BSS Stache Code Xfer
The Stache is a u-programmer for the Basic Stamp 2.
I'm experimenting with ways to utilize the Stache as a
way to transfer all programs to the Basic Stamp Supercomputer.
The Stache simply attaches to the serial DBM on the Basic Stamp Super Carrier Board.
Target stamps in the BSS that are functional with the
Stache include BS2, BS2sx, BS2e, BS2p, and Bs2pe.
BS2sx, BS2e, BS2p, and BS2pe are special cases that
can hold more than one program in up to eight program
banks. The stache is capable of handling this code.
This method will open up new ways to store BSS apps and
more readily and conveniently download the code set to all
Basic Stamps.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/19/2009 9:40:12 AM GMT
It only works if all your boards are serial, not the usb. Unless if you're willing to add some hardware to the boards that bypasses the USB, but that sounds like more effort than it's worth. I'm sure you've thought about this, so what's your solution? Perhaps program a serial BS2, which then reprograms the USB versions from the stache? Cool! Can't wait to see the code...
This is a fairly incredible project; I am impressed.
I think you will find though that if you really wish to scale this thing upwards (after all 200 SXs cost the same as a dozen stamps) you will need to automate the construction and distribution of the individual slave code.
This patent details how this one done on one major supercomputer:
in that instance 'libraries' of functionality existed on each node and the specific code for a particular task was compiled in one spot and then distributed out to the slaves. Obviously that particular approach is patented, also it would not be ideal for PBASIC anyway, but you may wish to think of something appropriate for you system ...
COOL!!!
How much did that the supercomputer cost?
I'm thinking of building my own computer. (Not that it has to be a BS2 powered computer)
But how fast is it?
The laptop I'm using has
1.8GHz CPU speed Intel. FTL
Intel Internal Graphics FTL
1GB RAM. FTL
Annoying viruses
Annoying Bugs
Annoying Windows Vista
Major Crashes
and it LAGS!!!
I think your Computer is a great idea. Some guy built a laptop out of Propeller chips. Check him out on the Parallax website, in the Propeller Contest results.
As mentioned in the previous 5 pages, the 'supercomputer' aspect should not be confused with 'desktop pc'. There was quite a bit of debate about what constitutes a supercomputer, but it is clear that the strength of the setup lies in the I/O pin count, rather than enormous processing power. Therefore, cooling won't really change the performance at all.
As mentioned in the previous 5 pages, the 'supercomputer' aspect should not be confused with 'desktop pc'. There was quite a bit of debate about what constitutes a supercomputer, but it is clear that the strength of the setup lies in the I/O pin count, rather than enormous processing power. Therefore, cooling won't really change the performance at all.
Just saying it. Cooling Systems ROCK!!! Soon there'll be Liquid Nitrogen Cooling!!! Muahahahaha!!!
SRLM said...
It only works if all your boards are serial, not the usb. Unless if you're willing to add some hardware to the boards that bypasses the USB, but that sounds like more effort than it's worth. I'm sure you've thought about this, so what's your solution?
The BSS is originally made up of Basic Stamp boards which are all serial. The Stache is serial. It's a match made in Heaven. For the PC side, which is usb, the photo below shows the setup using a Parallax serial-usb converter and cable. The gender changer is supplied with the Stache.
How to connect the Stache to a PC with only USB ports
This is the correct screen shown when the Stache is plugged into the Stamp board.
To illustrate the working functionality, posted below is a simple test for the BS2sx on a Parallax Basic Stamp Super Carrier Board.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/23/2009 7:28:21 AM GMT
[b]David Bayliss said...[/b]
This is a fairly incredible project; I am impressed.
I think you will find though that if you really wish to scale this thing upwards
(after all 200 SXs cost the same as a dozen stamps) you will need to automate
the construction and distribution of the individual slave code.
This patent details how this one done on one major supercomputer:...
