Propeller vs. Bs2

Mad Roboticist

Hi, i have a BOE bot, and i was wondering, would a propeller chip fit in the IC holder, and of so, would it be worth it to switch from Bs2?

Paul Baker

The Spin Stamp will fit into your board of education. You need to pay close attention to the warnings outlined in the product documentation because the Spin Stamp isn't a drop in replacement. Whether or not to switch to the Propeller depends on what your needs are, if you find yourself not having enough processing time on your bs2 to do the things you want then maybe it is time to make the switch.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Mad Roboticist

i was hoping for better commands and speed mostly. what do you mean by "not a drop in replacement"?

Mike Green

The SpinStamp's inputs are 3.3V while the Stamp's are 5V. You will damage the SpinStamp if you directly connect its I/O to 5V circuitry. In most cases, you can use a 1K series resistor from the SpinStamp's I/O pins and that will limit the "fault current" for voltages over 3.3V. There's a long discussion "sticky thread" called "Propeller Hardware stickies (Voltage translation and Example hardware diagrams)" that discusses this whole issue.

Also, the SpinStamp is programmed differently. You use a PropClip attached to pads on one end of the module rather than BOE's programming port.

Dgswaner

as far as going to the propeller or not, Make the move. expect a learning curve expect to get a little frustrated but once you get past the first bit you see just how amazing the propeller is and you'll be glad you made the move. With the support of this forum it's not that hard of a transition. and with the Object exchange you can have your Boe Bot up and running really quickly.

Good Luck

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"A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer." - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

DGSwaner

Mad Roboticist

thanks guys, but i just realized, i had forgot to check the price. so much for spin stamp.

Mike Green

The SpinStamp is only $50 although you need a $25 PropClip to program it. Together that's more expensive than a BS2, but cheaper than a BS2p with a lot more power.