have fun in a PICAXE world :)
 

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john2051

New Member
Re:pebble

Great program!

One thing I'm struggling with is the 40x2 ic not appearing, the others seem to be ok. What am I doing wrong?
If I place the ic, then select 40x2, the ic disappears.

Regards & seasons greetings

John
 
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