Thank you. The software is written for 20 Basic Stamps so there's not much concern
about automating the writing of code. For 200 or more stamps, that could be a different
story. However, lower cost chips are available that do MIPS processing each, which can
be interfaced in large quantities. In bulk pricing, 100 chips cost less than $100. These
give up the ease at which they can be hardware interfaced and software programmed,
compared to the Basic Stamp.
The new extended supercomputer in succession could be an array, in three dimensions,
such as 10x10x10. I find it interesting you mentioned the automation of the construction
and distribution of individual worker code. In a past project, an AI program was written
that generated over 25,000 programs in another language - the AI did its own computer
programming. To accomplish this, it took several languages, and used a special
translator, etc.
A similar project is envisioned, where a PC and a given language can create a thousand
PBASIC programs and then automate their download with some extra hardware. I have
ideas for the software. Some guru help may be needed with the hardware.
[b]EZsynn said...[/b]
Can you make the computer look neat and Tidy?
Here's the historical view of the BSS without any wires at all!
It looks neat and tidy... but wait, there's a purpose and reasoning
behind all those wires.
No wiring yet. The Basic Stamp Supercomputer is just a dream beginning to take shape at this time.
A newly completed rack is tried out for the first time to verify spacing and dimensional performance.
Visible are six levels with ten original Basic Stamp HomeWork boards setting in place.
Aside from circuit wiring, there's groups of wire with a purpose -
to stop, prevent, eliminate, and reduce the harmful effects of
impinging RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), EMI (Electro Magnetic
Interference), EME (Electro Magnetic Effects), NE (Narrow Band
Emissions), BE (Broadband Emissions), and maintain EMC (Electro
Magnetic Compatibility).
The shielding effects are beneficial to operating all those basic
stamps at the same time through all those wires! The shield wires (SW)
are strategically placed with references to ground and power. This helps
not only reduce incoming noise, but outgoing as well.
The effects can be verified with a radio station offtuned and compared
to the BSS with and without shielding.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/24/2009 7:20:17 AM GMT
Just saying it. Cooling Systems ROCK!!! Soon
there'll be Liquid Nitrogen Cooling!!! Muahahahaha!!!
Your enthusiasm for cooling is appreciated. Generally,
the higher the speed of a chip, the hotter it runs. Of course,
the more chips, the more power is required and this
equates to more heat generated.
The low power consumption of the Basic Stamp (2)
HomeWork boards are at a cool pace. The supporting
rack is an open concept for the ultimate in natural cooling.
I was prepared to install miniature cooling fans initially
but these were unnecessary. The entire BSS draws minimal
power. You can see some of the photos and movies where
it's at only 320ma. The first construction had each board
running on a 9-volt battery, and these never even became
warm.
Every one of these Basic Stamp boards is operating
at a cool pace on its own single 9-volt battery.
Some of the other brand Tera chip collectives run so hot
they need liquid nitrogent cooling and tanks larger than a
room. It's possible to use forced air fans and water cooling
too. Other boards have the processor chips mounted on
Peltier cooling devices, which are like small electric
refrigerators.
This is technology spun from super-cooled CCD cameras
used for astronomical imaging (to reduce noise and increase
sensitivity). Using a system like this, some years ago
I discovered a new star in the M27 Vulpecula region of space
that was not on the 10-million object Hubble Space Telescope
Star Catalog. So I can verify the cooling effectiveness of
these devices.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/25/2009 1:55:25 PM GMT
Cost Analysis – 5 Package Approaches
The First Basic Stamp Supercomputer
(10 Basic Stamps)
(1) For a supercomputer modeled using ten Basic Stamp 2
Boards, the price tag falls under the $500 mark. Not bad
considering full scale supercomputers have price tags that
range in the millions of dollars!
