161 Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) Controller
161 : Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) Controller
- Author: Jurica Kundrata
- Description: Controller module which generates triggering pulses for a Pulse Plasma Thruster, configurable via I2C interface.
- GitHub repository
- Clock: 32768 Hz
How it works
The controller generates a given number of pulses at a given frequency and pulse width. The controller is to be used to control a Pulsed Plasma Thruster, i.e. its HV driver. The parameters of the controller can be given using the I2C slave interface. The I2C address is defined by 0b101 and the lower nibble of the input port. The I2C register map is:
ADDR | XX | Description
0x00 | RW | Clock divider value for the controller
0x01 | RW | Lower byte of pulse period
0x02 | RW | Higher byte of pulse period (6 LSBs used)
0x03 | RW | Lower byte of pulse width
0x04 | RW | Higher byte of pulse width (6 LSBs used)
0x05 | RW | Total number of pulses
0x06 | -- | N/A
0x07 | RW | Run command - initiate the pulse train
0x08 | RO | Number of pulses fired
0x09 | -- | N/A
0x0A | RO | Done signal - active when the pulse train is finished
The controller can be run without configuration via I2C using the fifth bit of the input port (run_override signal).
Verified by iverilog simulations and FPGA prototyped on Xilinx Basys 3 board.
How to test
Controller is designed to be used with a 32.768 kHz clock. It can be used without configuration via I2C interface by pulling HIGH the run_override signal (ui_in[4]). After reset the controller will produce a pulse train with 0.25 Hz frequency, 1/32s width and 16 pulses. The pulses are shown on the 7-seg display as alternating between dash '-' and zero '0'. Also it will produce a 1 Hz divided clock at div_clock port, i.e. dot port of the output port (7-seg display).
IO
| # | Input | Output | Bidirectional |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | I2C address bit 0 | ON if pulse train HIGH | I2C SCL bus line |
| 1 | I2C address bit 1 | ON if pulse train HIGH | I2C SDA bus line |
| 2 | I2C address bit 2 | ON if pulse train HIGH | |
| 3 | I2C address bit 3 | ON if pulse train HIGH | |
| 4 | run_override | ON if pulse train HIGH | |
| 5 | ON if pulse train HIGH | ||
| 6 | OFF if pulse train HIGH | ||
| 7 | div_clk |