BOE Board & Homework Board Alternatives

Dan Toborowski

I recently plunged into the world of microcontrollers with a BOE bot kit. I greatly enjoyed the experience and wanted to learn more exciting applications. I ordered the Automatic Processes and Smart Sensors Stamps in Class texts but find myself in need of more development boards.

While the BOE Board does·simplify the development process·a lot, I was hoping to create seperate demonstrations showcasing the different sensors utilized in these texts for an upcoming event. A seperate BOE board for each individual sensor would be quite a few BOE boards·and thus very expensive (and probably overkill too). Is there a cheaper alternative for working with Stamp MCU's to showcase the abilties of various sensors? If so, how might a novice user utilize these having only used BOE boards so far? Is there anywhere online·where I can·find detailed information to help me graduate·from the·BOE board so I can utilize other options? Thanks!

Dan Toborowski

Mike Green

You need to browse the Parallax webstore for Stamp boards. There are several depending on what you want to do. You haven't really stated any of your constraints, so it's hard to make specific recommendations. Assuming you don't want to solder, there's the Professional Development Board (PDB) and the HomeWork boards. The former has a large breadboard area and could host several sensors. A single Stamp can certainly handle several sensors and the buttons and switches on the PDB can be used to select which one to demonstrate or it can simply cycle through each one in turn. The HomeWork boards are just inexpensive, somewhat simplified BOEs. You could also buy a large breadboard and a Serial LCD for a display and do the same thing with your BOE running a couple of wires from the BOE to the other breadboard. Parallax has the pieces for this or you can get them from most large electronics distributors.

Most Parallax products have extensive documentation and it's all downloadable. The links are always on the product page in the webstore.

halfblinddado

Just fyi

I had an extra stamp and I bought the super carrier board, a couple of headers and the small breadboard from parallax. Soldered the headers on and the small breadboard has double sided sticky tape on the back and fits perfectly over the prototyping area on the board.

It's kinda cool cause you have vss and vdd on both the top and bottom of the breadboard and a seperate vin.

Cost about $30 to build now. but I bought the board on the daily deal for $15

Works like a charm,

Mike

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"Everything is working so why do we pay him?"


"Nothing is working so why do we pay him?"

JD

Dan,

·There are various boards that you can select from. The Super Carrier Board was designed to transition from the BOE to a soldering board the simplest and is quite inexpensive; it also has a barrel jack in case your demos are running for an extended amount of time, which depending on the demo, could drain a 9V battery quickly. There is also the BASIC Stamp 2 Carrier Board that would allow you to use a 9V battery as the power supply, so you don’t have to be stationed around a wall jack. Both boards have serial ports for programming and can be used for communication with the PC if the demo needs. Those are two main carrier boards for our 24-pin modules. Here is some links for you to review; there is documentation under Downloads & Resources on each product page as well. I hope this helps with your decision, but feel free to ask any questions as they arise.

BASIC Stamp 2 Carrier Board:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampDevelopmentBoards/tabid/137/CategoryID/12/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/121/Default.aspx

Super Carrier Board:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampDevelopmentBoards/tabid/137/CategoryID/12/List/0/SortField/0/catpageindex/2/Level/a/ProductID/122/Default.aspx

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Respectfully,


Joshua Donelson
www.parallax.com

Post Edited (Joshua Donelson (Parallax)) : 4/1/2009 5:29:24 AM GMT

vaclav_sal

Dan,

take a look at BS2 OEM board. I am building my test setup using Radio Shack breadboards, wirewrap headers and wirewrap header connectors.

Instead of using·a standard header I soldered a header connector thru the holes and hot glued the board to the RS base breadboard.

Than you can plug in whatever module you develop either on top or build a bus type setup. My has both "options".

I can send you some details if you are interested in this breadboarding style.

( I need to figure out how to compress my video files first!!)

I like using wirewrap·because it is easier to modify as you go.

Cheers

vaclav_sal

Here is a picture!