10 – Basic Stamp 2 HomeWork Board 450.99
01 – Serial LCD 029.99
10 – Piezo Speaker* 005.00
10 – Batteries* 003.55
10 – Red LED* 002.00
01 – Package Wire* 002.50
*local purchase --------
Total$ 494.03
(2) However keep in mind, one should not need to pay the
full “new” price tag, as undoubtedly the hobbyist will have
a parts box filled with wire, LEDs, piezo speakers,
batteries, LCD, and several Basic Stamp boards. This
will cut costs considerably.
(3) The next consideration, mentioned previously, is the
sharing of stamp boards by friends - another way to cut
project cost.
(4) The third cost cutter is for schools. It’s likely the
school already invested in ten HomeWork boards.
(5) Finally, if enough students can contribute their
Basic Stamp HomeWork Boards, the cost will be nearly
nothing.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/26/2009 3:01:49 PM GMT
Using the propeller board at 450 for the set price you could get 15 boards which gives you 120 processors and 480 I/O
A more realistic comparison is the Demo Board you could only have 5 boards which means you would have 40 processors and 40 general use I/O but you gain 5 vga connectors 5 tv outs 5 usb to serial convertors 5 audio in and outs and last but not least 10 ps2 connectors.
So if you can guess. I would love to see a PSC( Propeller Super Computer)
Cole Logan said...
and last but not least 10 ps2 connectors.
Hmmm, what would you want ten keyboards for? This presents all sorts of interesting possibilities... Maybe a million monkeys can type out Shakespeare in a million years... I wonder how long it would take ten monkeys to do it? Sounds like a good experiment. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
I'm curious why so many homework boards are required... why not use a few homework boards and a bunch of OEMs or normal stamps? Each board could have 3 stamps on it...
humanoido: Have you considered using some third-party product or maybe a prop to add a keyboard/monitor interface? Maybe you can figure out some way to make a prop program
or at least command the stamps... I don't know much about the prop.
Of course, if you used a prop, it wouldn't be a stamp super computer anymore... oh well.
BSS Hard Drive?
It was suggested to add more storage capacity to this project
so this was on my mind and last night I went shopping to look
at USB external drives.
It was strange - I could not find the Gb rating on any of the boxes
and there was this TB logo on everything. Suddenly I realized we
are now living in the age of Tera-Byte!
I think "THAT many Bytes" is really amazing. When I built my first
computer, software could always fit into 1/4th K = 256 bytes.
Makes you wonder, what happened? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
It looks like the Parallax Memory Stick Datalogger (27937) can be
used as a Basic Stamp interface to USB Flash Drives. I don't know
if there is compatibility with large capacity USB drives. Some of these
drives do not use the FAT formatting.
· Nice work, humanoido.· How will you be interfacing with the USB drive?· I'm experimenting with the VMusic2 and it seems to have all the fuctionality of the VDrive2.· Just curious.
Ugha said...
I'm curious why so many homework boards are required... why not use a few
homework boards and a bunch of OEMs or normal stamps? Each board could
have 3 stamps on it...
There are several reasons why homework boards were used. 1) They were on
hand and readily available. 2) They fit the concept of school experimentation
with supercomputer models. 3) The board is fully functional for expansion with
its own solderless breadboard that can be dedicated to several sensors. 4) The
goal was to have a "conventional" supercomputer rack, and individual boards which
could be treated as computers. Putting extra stamps on the breadboards instead
of sensors would limit the sensor space. (Although the idea of putting extra stamps
on each board is a good one - see below paragraph for a development of this
concept.)
A Basic Stamp Homework Board used in the Basic Stamp
Supercomputer. Note the thermometer sensor wiring and
mechanical amplifier on the piezo speaker.
As an item of BSS interest, I have designed a modest little single board that holds
24 stamps. I don't know when and if it will be manufactured at this time. I think the
first step will be etching ten printed circuit boards, populating some, and see how
that goes. Plus, we'd need to do a small survey to see if it generates any interest.
The second board version uses the prop chips.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/5/2009 12:05:32 PM GMT
I think that I might give this a go with the propellers. I got a spin studio and 4 more proto boards showing up today I might have to see what I can come up with.
