Need help in selecting a Graduate Level Project based on FPGA

AoA Guys
I need help in choosing a proposal for a project/thesis using FPGA kit. I have access to a Xilinx Spartan 3e in my department's laboratory and could also get it issued if needed.

There are a few posts on this topic before, i know but I couldnt find a suitable answer for myself. The project needs to be a bit more than the usual memory or display interface. I am trying to be a bit specific towards algorithm implementation in Automatic Control Systems etc. I may not be making much sense because i really have no idea where i should start looking. I have done projects on 8051, PIC18F etc and also have sound knowledge of Verilog HDL and simple processor design.

So i'd be most thankful if somebody would be willing to help me in choosing what i should start working on. Time frame for the project is around the next 5-6 months.

Motor control is always a subject with a wide variety of challenges to choose from.

If you had some lab experience previously you could try porting some open ip cores suitable for your fpga that would be a good learning.
What is your major so you could choose in relevant field??

mrflibble said:

Motor control is always a subject with a wide variety of challenges to choose from.

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trying to avoid such applications because its an individual thesis and working of hardware will make it very difficult alone. Any ideas on image processing or filter implementation which isnt very common but not very complex either ?

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codetrickster said:

If you had some lab experience previously you could try porting some open ip cores suitable for your fpga that would be a good learning.
What is your major so you could choose in relevant field??

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Major is in Automatic Control Systems and i havent done much work in the lab either on FPGA's.

RiazHaider said:

Any ideas on image processing or filter implementation which isnt very common but not very complex either ?

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Not any that match your as of yet unwritten requirements...

As it appears we are to be just "shooting in the dark" for suggestions - how about implementing some picoblaze or microblaze processors in your FPGA, with either some quadrature encoder receivers or hook up an external A/D which you control. The processors can generate pwm signals out based on set point and simple PI loop implemented in blaze code. You don't have to use motors & drives, you could use thermistor/temp sensor and heaters, or some simple circuits to model any sort of process outside the FPGA - it just has to generate a command voltage/current in response to closing the error an an input signal. This would give you plenty of pieces - mostly all within the FPGA, but not entirely - to work on. You could even try to implement a simplified fuzzy logic control code in a processor versus traditional PID..

sounds quite perfect to me since it has a side of controls in it aswell but it sounds intimidating too ...
could you guide me to some online material i could look into regarding this.

I've not played with the Microblaze, which is a substantial little soft processor design, but I have played with the little picoblaze, which is considerably more limited (but still usable for various sorts of functions). Until recently, one could download the Picoblaze core and use it with the free Xilinx ISE webpack and extend/enhance it, but the Microblaze was only available with certain toolchain purchases. But, with ISE 13.4 and later, you can use the Microblaze MCS version for free as well. There is alot of documentation on both of these from xilinx, and discussion groups on the Xilinx forum, and there are also some other forums around on the internet involving these, and of course, you can go to opencores.org for FPGA design info sharing.
Microblaze MCS info
https://www.xilinx.com/tools/mb_mcs.htm
Picoblaze info
https://www.xilinx.com/products/intellectual-property/picoblaze.htm
I've seen designs with several picoblaze processors working as configurable PWM generators in a modest FPGA, but they are very limited in their original configuration as to program memory space (tiny) and architecture, but this is where many people have fun building onto them. The Microblaze MCS version is a much larger design, but it might work for you, depending on what you decide to do and what you have for FPGAs to work with.
Best of luck,
Mike