2020-09-01: First week of classes for the Fall 2020 semester. I reviewed the syllabus as well as set up my website, and I am looking into getting my own FPGA.
2020-09-08: We went over more VHDL and learned about design units in the textbook, and I signed onto a Google sheets that will hopefully allow me to borrow an FPGA since I am currently in Hoboken.
2020-09-15: We continued through chapter 7 in the textbook this week in class, and I was able to install GHDL and GTKWave on my own time and successfully ran the Hello World and Half Adder examples from GitHub.
2020-09-22: I was able to successfully run the Full Adder, D Flip-flop, and T Flip-flop examples from GitHub, and I began quizzing myself on the VHDL language to ensure I remember the reserved words list.
2020-09-29: I joined a group through canvas that will be used for upcoming labs and projects in the course as well as let people know that I am currently in Hoboken and have access to grab the FPGA from campus. Additionally, I was able to successfully run the 4-to-1 Multiplexer and 1-to-4 Demultiplexer examples from GitHub.
2020-10-06: I installed Vivado on my computer, opened it to make sure everything ran properly, and read through the GitHub links in preparation of the labs that I plan to begin in the upcoming weeks.
2020-10-13: I picked up the Nexys A7 from Professor Lu in front of EAS and successfully completed the first two labs of the class. I need a VGA display and Pmods to continue with the remaining labs, and I hope to schedule a time to obtain these materials in the near future.
2020-10-20: I was able to meet Professor Lu near campus again and obtain the VGA display, keypad, and DAC, and I finished up labs three, four, and five. I am now waiting to see if the potentiometer is ready to be picked up so that I can finish up lab six. I forgot to state this previously but Vivado has a 30 day free trial, so unless there is a free version for students that I missed, I need to ensure I complete the labs as soon as I can.
2020-10-27: I joined a breakout room with my group and we created a GroupMe so that we could communicate better. We are still unsure of the project we want to go forward with, but we were discussing making some sort of video game, and we looked at online examples for Snake and Tetris. I also picked up the potentiometer from Professor Lu and plan to complete the final lab soon.
2020-11-03: I successfully completed lab six. This lab was to build the video game Pong, and since my project group were planning on creating our own video game, I looked much more deeply into the files used for this lab and made sure I had a great understanding of the code.
2020-11-10: I joined a breakout room with my project group and we created a shared Google Doc where we have been posting links to sample projects and code used to make the video game Snake, and we formed a list of different aspects of the game that we will need code for. I also returned the VGA display and Pmods used in the labs, but kept the FPGA for the time being.
2020-11-17: I returned the FPGA, and I am continuing to make progress on the final project.
2020-11-24: I was looking through old projects from this class and found a couple of examples of Snake, so I will be keeping these in mind when the team is working on our version of the video game.
2020-12-01: I am continuing to make progress on the final project.
2020-12-08: I took on the role of food generation for the final project, where I will be the one creating the initial copy of the VHDL code such that the food is drawn and placed in new locations when eaten by the snake.
2020-12-15: I worked with my team to put the finishing touches on the final project as well as completed the course survey. Done with the course!