31- Jan 2010 Updated MPLAB Plugin - removing reference to licensing - is now FREE

FLASH ( 5.5 Mb ) - Connecting MPLAB to VBB using MPLAB Plugin

VBB 3.4.1 Release Notes - 29 Jan 2010

Minor fixes to component wizard supporting the tutorial example

  Create a TTL74HC4040 component  Example: ( Video 13 mins )

This tutorial ( draft - no voice over yet ) shows how to add a new 74HC4040 device to the OpenVBB 74Series library and create a test for the device.

Steps shown:

1) Capture a screenshot of 74HC4040 functional block from datasheet

2) Start VBB and locate the OpenVBB directory and TTL74 project

3) Use the Bitmap component wizard to a new component 74HC4040 to the library

4) Import the function block bitmap and edit the pinout using the wizard table

5) Generate the Visual Basic code template from the wizard

6) Add the user code to the code template to implement 12-bit counter functionality

7) Compile and test the code over a few interations, shows also compiler error warnings

8) Create a new VBB test sheet and add the new74HC4040 part and test LEDS and dip switches

9) Run the test application and demonstrate the functionality manually clicking the dips to generate the clock signals

10) Enhance the test by replacing the manual clock with a high speed test source

11) Finally show you can edit the code in the wizard if something needs changing.

Note: The sourcecode is fully self contained - if you create a new component please send the source code file and test file so it can be included in the VBB project!!

Hints/Tips:

• Refer to the IOpenVBBVoltage interface for programming the voltage nodes

• If you create a new project you must save the project before using the wizard or it will crash

• Careful with the names you select for the pins, they should not be language keywords or the generated code will not compile

• The wizard calculates the pins based on trying to fit the diagram to a grid. It works best for arrays of pins at set distances apart. You can use the gridstep property to change the number of minimum grid positions resized to hence making the graphic larger.

VBB 3.4 Release Notes - 23 Jan 2010

VBB 3.4 is a pretty big release and lays the foundation for the upcoming version 4 release which will transform VBB from a modelling into a Making tool of awesome power.

3.4 has fixed many bugs and added many features, but is sadly still lacking in the documentation you all deserve so I will be trying to download as much of my brain in the most efficient way I can figure out over the next few days.

Whats New?

New components.

-- PIC18F26J11, MiniTerminal, POTDelayFalling, 74XX (OpenVBB*), CMOS400(OpenVBB*)

New examples.

-- BasicStamp2 has about 50 new examples as tests of the language and IO.
-- New JavaCAM example to NLT Course basis

64bit compatibility.

-- Compiled as x86 only application to better work on 64bit operating systems that have reported problems

Graphics

-- Fixes for the dirty drawing makes it a cleaner faster experience to layout

Project Management

-- Can now right click into the project tree and add source code projects and source code into the source code wizards

**USER HINT** you drag design sheets from the project tree into the view windows.

OpenVBB

First steps towards open sourcing the libraries to encourage user contributions. The component language is based on an API called OpenVBB. You can now develop OpenVBB components within VirtualBreadboard itself in Java or VisualBasic(.net) languages at this time. The downside is you don't get full debugging support like in say Visual Studio. The upside is you can take advantage of the cool component wizard which does most of the work for you, at least for simple components.

Component Wizard

A code generation wizard is available for capturing bitmaps of circuit models to be used as component templates. You should probably wait for the tutorial on using that one but you can open the following two projects to take a look at component library development examples using the bitmap component wizard.

<VBBDIR>/OpenVBB/CMOS4000/CMOS4000.VSM ( Java Example ) or the
OR
<VBBDIR>/OpenVBB/TTL74/TTL74XX.VSM ( Visual Basic )


MPLAB Support

The plugin now now enables on all the 12/16/18 parts and is more stable when connecting and reconnecting to the simulated hardware

JavaCAM

New multiple robot support with multiple simultaneous cameras. JavaCAM is to support the JobotNANO and NLT coursework.

BUG FIXES

LOTS!!

News: Version 3.3.14 available now 4 August 2009.

• Enhanced SerialLCD with additional properties for size, endian and inverted signal

• BasicStamp2 Preview with HelloWorld example hint: you can edit the example to try new things but you can't yet create new pBasic projects.

News: Version 3.3.14 available now 2 August 2009.

• PIC16F Core Bugfixes and performance enhancements

• EEPROM Property now has editor and can point to a file to load on startup

News: Version 3.3.12 available now 11 July 2009.

• VBB is FREE!! - removed the licensing manager

• Added 3 new PIC, 12F629,12F675, 12F683

• Added 20 new examples for the new devices, 3 x ADC,BLINK, EEPROM,INT0,Timer0Clocked,Timer0Counter,Timer0Int

• Added EEPROM to the 16F84 and EEPROM example to many devices

• Added ability to link the debugger to .LST files, see How To

• Added PanelMeter and SlidePOT components

• Fixed 18F8722 graphic

• Fixed SFR names for 12XX,16XX devices

News: Version 3.3.6 available now 24 April Jan 2009.

• New Drawing Package for Line, Rectangle, Label, and SVG Element

• 2 New Muvium Examples

News: Version 3.3.5 available now 11 April Jan 2009.

• Maintenance fixes with New Project and Project Names

News: Version 3.3.4 available now 8 April Jan 2009.

Whats New

• MPLAB Plugin

• New PIC's PIC16F84 added

• Logic Analyser

• Simplified Licensing

• Logic, Power, Motors component packages

• Component Development with C# Express 2008, VB.NET 2005