Simplifying HMI development on intelligent displays

19th February 2014

Future Technology Devices International Limited

Nat Bowers

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With the cooperation continuing to deliver major benefits to the electronic engineering community, FTDI Chip and 4D Systems have introduced two products offering design engineers a foundation on which to construct compelling HMIs in a quick and trouble-free manner. This latest offering complements the recently announced 4DLCD-FT843 intelligent display solution.

Developed specifically to interface with the 4DLCD-FT843 (which incorporates the award-winning FT800 Embedded Video Engine (EVE)), the first of these products is a compact Arduino-compatible shield named ADAM (Arduino Display Adaptor Module). Permitting communication between it and the Arduino via the SPI interface, ADAM is suitable for use with Arduino Uno, Due, Duemilanove, Leonardo, Mega 1280/2560 and Pro 5V, as well as variety of popular Arduino clones.

Measuring just 47.5x53.4mm, the shield has a micro-SD card that provides the Arduino-based display system with capacious data storage. The 4DLCD-FT843 uses this to retrieve objects (such as images, sounds, fonts, etc.). Powered via the Arduino’s 5V bus, ADAM can additionally regulate the 4DLCD-FT843’s supply to 3.3V. The FT800 EVE controller can deal with many of the graphics functions that would otherwise need to be undertaken by the Arduino.

The second product released is the 4DLCD-FT843-Breakout, a simple breakout module that allows the 4DLCD-FT843 to be attached to a general host or breadboard for prototyping purposes. Measuring 26.5x12mm, it features a 10-way FPC connection for attachment with the 4DLCD-FT843, along with a 10-way, 2.54mm pitch male pin header for connection directly to the host board. Both the products released operate over a temperature range from -10 to +70°C.

Released last month, the 4DLCD-FT843 has a 4.3” TFT QWVGA display with a 4-wire resistive touch screen. Additionally, it provides a 64 voice polyphonic sound synthesizer, a mono PWM audio output, a programmable interrupt controller, a PWM dimming controller for the display’s backlight and a convenient flexible ribbon connector.

Fred Dart, CEO and Founder, FTDI Chip, comments: “The on-going collaboration between 4D Systems’ and FTDI Chip’s engineering teams is enabling the EVE platform to gain ever greater market traction. The comprehensive product offering that has resulted brings all the pieces of the jigsaw together, empowering engineers in the seamless integration of advanced display technology.”

“Thanks to these two new additional items of hardware, plus the accompanying software support, we can now furnish the Arduino development environment with a way in which to accomplish next generation HMI implementation while minimising the associated expense and allocated engineering resource,” commented Atilla Aknar, CEO, 4D Systems.