590 VGA Screensaver with Zero to ASIC Logo :: Quicker, easier and cheaper to make your own chip!

How it works

This design drives a 640×480 VGA output and displays a bouncing “Zero to ASIC” logo. It supports a tiled mode and an animated color gradient. Optionally, a Gamepad Pmod can control motion.

Tiny Tapeout screensaver

How to test

Connect to a VGA monitor. Set the following inputs to configure the design:

tile (ui_in[0]) to repeat the logo and tile it across the screen,
solid_color (ui_in[1]) to use a solid color instead of an animated gradient.

If you have a Gamepad Pmod connected, you can also use the following controls:

Start button: start/pause bouncing
Left/right/up/down: change the bouncing direction (if bouncing) or move the logo around the screen (if paused)

External hardware

Tiny VGA Pmod
Optional: Gamepad Pmod

Harden flow with artwork (advanced)

We extend LibreLane’s Classic flow by inserting a custom ODB Python step before global placement. This step can generate placement blockages from a bitmap to “shape” placement density and create chip art.

Base: LibreLane Classic flow
Extension: inserts Odb.ApplyArt just before OpenROAD.GlobalPlacementSkipIO
Implementation: lightweight LibreLane plugin packaged in a small Docker overlay

Quick start

Build the custom LibreLane image (adds the plugin + Pillow):
- docker build -t my-librelane:mock -f docker/librelane-mock/Dockerfile .
Select the image and choose an input image (PNG/JPG):
- export LIBRELANE_IMAGE_OVERRIDE=my-librelane:mock
- export TT_ART_IMAGE="$PWD/art/zero-to-asic-logo.png"
Optional knobs:
- TT_ART_GRID (int, default 40): grid columns; rows follow image aspect
- TT_ART_THRESHOLD (0..255, default 128): luminance threshold
- TT_ART_INVERT (1/true/yes): invert selection
- TT_ART_AREA_PCT (0..100, default 20): scale art area within the core
Run harden with the art step enabled:
- ./tt/tt_tool.py --harden --with-art
Inspect results:
- Step log: runs/wokwi/<NN>-odb-applyart/odb-applyart.log
- Preview: runs/wokwi/<NN>-odb-applyart/art_preview.png

Notes:

If container env vars aren’t forwarded, the tool writes art_config.json in the project root and the step reads it automatically.
The art step fails when no image is provided, to avoid silent fallbacks.

What the step does

Reads the OpenDB after floorplan
Rasterizes the input image to a grid
For selected cells, creates soft placement blockages in the core bounding box (scaled by TT_ART_AREA_PCT)
Writes the ODB back in-place and saves a small preview image

#	Input	Output
0	tile	R1
1	solid_color	G1
2		B1
3		VSync
4	gamepad_latch	R0
5	gamepad_clk	G0
6	gamepad_data	B0
7		HSync

590 VGA Screensaver with Zero to ASIC Logo