Digital Design Video Project Workshop

This workshop will demonstrate the use of an FPGA driving a video monitor to
provide a base for students to create sophisticated digital design capstone
projects. Video output is a powerful teaching tool for several reasons:
Video projects generate intense student interest and enthusiasm.
The images created illuminate any errors in the designs and provide
immediate feedback to help the students master debugging and
troubleshooting techniques.
The projects are very show-able. Administrators, fellow educators,
families and the community enjoy seeing (and playing with) these
projects when they are completed.
All support material required incorporate these projects into a curriculum will be
provided and discussed. This support material includes:
Explanation of Video signals
All the Verilog files required to support video output.
Example Verilog files (to be given to the students):
o Checkerboard, grids, color bars
o ASCII text, text in a moving box
o Moving boxes bouncing off the screen boundaries
Four outstanding student projects:
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o
o
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Simon, a memory game

Pong
Slot machine
Home & Away scoreboard

The workshop will be accomplished in a 4 hour block broken into three sections:
Session 1 Driving video displays. The session will begin with the basics of
making images on video displays. The signals a VGA display requires will be
described. The Verilog file that interfaces between a student project and a
display will be examined.
Session 2 Verilog examples. This will be a discussion of the Verilog files to
be given to students to teach them the basics of display creation. These
files will also help guide students as they design their projects.
Session 3 Modifying the Verilog examples. Faculty in the workshop will be
encouraged to modify the examples to begin to explore the possibilities of
image creation.
Salt Lake Community College will supply hardware (FPGA boards and monitors).
The faculty at the workshop should bring laptops pre-loaded with ALTERA Quartus
Web Edition (it is free!).
Allen Tanner, Assistant Professor, Salt Lake Community College will be presenting
the workshop. He is a graduate of the University of Utah BS Computer Science
1977, BS Mathematics 2003 and MS Physics 2004. He is a 30 year veteran of the
computer graphics industry. He was the VP of Research and Development at
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation between 1996 and 2006. He has
taught digital systems courses at both the UofU and SLCC. This workshop is based
on those courses. Allen Tanner at 801-641-9097 and ahtanner53@gmail.com.