BeebControl>>FT interfaces

There have been three 'official' interfaces to drive Fischertechnik models. Only the first - the Universal - was designed for use with 8-bit micros however. This was introduced in the mid eighties and covered most of the popular micros then in existence (see below). In the nineties the Universal interface was replaced by the 'Intelligent' interface which was designed essentially for PCs and offered both a serial and parallel port connection. I dare say this interface could be used with a Beeb but you'd have to write your own software. In recent years FT have moved to a third-generation interface that features only a USB connection, but also has onboard flash ram so that programs can be permanently uploaded and run independent of the computer. (Might be fun to write a driver for that to run via the Iyonix's USB port.)

According to Fischertechnik part numbers, versions of the Universal interface were produced for the following computers from 1985 onwards:

• Commodore 30562 (VIC20, 64, SX64, 128)
• CBM 30561 (Commodore 4xxx, 8xxx)
• Apple II 30563 (II, II+, europlus, e, compatibles)
• Acorn 30564 (Model A, B, B+64k)
• Kosmos Relaisinterface CP4 (CP1)
• NDR-Klein, IOE-Karte+Bausatz, B-ROBOT+, E-ROB, programmliste (NDR Klein Computer)
• Schneider 30565 (Schneider CPC-64 (Amstrad?))
• Sinclair 30566 (Sinclair ZX Spectrum)
• IBM PC (30520) (PC compatibles, Atari 500/2000/3000, Amiga ST)
• Generic parallel port interface (30566?) (Printer/centronics ports in general)

It seems that there are probably just two basic varieties of the Universal interface, despite the names printed on the interface labels.

Electrically, the first eight interfaces above are essentially the same user port interface with individual adapter cards supplied to fit between the 20-way IDC plug on the interface cable and a suitable port on each individual computer. (See the picture of the 'Apple' interface, above, with its 20-way IDC plug showing clearly. This would have been accompanied by an adapter board with a different plug on it to suit the Apple.) The one exception to this rule is the Acorn interface, which works without an adapter as it already has a user port with 20-way IDC socket.

The second variety of FT interface (electrically speaking) is the parallel port version designed to work with PCs and Atari/Amiga computers.

I'm pretty sure you could use any FT interface you could lay your hands on with a Beeb, given some software to drive the user port or printer port as appropriate. See the 'Software' page (coming soon) for details of the bit patterns required by the two types of interface.