A microcontroller system for data communications between a computer graphics system and a holographic system

At the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Microprocessor Laboratory, research is being conducted on the implementation of an automated system for creating random access scanned three dimensional holographic projections from two dimensional CRT displayed data. To control system communications, a microcontroller system was designed and protyped around a single board microcontroller and Winchester disk drive to perform the data acquisition, storage, and trans-mission phases. The microcontroller system included four serial communication ports for interfacing the graphics system to the three motion axis controllers of the holographic system. In addition, a Winchester controller board was designed for interfacing the microcontroller to the Winchester disk. Microcontroller software was written and programmed into an EPROM to control and direct the data transfers between the various interfaces. Testing and evaluation of the system was performed using four CRTs to simulate the graphics system and the three motion axis controllers of the holographic system. The system received ASCII data from the CRT simulating the graphics system and stored it on the Winchester disk. Upon request, the data was transmitted from the Winchester to the CRTs simulating the motion axis controllers. The results displayed on the CRTs illustrated that the system acquired, stored, and transmitted the data throughout the system as intended. The data was unchanged, properly stored, and distributed to the CRTs.