Shopping For BSS Drives
It was a challenge just getting to the store to shop for the drives.
I took this photo at the top of the bridge before walking down to the sidewalk.
Shopping for groceries and Flash Drives for the Basic Stamp
Supercomputer is a challenging experience.
All department store checkout lines were full and waiting takes hours
to pay for your purchases.
I finally got the drives I wanted. Some are Gb flash Drives and one is a third
TeraByte USB drive. I'm currently working on various BSS interface circuits
and software.
More Storage Capacity - USB Flash Drives
The flash drives attach to a four distribution hub and add more storage
capacity to the Basic Stamp Master. This initially has a Parallax data logging
interface and new software gives it storage capacity to use as a sequential
hard drive. In back of the USB hub is a one third TeraByte Seagate USB
drive.
Four flash drives, ranging from 1 to 2Gb capacity, attach to the
BSS Basic Stamp Master. This gives a total of 6Gb capacity.
The market currently has 32Gb flash drives, but the 1 and 2Gb solid state
drives are are real bargain. You'll probably want to stock up on DT Mini
Slim 2Gb drives as their very small footprint matches the Basic Stamp
microcontroller in micro miniaturization.
Hmm... You might consider making the Mass Production Type BS2-SCPU. One Question, (Attempted THE 3RD TIME!!!), WHAT DOES IT DO?
Oh yeah, One Idea. Try using one BOE or HOBO to make a pocket pc. It'll be completely easy for you because you already built the BSS.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BWIN ON DA POWAH WIFIN U!!!
The famous question, "what does it do?" has been addressed
earlier in the page posts. This is the famous question often asked
about new products. When the microcomputer was first introduced
in the 1970s, people asked the same question. How could anyone
know at that time, a machine with some switches and blinking
lights would evolve into megalithic proportions in almost every
aspect of today's society?
Given a single Basic Stamp, one may also ask the same question.
"What does it do?" But the real answer is within the multitude of
stamp users, when they take the product and forge their own ideas
with it, using creativity and ingenuity.
Much of my time is focused on developing the BSS, upgrading it,
giving it greater strength and flexibility, so that users may adopt it
to create as many new inventions and product ideas as possible.
Some apps mentioned and/or developed include a super security
system, a seeing eye, a simulation of part of the human brain,
and multiple brains for a robot.
The original purpose of the BSS is to serve as a model
supercomputer within the reach of hobbyists using low cost
components, as a learning tool and instrument in the overall
understanding of many of the concepts of supercomputers,
in software, clustering, programming, and interfacing.
Another thing it does well is handle many sensors at the same
time. I'm sure you can think of some things you'd like to try
using the sensors mentioned in the previous pages, and maybe
include some of the new sensors offered by Parallax.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/13/2009 7:38:43 AM GMT
Here's an interesting idea: how about you have half a dozen (or so) independent robots that have a wireless link to the BSS. You use the BSS to coordinate and master control each of the robots. So you get a hive style with a master queen and semi-independent drones. Reminds me of the movie Independence Day: all the aliens relied on a central authority for their control.
Many of us fidget with one or two interfaces rather than try to envision larger integration.
The main point is that the Basic Stamp is a powerful building block and in a modular open architecture it can begin to do sophisticated things that one Basic Stamp could never achieve.
There will NEVER be an end to the BasicStamps useful life in the digital world.
Happy to see the origin is in Taiwan too.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
How do you like my name change?
aka G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse] 黃鶴 ] in Taiwan
Post Edited (Loopy Byteloose) : 2/14/2009 12:57:35 PM GMT
I have been following your work since you first posted and you have inspired me to try several new things on my own projects.· Your a very creative person!!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Currently working on "Omnibot v2" - A "rejuvenated" 1980's Tomy Omnibot 2000 Robot
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Thanks! I'm happy to hear this project can inspire and
I agree about the great and continuing usefulness
of the Basic Stamps.
