GROWBOT Board rev. A

Prettybird

· I reciently got a Growbot board and was able to find some info. on this site. Surprised me.I found the old Basic stamp2 can't handle the newer programs and of coarse the pinout is different. I am going to update it with headers added power LEDs and a new BS2. It has a few on board features that impressed me but of coarse less free I/O pins to work with. Is it a collectors item or should I try to sell on ebay. I found the power supply and pin headers line up but the pin out may be different for Parallax AppMods like the LCD terminal. Having 2 headers is a nice feature. Any Ideas? It is in mint condition less the servos I removed.

Mike Green

There were some updates to the BS2 firmware. You may be able to send it in to Parallax Tech Support and get the firmware updated. Give them a call tomorrow.

Prettybird

· Thanks. Firmware = ??? Is that like hardware? Old school here. I did notice no 5v regulator on the board. Just resistors, caps, LEDs, plugs and switches. Waiting for parts. Thanks again.

kwinn

Hardware: The physical parts - chips, boards, disk drives, motors, transformers, etc.

Software: The programs that run on the hardware, usually loaded into volatile ram after power up.

Firmware: Somewhere between Hardware and Software. Origionally referred to software that was in factory masked rom, burned to prom (or otprom), and eprom. Unlike programs in ram, the software programmed into these chips remained in place when power was turned off, hence the name "firmware". The definition has become somewhat fuzzy with all the new programmable memory technologies (eeprom, flash, fram, etc) and microcontroller chips that can be reprogrammed in circuit without special hardware and voltages.

masked rom: Read only memory where the data is created as part of the chip fabrication.

prom - programmable read only memory: can only be programmed once since the bits were written by blowing fusible links.

otprom - one time programmable read only memory: usually an eprom in a package without a window so it could not be erased.

eprom - also called uveprom or uvprom: programmed electrically by injecting electrons into a floating gate and erased by exposure to ultra-violet light

eeprom - electrically eraseable programmable read only memory: programmed electrically by injecting electrons into a floating gate and erased electrically

flash, sd cards, and usb drives are forms of eeprom

fram - ferrous random access memory: a modern day version of good old core memory where a data bit is stored as a magnetic field in iron

Post Edited (kwinn) : 5/4/2009 1:17:27 PM GMT

Prettybird

· Thanks alot for the updated lingo. I worked with CNC machinery most my life but as an electrician, not programmer. I even rmmember hard drives as big as birthday cakes and uveproms. I am beginning to like this site more and more. Have a good day.