Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Some Inspiration

Some webs that inspired me to do this project:

Monday, March 22, 2010

Directory Structure explanation

I will try to explain my logic in the directory tree that I created for this project, so that it is easier for other people to use:
  • Branches: Usual svn branches directory, empty now, as there are no branches yet.
  • Tags: Usual svn tags directory, empty now, as there are no tags yet.
  • Trunk: Usual svn trunk directory.
    • app: This is the main application, currently empty, as I have not yet started writting the application code
    • examples: This directory contains some examples that I created to test different characteristics of the GBA and the hardware (this is my current development place).
      • gubia_example: a very simple example to test gubia
      • test_cables: I implemented this app to be able to test which of the cables from the multiple cables inside the link cable. Identifying the different pins in the com port in the usual GBA is easy, but using the GBM it is a pain in the ***.
      • serial_input: This application tests the serial input in the GBA by implemented an interrupt driven receive example.
      • ... More examples to come...
    • gubia: Gubia is a very simple library that implements the GUI that I plan to use for this project. It still a work in progress, but it is fairly usable already.
    • ... More libraries to come...
    • include: Common include files should be placed here
    • library: Library object code gets placed here upon valid compilation
    • objects: This folder is used temporary in the compilation process of the project

I am ready to start the application development now!!! soon the track logging will be available... stay alert!!!

P.D. BTW...  I am using devKitPro as my toolchain and all my makefiles rely on DEVKITARM and DEVKITPRO correctly defined to the location of the devkitarm and devkitpro directories respectively.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

What is aToy GBA GPS?


aToy GBA GPS is an open source project that will try to implement a GPS tracking system + Bike computer in a Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

The picture above shows the ingredients of this DIY project:
  • Game Boy Micro (small version of the Game Boy Advance, AKA GBA)
  • MiniSD M3 perfect flash card, for using homebrew games in the GBA/GBM
  • Link cable (shown cut in half in the picture)
  • Custom Nintendo screwdriver (not really necessary, but just in case)
  • SKYLAB SKM53 GPS module (which I got from ctombaugh on eBay, excelent deal, BTW)
Another NMEA compatible GPS module working at 9600 bauds will also work (other baudrates could also be used with a simple code modification).

You may think that using a GBA is a bit outdated, but hey, it is what I got available.

You will be able to find the code for this project in the sourceforge page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/atoygbagps/
I will be posting all my progress in this blog so that it is easy to replicate/improve/fix. I might be redirecting my svn logs into this blog also, so that it is even easier to follow my changes