Wireless applications are growing - it appears from ideas in
the posts that a transmitter placed on the Master could relay
the data and processing info to one robot or many robots.
Likewise, each robot can transmit to the Master (Queen?).
What would you call this process? The BORG hive? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
A quick update - work is progressing with the usb drives and
flash drives. I notice that formatting is different with several
drives, such as FAT, FAT32, and another standard for the
large USB drives. I run into a snag where a USB drive
cannot copy a folder with over 512 files. I planned a half
million files management in the supercomputer and will need
to examine this to see where the bottleneck is coming from.
Another aspect of the BSS project is getting a smaller pc
to interface as part of the collective. This could be a tiny
Asus EEE PC running LINUX or XP-Lite. Just throwing out
some ideas for discussion. Probably the USB drivers will be
a considerable challenge.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/19/2009 6:07:53 AM GMT
Since it's this awesome, can you give me the circuitry schematic for it?
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BWIN ON DA POWAH WIFIN U!!!
(This means the Plutonium Isotope Nuclear Fission And Fusion Reactor Battery Pack you've been hiding inside your jacket!!!)
Comments
The Stache is a u-programmer for the Basic Stamp 2.
I'm experimenting with ways to utilize the Stache as a
way to transfer all programs to the Basic Stamp Supercomputer.
The Stache simply attaches to the serial DBM on the Basic Stamp Super Carrier Board.
More product information is at the Parallax web site:
www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampModules/tabid/134/txtSearch/stache/List/1/ProductID/45/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName
and here:
www.emesystems.com/
Target stamps in the BSS that are functional with the
Stache include BS2, BS2sx, BS2e, BS2p, and Bs2pe.
BS2sx, BS2e, BS2p, and BS2pe are special cases that
can hold more than one program in up to eight program
banks. The stache is capable of handling this code.
This method will open up new ways to store BSS apps and
more readily and conveniently download the code set to all
Basic Stamps.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/19/2009 9:40:12 AM GMT
I think you will find though that if you really wish to scale this thing upwards (after all 200 SXs cost the same as a dozen stamps) you will need to automate the construction and distribution of the individual slave code.
This patent details how this one done on one major supercomputer:
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7240059/fulltext.html
in that instance 'libraries' of functionality existed on each node and the specific code for a particular task was compiled in one spot and then distributed out to the slaves. Obviously that particular approach is patented, also it would not be ideal for PBASIC anyway, but you may wish to think of something appropriate for you system ...
HTH
David
How much did that the supercomputer cost?
I'm thinking of building my own computer. (Not that it has to be a BS2 powered computer)
But how fast is it?
The laptop I'm using has
1.8GHz CPU speed Intel. FTL
Intel Internal Graphics FTL
1GB RAM. FTL
Annoying viruses
Annoying Bugs
Annoying Windows Vista
Major Crashes
and it LAGS!!!
I think your Computer is a great idea. Some guy built a laptop out of Propeller chips. Check him out on the Parallax website, in the Propeller Contest results.
Post Edited (Ezsynn) : 1/22/2009 6:09:18 AM GMT
As mentioned in the previous 5 pages, the 'supercomputer' aspect should not be confused with 'desktop pc'. There was quite a bit of debate about what constitutes a supercomputer, but it is clear that the strength of the setup lies in the I/O pin count, rather than enormous processing power. Therefore, cooling won't really change the performance at all.
Just saying it. Cooling Systems ROCK!!! Soon there'll be Liquid Nitrogen Cooling!!! Muahahahaha!!!
How to connect the Stache to a PC with only USB ports
This is the correct screen shown when the Stache is plugged into the Stamp board.
