EVEs support the development of intelligent displays

Measuring 106.7x68.6mm, the VM801B EVE is offered with a 5” or a 4.3” display, an integrated projected capacitive touchscreen and a fitted, plastic bezel in a black or pearl finish. An audio power amplifier, a micro speaker unit and a RTC are also provided.

The VM801P EVE has the same dimensions and features as the VM801B, but with the addition of a built-in ATMEGA328P Flash-based MCU. Operating at 16MHz, the MCU processes all of the data, providing the user with a fully integrated, stand-alone display system, which is compatible with the Arduino open source ecosystem. The device, which is backed by a comprehensive set of Arduino libraries, features a Micro-SD socket which can be used for storing application data. To allow engineers to start their HMI designs immedietly, a 4GB SD card featuring useful application examples is offered with the EVE. For expansion purposes, the device can be used with the company’s recently released Plus board daughter cards.

The EVE technology incorporated in the VM801B and VM801P treats images, fonts and sounds as objects, removing the need for large Flash memories, frame buffers and separate audio/touch controllers required by conventional intelligent display solutions. This lowers the BOM, reduces the necessary board space and shortens development times.

“Our EVE platforms are already proving very attractive to engineers, allowing them to quickly prototype sophisticated HMI implementations with the minimum of additional resources. With these two offerings, it is now possible to make use of capacitive touchscreens - benefiting from their greater robustness and the multi-touch operation they deliver,” said Fred Dart, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, FTDI Chip. “The VM801B Basic board is complemented by the VM801P Plus board through which they can tap into the extraordinary popularity of Arduino.”