Easy Way
If you want to get started quickly, download the UF2 file linked below. Turn on Hallowing and connect a USB cable to your computer. Double-click Hallowing’s reset button, wait for the HALLOWBOOT drive to appear, then drag the UF2 file to this drive. After a few seconds, the code should be finished transferring and will run.
This will overwrite CircuitPython if it’s currently installed on your board (but your CircuitPython code and any libraries are safe).
You can restore CircuitPython easily by following the directions here.
Navigating the Maze
Tilt Hallowing left or right to turn. Tilt forward and back to move in the corresponding direction (the code will do its best to handle different orientations of the board…either sitting flat like on a desk, or held vertically as on a pendant).
Keep in mind that it’s simply a graphics demo and there’s no real gameplay…you can explore the maze but there’s no exit, nor any lurking Minotaur.
Build From Source
Building the project from source gives you the opportunity to customize the maze layout and colors.
This requires the Arduino IDE software for your computer and Adafruit SAMD board support, as explained in this guide.
Several libraries are also required, which can be installed through the Arduino Library Manager(Sketch→Include Library→Manage Libraries…):
- Adafruit_LIS3DH
- Adafruit_GFX
- Adafruit_BusIO
- Adafruit_ST7735
- Adafruit_ZeroDMA
The code as written is fairly specific to the Hallowing M0 board. Advanced programmers might have some success adapting it to other M0 or M4 boards, or different displays.
The maze layout is specified in the file MinotaurMaze.ino starting around line 37:
// This is the maze map. It's fixed at 32 bits wide, can be any height but
// is 32 in this example. '1' bits indicate solid walls, '0' indicate empty
// space that can be navigated. Perimeter wall bits MUST be set! Keep the
// center area empty since the player is initially placed there.
uint32_t worldMap[] = {
0b11111111111111111111111111111111,
0b10000000000000100000000001000001,
0b10000000000000101111011111011101,
0b10000000000000001000001000000101,
0b10000000000000111011101010111101,
0b10000010100000100010000010000101,
0b10000010100000111111111010101101,
0b10000011100000100000000000100001,
0b10000000000000111011101110111101,
0b10000000000000100010000010001001,
0b10000000000000111111111111101111,
0b10000000000000000000000000000001,
0b11111011111011100111111011111111,
0b10000000001010000001000000000001,
0b10100000101010000001001001001001,
0b10101010101000000000000000000001,
0b10101010101000000000000000000001,
0b10100000101010000001001001001001,
0b10000000001010000001000000000001,
0b11111011111011100111111011111111,
0b10000000000000000000000000000001,
0b10000010100000000111000010101001,
0b10001000001000000111000001010101,
0b10000000000000000111000000000001,
0b10010000000100000000000011111101,
0b10000001000000000000000010000101,
0b10010000000100000011111010100101,
0b10000000000000000010001010000001,
0b10001000001000000010101010000101,
0b10000010100000000010101011111101,
0b10000000000000000000100000000001,
0b11111111111111111111111111111111,
};
Things to keep in mind:
- “1” bits indicate solid walls. “0” bits are navigable space.
- The outer perimeter bits must all be set.
- The center area of the maze should be kept clear (using “0” bits) as that’s where the player is initially positioned.
- The initial point of view is facing due east (to the right).
A little further down in the code, starting around line 96, are the colors used for different elements:
const uint8_t colorSky = 0x3E, // Color of sky
colorGround = 0x82, // Color of ground
colorNorth = 0x04, // Color of north-facing walls
colorSouth = 0x05, // Color of south-facing walls
colorEast = 0x06, // Color of east-facing walls
colorWest = 0x07; // Color of west-facing walls
A RAM-saving trick used in the code limits the available color palette to 256 selections (click for full-resolution image to better read the numbers):
Beyond this, the remaining graphics are not easily customized. The next page explains some of the program’s internals which experienced programmers might be able to work from, or glean ideas for your own projects.
The full source code:
// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2018 Phillip Burgess for Adafruit Industries
//
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
// "Minotaur Maze" plaything for Adafruit Hallowing. Uses ray casting,
// DMA and related shenanigans to smoothly move about a 3D maze.
