FabGL, the Fantastic ESP32 Library for Graphics, Emulation and More, Gets a Reference Board Design
Fabrizio Di Vittorio's FabGL library now has a reference board design boasting full compatibility with every feature — up to IBM emulation.
Fabrizio Di Vittorio has released an Espressif ESP32-based development board for the FabGL project, offering support for all FabGL applications — including the ability to emulate a classic IBM-compatible personal computer.
We first looked at Di Vittorio's FabGL library two years ago, impressed by its ability to turn the Espressif ESP32 microcontroller into a fully-functional graphical computer with VGA video output, PS/2 keyboard support, and support for applications ranging from games to a VT100 terminal emulator.
Di Vittorio hasn't been resting on his laurels, however, and the FabGL project has been going from strength to strength — and now boasts an official reference development board design to help people get started.
"This is [the] FabGL ESP32 reference development board," Di Vittorio writes of his board design. "Supports all FabGL applications, including the PC Emulator: Now you can program your I/O pins using GWBasic or QBASIC under MSDOS!"
"Install Arduino [IDE] and [the] FabGL library, and you have a PC IBM, a Commodore VIC 20, etc., and a development board for your FabGL projects!"
Built around the Espressif ESP32-WROVER-E module, the development board includes 4MB of pseudostatic RAM (PSRAM), 16MB of flash storage expandable via micro-SD, VGA video output, line-level audio output, and PS/2 connectivity for a keyboard and mouse. A built-in input/output expander offers 16 general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins.
Di Vittorio has also launched a companion board to make use of said GPIO pins: An LED and Buttons board, connecting to the GPIO header and offering 11 LEDs and five buttons — arranged as a diamond-format directional pad and a single fire button.
Di Vittoio is selling the new boards via the FabGL Tindie store, priced at $36 for the FabGL ESP32 development board and $12 for the LED and Buttons board. Source code, meanwhile, is available on the FabGL GitHub repository under the reciprocal GNU General Public License 3.