To illustrate the working functionality, posted below is a simple test for the BS2sx on a Parallax Basic Stamp Super Carrier Board.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/23/2009 7:28:21 AM GMT
Thank you. The software is written for 20 Basic Stamps so there's not much concern
about automating the writing of code. For 200 or more stamps, that could be a different
story. However, lower cost chips are available that do MIPS processing each, which can
be interfaced in large quantities. In bulk pricing, 100 chips cost less than $100. These
give up the ease at which they can be hardware interfaced and software programmed,
compared to the Basic Stamp.
The new extended supercomputer in succession could be an array, in three dimensions,
such as 10x10x10. I find it interesting you mentioned the automation of the construction
and distribution of individual worker code. In a past project, an AI program was written
that generated over 25,000 programs in another language - the AI did its own computer
programming. To accomplish this, it took several languages, and used a special
translator, etc.
A similar project is envisioned, where a PC and a given language can create a thousand
PBASIC programs and then automate their download with some extra hardware. I have
ideas for the software. Some guru help may be needed with the hardware.
humanoido
Here's the historical view of the BSS without any wires at all!
It looks neat and tidy... but wait, there's a purpose and reasoning
behind all those wires.
No wiring yet. The Basic Stamp Supercomputer is just a dream beginning to take shape at this time.
A newly completed rack is tried out for the first time to verify spacing and dimensional performance.
Visible are six levels with ten original Basic Stamp HomeWork boards setting in place.
Aside from circuit wiring, there's groups of wire with a purpose -
to stop, prevent, eliminate, and reduce the harmful effects of
impinging RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), EMI (Electro Magnetic
Interference), EME (Electro Magnetic Effects), NE (Narrow Band
Emissions), BE (Broadband Emissions), and maintain EMC (Electro
Magnetic Compatibility).
The shielding effects are beneficial to operating all those basic
stamps at the same time through all those wires! The shield wires (SW)
are strategically placed with references to ground and power. This helps
not only reduce incoming noise, but outgoing as well.
The effects can be verified with a radio station offtuned and compared
to the BSS with and without shielding.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/24/2009 7:20:17 AM GMT
the higher the speed of a chip, the hotter it runs. Of course,
the more chips, the more power is required and this
equates to more heat generated.
The low power consumption of the Basic Stamp (2)
HomeWork boards are at a cool pace. The supporting
rack is an open concept for the ultimate in natural cooling.
I was prepared to install miniature cooling fans initially
but these were unnecessary. The entire BSS draws minimal
power. You can see some of the photos and movies where
it's at only 320ma. The first construction had each board
running on a 9-volt battery, and these never even became
warm.
Every one of these Basic Stamp boards is operating
at a cool pace on its own single 9-volt battery.
Some of the other brand Tera chip collectives run so hot
they need liquid nitrogent cooling and tanks larger than a
room. It's possible to use forced air fans and water cooling
too. Other boards have the processor chips mounted on
Peltier cooling devices, which are like small electric
refrigerators.
This is technology spun from super-cooled CCD cameras
used for astronomical imaging (to reduce noise and increase
sensitivity). Using a system like this, some years ago
I discovered a new star in the M27 Vulpecula region of space
that was not on the 10-million object Hubble Space Telescope
Star Catalog. So I can verify the cooling effectiveness of
these devices.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/25/2009 1:55:25 PM GMT
The First Basic Stamp Supercomputer
(10 Basic Stamps)
(1) For a supercomputer modeled using ten Basic Stamp 2 Boards, the price tag falls under the $500 mark. Not bad considering full scale supercomputers have price tags that range in the millions of dollars! 10 – Basic Stamp 2 HomeWork Board 450.99 01 – Serial LCD 029.99 10 – Piezo Speaker* 005.00 10 – Batteries* 003.55 10 – Red LED* 002.00 01 – Package Wire* 002.50 *local purchase -------- Total$ 494.03 (2) However keep in mind, one should not need to pay the full “new” price tag, as undoubtedly the hobbyist will have a parts box filled with wire, LEDs, piezo speakers, batteries, LCD, and several Basic Stamp boards. This will cut costs considerably. (3) The next consideration, mentioned previously, is the sharing of stamp boards by friends - another way to cut project cost. (4) The third cost cutter is for schools. It’s likely the school already invested in ten HomeWork boards. (5) Finally, if enough students can contribute their Basic Stamp HomeWork Boards, the cost will be nearly nothing.humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/26/2009 3:01:49 PM GMT
A more realistic comparison is the Demo Board you could only have 5 boards which means you would have 40 processors and 40 general use I/O but you gain 5 vga connectors 5 tv outs 5 usb to serial convertors 5 audio in and outs and last but not least 10 ps2 connectors.