// Tilt Hallowing to turn right/left and move forward/back.
// Ray casting code adapted from tutorial by Lode Vandevenne:
// https://lodev.org/cgtutor/raycasting.html
#include <Adafruit_LIS3DH.h> // Accelerometer library
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h> // Core graphics library
#include <Adafruit_ST7735.h> // Display-specific graphics library
#include <Adafruit_ZeroDMA.h> // Direct memory access library
#ifdef ARDUINO_SAMD_CIRCUITPLAYGROUND_EXPRESS
#define TFT_RST -1
#define TFT_DC A6
#define TFT_CS A7
#define TFT_BACKLIGHT A3 // Display backlight pin
#define TFT_SPI SPI1
#define TFT_PERIPH PERIPH_SPI1
Adafruit_LIS3DH accel(&Wire1);
#else
#define TFT_RST 37 // TFT reset pin
#define TFT_DC 38 // TFT display/command mode pin
#define TFT_CS 39 // TFT chip select pin
#define TFT_BACKLIGHT 7 // TFT backlight LED pin
#define TFT_SPI SPI
#define TFT_PERIPH PERIPH_SPI
Adafruit_LIS3DH accel;
#endif
// Declarations for some Hallowing hardware -- display, accelerometer, SPI
Adafruit_ST7735 tft(&TFT_SPI, TFT_CS, TFT_DC, TFT_RST);
SPISettings settings(12000000, MSBFIRST, SPI_MODE0);
// Declarations related to DMA (direct memory access), which lets us walk
// and chew gum at the same time. This is VERY specific to SAMD chips and
// means this is not trivially ported to other devices.
Adafruit_ZeroDMA dma;
DmacDescriptor *dptr; // Initial allocated DMA descriptor
DmacDescriptor desc[2][3] __attribute__((aligned(16)));
uint8_t dList = 0; // Active DMA descriptor list index (0-1)
// DMA transfer-in-progress indicator and callback
static volatile bool dma_busy = false;
static void dma_callback(Adafruit_ZeroDMA *dma) {
dma_busy = false;
}
// This is the maze map. It's fixed at 32 bits wide, can be any height but
// is 32 in this example. '1' bits indicate solid walls, '0' indicate empty
// space that can be navigated. Perimeter wall bits MUST be set! Keep the
// center area empty since the player is initially placed there.
uint32_t worldMap[] = {
0b11111111111111111111111111111111,
0b10000000000000100000000001000001,
0b10000000000000101111011111011101,
0b10000000000000001000001000000101,
0b10000000000000111011101010111101,
0b10000010100000100010000010000101,
0b10000010100000111111111010101101,
0b10000011100000100000000000100001,
0b10000000000000111011101110111101,
0b10000000000000100010000010001001,
0b10000000000000111111111111101111,
0b10000000000000000000000000000001,
0b11111011111011100111111011111111,
0b10000000001010000001000000000001,
0b10100000101010000001001001001001,
0b10101010101000000000000000000001,
0b10101010101000000000000000000001,
0b10100000101010000001001001001001,
0b10000000001010000001000000000001,
0b11111011111011100111111011111111,
0b10000000000000000000000000000001,
0b10000010100000000111000010101001,
0b10001000001000000111000001010101,
0b10000000000000000111000000000001,
0b10010000000100000000000011111101,
0b10000001000000000000000010000101,
0b10010000000100000011111010100101,
0b10000000000000000010001010000001,
0b10001000001000000010101010000101,
0b10000010100000000010101011111101,
0b10000000000000000000100000000001,
0b11111111111111111111111111111111,
};
#define MAPHEIGHT (sizeof worldMap / sizeof worldMap[0])
// This macro tests whether bit at (X,Y) in the map is set.
#define isBitSet(X,Y) (worldMap[MAPHEIGHT-1-(Y)] & (0x80000000>>(X)))
// (X,Y) are in Cartesian coordinates with (0,0) at bottom-left (hence the
// MAPHEIGHT-1-Y inversion above) -- all the navigation and ray-casting math
// is done in Cartesian space, consistent with the trigonometric functions,
// whereas bitmap is represented top-to-bottom.
