Turning a Raspberry Pi Pico into a GPU! -- Episode-644

pchan — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 21:56:15 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by pchan on 2/29/2024 9:56:15 PM

In this episode, Clem takes us through the intricacies of the Raspberry Pi Pico and graphics cards. Forget the technical jargon; imagine a graphics card as a translator between your CPU and the screen, a bit like those old-school graphics adapters but with a modern twist. Clem, our guide, dives into the world of microcontrollers, specifically the RP2040, cooking up digital concoctions for today's monitors and touchscreens.

Watch the Video:

www.youtube.com/watch

Downloads & Links | Bill of Material | Discussion

But every journey has its bumps, and Clem hits a roadblock with high-speed video signals. Ever tried hand wiring on a breadboard? It can be a hit or a miss. Spoiler: It's a miss. Clem troubleshoots with DVI-Socks, dealing with impedance-matching intricacies using resistors. It's a bit like walking a tightrope – precision is key, but it's easy to slip.

The video navigates through connection experiments – soldering DVI sockets, trying headers – with Clem emphasizing the importance of stable connections over detachable boards. A nudge in the wrong direction, and the signal's out of sync. Clem wraps it up neatly with a PCB design, a more reliable solution for video signals with the Raspberry Pi Pico.

The plot thickens as Clem tackles the connection conundrum. In the PCIe connector, Clem spots a hidden SMBus, an I2C bus in disguise. This lets Clem attach the Pseudo-GPU to the SMBus via the PCI connector.

The grand finale showcases Clem's Arduino code, a practical display of text, colour, and rotation using the Adafruit GFX library. Clem demonstrates using two Raspberry Pi Pico boards, connected via I2C, showing them playing nicely with a small monitor. The graphics are very basic, but the concept opens doors for more creative projects.

Downloads & Links:

Download Code and Schematics!
Pico dvi https://github.com/Wren6991/PicoDVI

DVI Sock https://github.com/Wren6991/Pico-DVI-Sock

Bonus Content Video:

community.element14.com/.../Episode-644-_2D00_-GPU_5F00_Bonus-Code.mp4

Bill of Material:

Product Name	Manufacturer	Quantity	Buy Kit
Raspberry pi pico	Raspberry pi	2	Buy Now

Additional Parts:

DVI Socket

element14 presents | About Clem | Project Videos

Tags: Electronic circuit design tips, Digital video signal generation, DVI troubleshooting, Creative projects with Pseudo-GPU, Raspberry Pi Pico graphics card, PCB design for video signals, SMBus and I2C communication, Microcontroller-based display solutions, Impedance matching in electronics, PCI Express connector applications, Graphics output with microcontrollers, High-speed video signal impedance, Arduino code for video display, Microcontroller video signal, Raspberry Pi Pico connection solutions, friday_release, e14p_CMM