So if you can guess. I would love to see a PSC( Propeller Super Computer)
Hmmm, what would you want ten keyboards for? This presents all sorts of interesting possibilities... Maybe a million monkeys can type out Shakespeare in a million years... I wonder how long it would take ten monkeys to do it? Sounds like a good experiment. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
And it should take the monkeys 10 million years
humanoido: Have you considered using some third-party product or maybe a prop to add a keyboard/monitor interface? Maybe you can figure out some way to make a prop program
or at least command the stamps... I don't know much about the prop.
Of course, if you used a prop, it wouldn't be a stamp super computer anymore... oh well.
It was suggested to add more storage capacity to this project
so this was on my mind and last night I went shopping to look
at USB external drives.
It was strange - I could not find the Gb rating on any of the boxes
and there was this TB logo on everything. Suddenly I realized we
are now living in the age of Tera-Byte!
I think "THAT many Bytes" is really amazing. When I built my first
computer, software could always fit into 1/4th K = 256 bytes.
Makes you wonder, what happened? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
It looks like the Parallax Memory Stick Datalogger (27937) can be
used as a Basic Stamp interface to USB Flash Drives. I don't know
if there is compatibility with large capacity USB drives. Some of these
drives do not use the FAT formatting.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/2/2009 4:27:16 AM GMT
Imagine what you could do with 16 Pin Propeller Boards....
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Basic Stamp,···· Propeller,·· · SX,·· FUN!
START:·
>Proccessing Data. . . .··
>Task Complete. . .·.
>Saving Data. . . .
>Entering SLEEP Mode. . . .
>Signing OFF
·
hand and readily available. 2) They fit the concept of school experimentation
with supercomputer models. 3) The board is fully functional for expansion with
its own solderless breadboard that can be dedicated to several sensors. 4) The
goal was to have a "conventional" supercomputer rack, and individual boards which
could be treated as computers. Putting extra stamps on the breadboards instead
of sensors would limit the sensor space. (Although the idea of putting extra stamps
on each board is a good one - see below paragraph for a development of this
concept.)
A Basic Stamp Homework Board used in the Basic Stamp
Supercomputer. Note the thermometer sensor wiring and
mechanical amplifier on the piezo speaker.
As an item of BSS interest, I have designed a modest little single board that holds
24 stamps. I don't know when and if it will be manufactured at this time. I think the
first step will be etching ten printed circuit boards, populating some, and see how
that goes. Plus, we'd need to do a small survey to see if it generates any interest.
The second board version uses the prop chips.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/5/2009 12:05:32 PM GMT
It was a challenge just getting to the store to shop for the drives.
I took this photo at the top of the bridge before walking down to the sidewalk.
Shopping for groceries and Flash Drives for the Basic Stamp
Supercomputer is a challenging experience.
All department store checkout lines were full and waiting takes hours
to pay for your purchases.
I finally got the drives I wanted. Some are Gb flash Drives and one is a third
TeraByte USB drive. I'm currently working on various BSS interface circuits
and software.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/8/2009 5:22:47 PM GMT
The flash drives attach to a four distribution hub and add more storage
capacity to the Basic Stamp Master. This initially has a Parallax data logging
interface and new software gives it storage capacity to use as a sequential
hard drive. In back of the USB hub is a one third TeraByte Seagate USB
drive.
