This page has documentation for the front panel board on the APOLLO blade service module. This is a small PCB which provides a reset/control button, USB console interface and uSD card.

• Photos: ​http://ohm.bu.edu/~hazen/APOLLO/gallery/FP/
• Git: ​FP ​SM
  • (obsolete) ​SVN)

Notes for Rev D

Restarting January 2022

• Rev C schematic: ​Blade_FP.pdf
• Schematic page for the SM Rev2a FP board interface ​pdf
  • J207 is 1.8V only and these six GPIOs go directly to the Zynq!
  • J40 signals LED_SCL, LED_SDA, LED_RST, and FP_BUTTON are 3.3V and go directly to the Zynq and can be GPIOs
  • J46 signals can ONLY be used for an SD card (you can use the ground pins)
• FrontPanelDisplayTest -- proposed board to test out displays

Proposed changes:

• Remove the SD card and associated circuitry.
• Add the new SM connector for more I/Os
  • This is a third header connector next to the existing two
• Possibly re-think the display... replace LEDs with a small OLED screen?
• Maybe add a small GPIO connector

Parts:

• Possible displays:
  • DigiKey 3837-ELW0501AB-ND (OLED 0.5 inch class with flexi cable)
  • DigiKey 516-1173-5-ND (4 character 5x7 matrix LED) Broadcom HCMS-2903
    • DigiKey A803AR-ND right-angle socket
• 1S7BE_0305S6U - 3.3V/5V DC/DC converter

Display options (below). I think the 4-character 5x7 matrix is probably the best. It's footprint is a convenient DIP-12 of standard size. Unfortunately the nice right-angle socket probably doesn't fit (have to double-check) so we would need to make an additional small right-angle PCB to hold the display.

The OLED screen is cool but availability of the displays and in particular the connectors is iffy.