// DMA shenanigans are used for the solid color fills (sky, walls and
// floor). Typically one would use the DMA "source address increment" to
// copy graphics data from RAM or flash to SPI (to the screen). But a trick
// we can use for certain fills requires only a single byte of storage for
// each color. DMA source increment is turned OFF -- the same byte is issued
// over and over to fill a given span. Downside is a limited palette
// consisting of 256 colors with the high and low bytes of a 16-bit pixel
// value being the same. With the TFT's 5-6-5 bit color packing, the
// resulting selections are a bit weird (there's no 100% pure red, green or
// blue, only combinations) but usable. e.g. an 8-bit value 0x82 expands to
// a 16-bit pixel value of 0x8282 = 0b10000 010100 00010 = 16/31 (~52%) red,
// 20/63 (~32%) green, 2/31 (6%) blue.
const uint8_t colorSky = 0x3E, // Color of sky
colorGround = 0x82, // Color of ground
colorNorth = 0x04, // Color of north-facing walls
colorSouth = 0x05, // Color of south-facing walls
colorEast = 0x06, // Color of east-facing walls
colorWest = 0x07; // Color of west-facing walls
#define FOV (90.0 * (M_PI / 180.0)) // Field of view
float posX = 16.0, // Observer position,
posY = MAPHEIGHT / 2.0, // begin at center of map
heading = 0.0; // Initial heading = east
uint32_t startTime, frames = 0; // For frames-per-second calculation
// SETUP -- RUNS ONCE AT PROGRAM START -------------------------------------
void setup(void) {
Serial.begin(115200);
Serial.println("Init accelerometer");
// Initialize accelerometer, set to 2G range
if(accel.begin(0x18) || accel.begin(0x19)) {
accel.setRange(LIS3DH_RANGE_2_G);
}
Serial.println("Init display");
// Initialize and clear screen
tft.initR(INITR_144GREENTAB);
tft.setRotation(1);
tft.fillScreen(0);
// More shenanigans: the display mapping is reconfigured so pixels are
// issued in COLUMN-MAJOR sequence (i.e. vertical lines), left-to-right,
// with pixel (0,0) at top left. The ray casting algorithm determines the
// wall height at each column...drawing is then just a matter of blasting
// a column's worth of pixels.
digitalWrite(TFT_CS, LOW);
digitalWrite(TFT_DC, LOW);
#ifdef ST77XX_MADCTL
TFT_SPI.transfer(ST77XX_MADCTL); // Current TFT lib
#else
TFT_SPI.transfer(ST7735_MADCTL); // Older TFT lib
#endif
digitalWrite(TFT_DC, HIGH);
TFT_SPI.transfer(0x28);
digitalWrite(TFT_CS, HIGH);
pinMode(TFT_BACKLIGHT, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(TFT_BACKLIGHT, HIGH); // Main screen turn on
Serial.println("Init backlight");
// Set up SPI DMA. While the Hallowing has a known SPI peripheral and this
// could be much simpler, the extra code here will help if adapting this
// sketch to other SAMD boards (Feather M0, M4, etc.)
int dmac_id;
volatile uint32_t *data_reg;
dma.allocate();
if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom0) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM0_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM0->SPI.DATA.reg;
#if defined SERCOM1
} else if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom1) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM1_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM1->SPI.DATA.reg;
#endif
#if defined SERCOM2
} else if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom2) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM2_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM2->SPI.DATA.reg;
#endif
#if defined SERCOM3
} else if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom3) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM3_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM3->SPI.DATA.reg;
#endif
#if defined SERCOM4
} else if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom4) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM4_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM4->SPI.DATA.reg;
#endif
#if defined SERCOM5
} else if(&TFT_PERIPH == &sercom5) {
dma.setTrigger(SERCOM5_DMAC_ID_TX);
data_reg = &SERCOM5->SPI.DATA.reg;
#endif
}
dma.setAction(DMA_TRIGGER_ACTON_BEAT);
dma.setCallback(dma_callback);
// Initialize DMA descriptor lists. There are TWO lists, used for
// alternating even/odd scanlines (columns in this case)...one list is
// calculated and filled while the other is being transferred out SPI.
