| Summary: | Adapter for MicroFPGA |
| Author: | Joran Deschamps |
| License: | LGPL, MIT |
| Platforms: | Linux, Mac, and Windows |
| Since version: | 2.0.1 |
| Automated Serial Port Setup: | Yes |
| Peripheral device discovery: | Yes |
MicroFPGA is a cost-efficient electronic platform generating typical signals used to control microscope elements. It is based on hobby FPGA from Alchitry (Au and Cu FPGAs).
In particular, MicroFPGA allows complex and independent triggering of multiple lasers (us to ms pulses, on rising or falling camera trigger, following patterned sequences), as well as controlling several servomotors, TTL hardware (e.g. flip-mirrors, switches), reading analog signals or producing analog voltages (with the help of a complimentary electronics board).
In order to use MicroFPGA, you need to set-up the FPGA board and upload the MicroFPGA firmware. For more information, refer to the [guide](https://github.com/jdeschamps/MicroFPGA.
The guide contains:
Important: the default baud-rate is 57600.
For use with Micro-Manager 1.4, the baudrate must be changed within the firmware ([https://github.com/jdeschamps/MicroFPGA/blob/master/tutorials/changing_baudrate.md see tutorial]) as the default value is bigger than what the Micro-manager Hardware Wizard Configuration menu allows.
The project also includes complementary elecronics.
Cite us
Joran Deschamps, Christian Kieser, Philipp Hoess, Takahiro Deguchi, Jonas Ries, “MicroFPGA: An affordable FPGA platform for microscope control”, HardwareX 2023 (13): e00407, doi:10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00407.