Micro-Robotics : K4 Controller (Obsolete)

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K4 Controller

2nd July 2008
The K4 and K4S are now obsolete. We still have a limited number in stock (currently 388) which will be offered on a first-come basis.

For new designs we recommend the newer and faster VM-1 controller.

The K4 was first released in 1990, so has had a long and successful life. We are only discontinuing production because of Renesas' decision not to release the 63C03 microcontroller in lead-free form, and the RoHS directive.

The terms K4 and K4S are equivalent thoughout this section, and refer to the later K4S product.

K4 Control Module

The Scorpion K4 is Micro-Robotics' original credit-card-sized embedded control computer. It is based on the Hitachi 63C03 processor running at 2.5MHz and comes with 128K of battery-backed RAM. There are 16 general-purpose digital I/O lines, along with a watchdog and a clock/calendar option. Interfaces include three serial ports (one of them transmit only,) an I2C bus with up to 128 digital and 40 analogue I/O channels, pulse measurement, pulse generation, graphic and alphanumeric LCD's, keypads, Microwire(tm) support, and a system expansion bus. In use the K4 is plugged into one of the application boards or a custom board. The K4 has an on-board watchdog circuit that will normally restart the K4's application program if the processor 'crashes'.

K4 I/O Channels

The bare K4 has 21 I/O channels. Five of these are dedicated to the main serial port; the other 16 are general purpose. The table below lists the capabilities of these channels, each may take on one of the bulleted functions at any time. Functions separated by an ampersand (&) can be used together.

Chn.	Functions
1 - 5	• RS232 Port 1, up to 19,200 baud
6	• RS232 Port 2 Data output (inv or non-inv TTL levels, up to 2400 baud, 1200 guaranteed) • Pulse generation to 1.7 KHz, 0.4 µS resolution • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
7	• RS232 Port 3 Data output (inv or non-inv TTL levels, up to 2400 baud, 1200 guaranteed) • Pulse generation to 1.7KHz, 0.4 µS resolution • Keypad address line 2 & Alphanumeric LCD data line 6 • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
8	• RS232 Port 2 Data input (inv or non-inv TTL levels, up to 2400 baud, 1200 guaranteed) • Pulse width measurement down to 286 µS, 0.4 µS resolution • Pulse counting • Frequency measurement to 3.4KHz, 20ppm precision • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
9	• RS232 Port 2 Handshake input (inv or non-inv TTL levels) • Alphanumeric LCD ‘E’ • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
10	• RS232 Port 3 Handshake input (inv or non-inv TTL levels) • Microwire /CS • Keypad address line 3 & Alphanumeric LCD data line 7 • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
11	• RS232 Port 2 Handshake output (inv or non-inv TTL levels) • Alphanumeric LCD ‘RS’ • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
12	• I2C Bus Clock • Digital I/O (not pulled up)
13	• I2C Bus Data • Digital I/O (pulled high 10k)
14	• I2C Bus Data Direction (For extending the bus, not normally used) • Digital I/O (not pulled up)
15	• Keypad return line • Microwire /CS • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
16	• On board LED • Digital I/O (pulled high by an LED and 3k3)
17	• NMI (Non-Maskable Interrupt line - not currently used by the language, but available to machine code users, pulled high by 100k)
18	• IRQ (Interrupt request - not currently used by the language, but available to machine code users) • Microwire Dout • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
19	• Memory Ready - used by devices attached to the System Bus • Microwire /CS • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
20	• Keypad address line 0 & AlphanumericLCD data line 4 & Microwire Din • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)
21	• Keypad address line 1 & AlphanumericLCD data line 5 & Microwire SCLK • Digital I/O (pulled high 100k)

Embedded Controller Technology