// Each list contains three elements (though not all three are used every
// time), corresponding to the sky, wall and ground pixels for a column.
for(uint8_t s=0; s<2; s++) { // Even/odd scanlines
for(uint8_t d=0; d<3; d++) { // 3 descriptors per line
// No need to set SRCADDR, BTCNT or DESCADDR -- done later
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.VALID = true;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.EVOSEL = 0x3;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.BLOCKACT = DMA_BLOCK_ACTION_NOACT;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.BEATSIZE = DMA_BEAT_SIZE_BYTE;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.SRCINC = 0;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.DSTINC = 0;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.STEPSEL = DMA_STEPSEL_SRC;
desc[s][d].BTCTRL.bit.STEPSIZE = DMA_ADDRESS_INCREMENT_STEP_SIZE_1;
desc[s][d].DSTADDR.reg = (uint32_t)data_reg;
}
}
// The DMA library MUST allocate at least one valid descriptor, so that's
// done here. It's not used in the conventional sense though, just before
// a transfer we copy the first scanline descriptor to this spot.
dptr = dma.addDescriptor(NULL, NULL, 42, DMA_BEAT_SIZE_BYTE, false, false);
startTime = millis(); // Starting time for frame-per-second calculation
}
// LOOP -- REPEATS INDEFINITELY --------------------------------------------
void loop() {
// Update heading and position from accelerometer...
uint8_t mapX = (uint8_t)posX, // Current square of map
mapY = (uint8_t)posY; // (before changing pos.)
accel.read(); // Read accelerometer
#ifdef ARDUINO_SAMD_CIRCUITPLAYGROUND_EXPRESS
heading += (float)accel.x / -20000.0; // Update direction
float v = (abs(accel.y) < abs(accel.z)) ? // If board held flat(ish)
(float)accel.y / 20000.0 : // Use accel Y for velocity
(float)accel.z / -20000.0; // else accel Z is velocity
#else
heading += (float)accel.y / -20000.0; // Update direction
float v = (abs(accel.x) < abs(accel.z)) ? // If board held flat(ish)
(float)accel.x / 20000.0 : // Use accel X for velocity
(float)accel.z / -20000.0; // else accel Z is velocity
#endif
if(v > 0.19) v = 0.19; // Keep speed under 0.2
else if(v < -0.19) v = -0.19;
float vx = cos(heading) * v, // Direction vector X, Y
vy = sin(heading) * v,
newX = posX + vx, // New position
newY = posY + vy;
// Prevent going through solid walls (or getting too close to them)
if(vx > 0) {
if(isBitSet((int)(newX + 0.2), (int)newY)) newX = mapX + 0.8;
} else {
if(isBitSet((int)(newX - 0.2), (int)newY)) newX = mapX + 0.2;
}
if(vy > 0) {
if(isBitSet((int)newX, (int)(newY + 0.2))) newY = mapY + 0.8;
} else {
if(isBitSet((int)newX, (int)(newY - 0.2))) newY = mapY + 0.2;
}
posX = newX;
posY = newY;
TFT_SPI.beginTransaction(settings); // SPI init
digitalWrite(TFT_CS, LOW); // Chip select
tft.setAddrWindow(0, 0, 128, 128); // Set address window to full screen
digitalWrite(TFT_CS, LOW); // Re-select after addr function
digitalWrite(TFT_DC, HIGH); // Data mode...
// Ray casting code is much abbreviated here.
// See Lode Vandevenne's original tutorial for an in-depth explanation:
// https://lodev.org/cgtutor/raycasting.html
int8_t stepX, stepY; // X/Y direction steps (+1 or -1)
uint8_t skyPixels, floorPixels, // # of pixels in sky, floor
side, // North/south or east/west wall hit?
i; // Index in DMA descriptor list
uint16_t wallPixels; // # of wall pixels
float frac, rayDirX, rayDirY,
sideDistX, sideDistY, // Ray length, current to next X/Y side
deltaDistX, deltaDistY, // X-to-X, Y-to-Y ray lengths
perpWallDist, // Distance to wall
x1 = cos(heading + FOV / 2.0), // Image plane left edge
y1 = sin(heading + FOV / 2.0),
x2 = cos(heading - FOV / 2.0), // Image plane right edge
y2 = sin(heading - FOV / 2.0),
dx = x2 - x1, dy = y2 - y1;
for(uint8_t col = 0; col < 128; col++) { // For each column...
