We all know how unreliable the ULA chip is in the POD after all these years.

I know someone has attempted to do this before (cypax.net) with a custom circuit board/software, however this project is no longer supported, which is unfortunate as this solution looks perfect.

With that in mind, I'm currently looking at implementing the POD ULA functionality via an Arduino Nano which is small enough to fit inside the POD.

I'll post some images when I've made some progress on this later in the week.

Thanks!

Dan

First pic of what I have done so far:



I'm mounting the Nano onto a small PCB that re-routes the pin connections from the ULA socket to the Nano. It is a very tight fit and some delicate soldering is required

At the moment the POD cover fits back on without any problems. Hopefully I'll be able to get it connected up and controlling the POD LED's soon...

Good work on the mods. my pod is broken and is likely to be the ula.

is this going to be a straight swap for the ula?

Good work on the mods. my pod is broken and is likely to be the ula.

The ULA is certainly is getting old now, have you checked the connector going out of the back of the POD for any broken solder joints?

is this going to be a straight swap for the ula?

My aim is for this to be a plug and play solution. Simply remove the old ULA chip and insert this new board.


Thanks!

Dan

Some more pics from my prototype breadboard version:





All the software is doing at the moment is setting the POD LED states, when the motor temperature, voltage and amp inputs are done these will actually work in a similar manner to the original ULA.

Have you managed to get it finished

Cant see any photos

Have you managed to get it finished

Not yet I'm afraid, other things have got in the way Doing the temperature/voltage side of things is fairly straight forward, but the current part, not sure whether to go the route that the Cypax.net mod does by making some changes to the control box.

I really wanted a simple plug-and-play solution that didn't involve anything other than swapping the ULA chip for this new module.

Will try to get back onto this later in the week.


Thanks!

Dan

Okay I got some prototype boards back today and managed to test one with the current code:



All that's needed are 2 resistors and an Arduino Nano plus some header pins/sockets.







And here it is mounted in the ULA socket. Still some way to go with the code but for now it can deal with the battery voltage display (right side LEDs) and the motor temperature. Still need to do the code for the motor current reading/display.



Still a lot to do but it's getting there

Good work dan

How's it coming along

I've not been working on this for the last week, other things are grabbing my attention, will get back to it soon!

This is now ready for testing, I have 3 boards available. If you're interested in BETA testing this please register your interest in the following thread:

http://www.c5owners.com/sinclair-c5-forum/yaf_postsm51_Sinclair-C5-Replacement-POD-ULA-BETA-Testing.aspx

Information about this project has been written up and can be found in the main Projects section of the website:

http://www.c5owners.com/sinclair-c5-projects/sinclair-c5-new-pod-ula-replacement-module

Thanks!

Dan

Any plans of making another batch of these ? This was ages ago

[quote=dave;3387]Any plans of making another batch of these ? This was ages ago [/quote]

Not at the moment. The problem with the originals was they couldn't measure motor current so were not that appealing

Still got 1 in mine don't no if it still works not moved it for 6 months