Four flash drives, ranging from 1 to 2Gb capacity, attach to the
BSS Basic Stamp Master. This gives a total of 6Gb capacity.
The market currently has 32Gb flash drives, but the 1 and 2Gb solid state
drives are are real bargain. You'll probably want to stock up on DT Mini
Slim 2Gb drives as their very small footprint matches the Basic Stamp
microcontroller in micro miniaturization.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/9/2009 3:40:43 PM GMT
Oh yeah, One Idea. Try using one BOE or HOBO to make a pocket pc. It'll be completely easy for you because you already built the BSS.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BWIN ON DA POWAH WIFIN U!!!
Post Edited (Ezsynn) : 2/13/2009 6:43:39 AM GMT
The famous question, "what does it do?" has been addressed
earlier in the page posts. This is the famous question often asked
about new products. When the microcomputer was first introduced
in the 1970s, people asked the same question. How could anyone
know at that time, a machine with some switches and blinking
lights would evolve into megalithic proportions in almost every
aspect of today's society?
Given a single Basic Stamp, one may also ask the same question.
"What does it do?" But the real answer is within the multitude of
stamp users, when they take the product and forge their own ideas
with it, using creativity and ingenuity.
Much of my time is focused on developing the BSS, upgrading it,
giving it greater strength and flexibility, so that users may adopt it
to create as many new inventions and product ideas as possible.
Some apps mentioned and/or developed include a super security
system, a seeing eye, a simulation of part of the human brain,
and multiple brains for a robot.
The original purpose of the BSS is to serve as a model
supercomputer within the reach of hobbyists using low cost
components, as a learning tool and instrument in the overall
understanding of many of the concepts of supercomputers,
in software, clustering, programming, and interfacing.
Another thing it does well is handle many sensors at the same
time. I'm sure you can think of some things you'd like to try
using the sensors mentioned in the previous pages, and maybe
include some of the new sensors offered by Parallax.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/13/2009 7:38:43 AM GMT
Many of us fidget with one or two interfaces rather than try to envision larger integration.
The main point is that the Basic Stamp is a powerful building block and in a modular open architecture it can begin to do sophisticated things that one Basic Stamp could never achieve.
There will NEVER be an end to the BasicStamps useful life in the digital world.
Happy to see the origin is in Taiwan too.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
How do you like my name change?
aka G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse] 黃鶴 ] in Taiwan
Post Edited (Loopy Byteloose) : 2/14/2009 12:57:35 PM GMT
I have been following your work since you first posted and you have inspired me to try several new things on my own projects.· Your a very creative person!!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Currently working on "Omnibot v2" - A "rejuvenated" 1980's Tomy Omnibot 2000 Robot
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
I agree about the great and continuing usefulness
of the Basic Stamps.
Wireless applications are growing - it appears from ideas in
the posts that a transmitter placed on the Master could relay
the data and processing info to one robot or many robots.
Likewise, each robot can transmit to the Master (Queen?).
What would you call this process? The BORG hive? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
A quick update - work is progressing with the usb drives and
flash drives. I notice that formatting is different with several
drives, such as FAT, FAT32, and another standard for the
large USB drives. I run into a snag where a USB drive
cannot copy a folder with over 512 files. I planned a half
million files management in the supercomputer and will need
to examine this to see where the bottleneck is coming from.
Another aspect of the BSS project is getting a smaller pc
to interface as part of the collective. This could be a tiny
Asus EEE PC running LINUX or XP-Lite. Just throwing out
some ideas for discussion. Probably the USB drivers will be
a considerable challenge.
humanoido
Post Edited (humanoido) : 2/19/2009 6:07:53 AM GMT
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BWIN ON DA POWAH WIFIN U!!!
(This means the Plutonium Isotope Nuclear Fission And Fusion Reactor Battery Pack you've been hiding inside your jacket!!!)