StateWORKS Newsletter 5/05
Topics:
1. Welcome
Most demonstrations of software tools for creating embedded system software are too reliant on being simulated: we normally just see some very nice effects on the screen. The reason is the lack of suitable hardware. We have a similar problem when demonstrating StateWORKS. To improve the situation, we developed some time ago a card with digital inputs and outputs connected to a printer port. Of course, such a home-made product helped a bit but was not a very good solution.
Eventually, we found a very nice commercial card which can be used for demonstrations, and it could even be employed in a real-life application, as up to 4 boards may be connected to one PC. It is available, either as a kit for self-assembly or as a ready-made and tested board.
We have prepared a software system, using StateWORKS, which you may download from our web site. It comes with a ready-programmed application, incorporating finite state machines, and you can easily install and run this application to see what it does.
As this is the last newsletter for 2005 I use the opportunity to wish you all the best in the New Year. In 2006 we will continue to supply you information about the StateWORKS concept and implementation.
Regards
F. Wagner
2. The IO-Unit for K8055 board
The Velleman company sells a nice and inexpensive board, to be connected via USB, with several digital and analog inputs and outputs. A suitable DLL is also provided for its control. We have prepared an IO-Unit for the board and built an IO-Handler into the StateWORKS execution system.
The application note "IO-Unit for K8055 board" describes the IO-Unit, the K8055demo project and its use. You will also find there some basic information about the card.
The system, the demonstration project and all required components can be downloaded from our web site. You could go on to develop your own applications – quite possibly without writing any code – after spending some time studying the material we provide.
---