frac = ((float)col + 0.5) / 128.0; // 0 to 1 left to right
rayDirX = x1 + dx * frac;
rayDirY = y1 + dy * frac;
mapX = (uint8_t)posX;
mapY = (uint8_t)posY;
deltaDistX = (rayDirX != 0.0) ? fabs(1 / rayDirX) : 0.0;
deltaDistY = (rayDirY != 0.0) ? fabs(1 / rayDirY) : 0.0;
// Calculate X/Y steps and initial sideDist
if(rayDirX < 0) {
stepX = -1;
sideDistX = (posX - mapX) * deltaDistX;
} else {
stepX = 1;
sideDistX = (mapX + 1.0 - posX) * deltaDistX;
} if (rayDirY < 0) {
stepY = -1;
sideDistY = (posY - mapY) * deltaDistY;
} else {
stepY = 1;
sideDistY = (mapY + 1.0 - posY) * deltaDistY;
}
do { // Bresenham DDA line algorithm...walk map squares...
if(sideDistX < sideDistY) {
sideDistX += deltaDistX;
mapX += stepX;
side = 0; // East/west
} else {
sideDistY += deltaDistY;
mapY += stepY;
side = 1; // North/south
}
} while(!isBitSet(mapX, mapY)); // Continue until wall hit
// Calc distance projected on camera direction
perpWallDist = side ? ((mapY - posY + (1 - stepY) / 2) / rayDirY) :
((mapX - posX + (1 - stepX) / 2) / rayDirX);
wallPixels = (int)(128.0 / perpWallDist); // Colum height in pixels
if(wallPixels >= 128) { // >= screen height?
wallPixels = 128; // Clip to screen height
skyPixels = floorPixels = 0; // No sky or ground
} else {
skyPixels = (128 - wallPixels) / 2; // 1/2 of non-wall is sky
floorPixels = 128 - wallPixels - skyPixels; // Any remainder is floor
}
// Build DMA descriptor list with up to 3 elements...
i = 0;
if(skyPixels) { // Any sky pixels in this column?
desc[dList][i].SRCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)&colorSky;
desc[dList][i].BTCNT.reg = skyPixels * 2;
desc[dList][i].DESCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)&desc[dList][i + 1];
i++;
}
if(wallPixels) { // Any wall pixels?
// North/south or east/west facing?
desc[dList][i].SRCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)(side ?
((stepY > 0) ? &colorSouth : &colorNorth) :
((stepX > 0) ? &colorWest : &colorEast ));
desc[dList][i].BTCNT.reg = wallPixels * 2;
desc[dList][i].DESCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)&desc[dList][i + 1];
i++;
}
if(floorPixels) { // Any floor pixels?
desc[dList][i].SRCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)&colorGround;
desc[dList][i].BTCNT.reg = floorPixels * 2;
desc[dList][i].DESCADDR.reg = (uint32_t)&desc[dList][i + 1];
i++;
}
desc[dList][i - 1].DESCADDR.reg = 0; // End descriptor list
while(dma_busy); // Wait for prior DMA transfer to finish
// Copy scanline's first descriptor to the DMA lib's descriptor table
memcpy(dptr, &desc[dList][0], sizeof(DmacDescriptor));
dma_busy = true; // Mark as busy (DMA callback clears this)
dma.startJob(); // Start new DMA transfer
dList = 1 - dList; // Swap active DMA descriptor list index
}
while(dma_busy); // Wait for last DMA transfer to complete
digitalWrite(TFT_CS, HIGH); // Deselect
TFT_SPI.endTransaction(); // SPI done
if(!(++frames & 255)) { // Every 256th frame, show frame rate
uint32_t elapsed = (millis() - startTime) / 1000;
if(elapsed) Serial.println(frames / elapsed);
}
}
Page last edited January 22, 2025
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