GD3X with PIC Microcontroller

[llyodsamsonite]

Hey I've had the 7" Gameduino 3X for a couple of weeks now, and I can say is it's a remarkable unit so far. I've been programming Basic-C and Arduino for the last two years. Also, for the last 6 months I've been learning the ins and outs of the PIC18F452, using MPLAB (Microchip) and a C compiler. So although I have some coding under my belt I'm no expert. 

Anyway, for my school project I wanted to use the Gameduino but I'm not allowed to use the Arduino IDE because it's too "easy". So I have no choice other than to build a PCB with the PIC on it that communicates with the Gameduino using SPI. The Gameduino will display sensor data and will have the ability to turn on/off outputs connected to the PIC. My main concern is, how difficult will it be to use the GD2 library in another IDE such as MPLAB? I know Arduino code is in C++ whereas MPLAB is just C. Just wondering if anyone has any pointers or advice? This will be the most difficult part of my project I think.

[jamesbowman]

Yes, I think you are right -- rewriting the interface in C will be a lot of work.

Maybe an alternative would be to start with the BridgeTek drivers instead? They are in pure C, I think.

[llyodsamsonite]

Thank you for the response, I have been looking into the BridgeTek documents and it look like starting with that code would be much easier. Which chip is in the GD3X? Is it the FT-810?

[jamesbowman]

The Gameduino 3X is the latest, the BT815

And for completeness:

Gameduino 2: FT800
Gameduino 3: FT810

[llyodsamsonite]

Thanks so much James, all the best!

[mattp]

A bit late, but if anyone else needs to do this there is a PIC library already.
brtchip.com/wp-content/uploads/Support/Documentation/Application_Notes/ICs/EVE/BRT_AN_008_FT81x_Creating_a_Simple_Library_For_PIC_MCU.pdf