Propeller landing page at Parallax.com

W9GFO

I was just sending an old friend an email, in the message I wanted to include a link to the Propeller chip so that he could see what I was talking about.

This appears to be the Propeller page at Parallax.com. It is not quite what I was looking for. I spent a couple minutes clicking around try to locate the kind of page I was looking for but did not find it.

I was hoping to find a page where all the great things about the Propeller would jump out at you - rather than having to scroll down and dig for the information. Is there such a page? Am I being too picky??

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

Ken Gracey

Rich H,

No, you are not being too picky. I agree that the Propeller landing page needs a complete overhaul.

I'll draw marketing's attention to it and they'll get started on a revision.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Sincerely,

Ken Gracey

Cluso99

W9GFO: Yes I guess we just know where to go after being around for quite a while. It is not something that we think of anymore.

Yet, it is a major thing for newbies or those interested in perhaps becoming newbies.

Thanks Ken for taking it up.

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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)
· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm

Ken Gracey

I've asked the marketing crew to come and take a look at this thread on Monday morning in hopes that our forum members could provide some input as to what would make a nice Propeller landing page.

If you have any input, feel free to state it here. I'll be on an airplane for the next 16 hours and must work on another project (we have three new GPS units in stock that we will start selling shortly).

Thanks,

Ken Gracey

Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 1/18/2010 7:03:27 AM GMT

W9GFO

Sure thing!

A photo of a chip(s), the die and a graphic illustrating the 'round robin' parallel processing nature of the chips operation.

Bullet points;

32 KB RAM
Eight 32 bit cores
16 counter modules
something that illustrates how easy it is to write code, then load onto the chip - with one, totally free application (Mac too!).

Those are the stand-out things that are especially meaningful to me - that I can think of at the moment.

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

Cluso99

Somewhere it needs to say that the Propeller does not have traditional hardware for UARTs, etc. The Propeller utilises it's inbuilt complex counters in each cog to implement the required hardware utilising code objects. There are objects for UARTs, TV video (composite) and VGA (RGB), I2C, SPI (and SD cards too), [noparse][[/noparse]please add to this list].

The Propeller is programmed in a mix of SPIN (a simple high level programming language) and PASM (a 32bit RISC style assembler language) and is used for fast response code usually to implement flexible on-chip hardware, such as UARTs, etc.

Ken has given us the ball to help. Can someone add a wiki page please? Then we can all add to that to give Ken and the marketing guys something to build upon. This is our opportunity to add the info (features) that helps to widen the Propeller audience. We all have our 'pet' projects.

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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)
· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm

MagIO2

Wouldn't it be fun to connect a real propeller to your landing page or maybe a farm of propellers for load balancing?
Easy way: let it do some calculations showing the time it needed.
Hard way: Make it programmable via internet, showing the result as video.
Fun way: Make it run Core-War.

Did someone program core war for the prop? ... funny ... maybe I should start with it ... ;o)


PS:
I'd tell the people, that the Objects available at object exchange are much better than code libraries of other controllers. Because of the multi core nature you simply run it. In other controllers you have to 'fit' the code into your project - which is·harder in complex projects.

Post Edited (MagIO2) : 1/18/2010 7:08:56 AM GMT

W9GFO

IMHO a "landing page" will have the least bit of words and pictures to convey the greatest amount of information. The sort of thing where you have to capture interest in just a few seconds.

There is simply not enough space to show all the depth of features of the Propeller on what I would consider a "landing page".

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

atlstang

Im probably not the target demographic, a new mechanical engineer with very minimal knowledge. Im new to the prop but the biggest thing i see about it is that its easy. Easy in a very very good way. I like to keep busy with projects, and stumbled throug pic's to read sensors etc. With the prop i could of probably made a system to read sensors or control systems etc 1000x faster then i could before. Also with the prop i can output to a screen or data log with an sd card, something i would of never known how to do before. The imagination can really run wild with what this thing can do, as its easy enough for a guy like me to do and implement into projects. How many other microcontrollers could do this?

The prop is kind of intimidating at first when trying to research it before buying. I remember thinking i could barely program a single pic, neverless 8 cogs in a totally different language. Finally took the plunge a week or two ago. After powering through the PE kit in a about 2-3 days, and taking a mere 5-10 min to figure out how to write a text file to an SD card. I began thinking i should of gotten this a looong time ago, its going to make for some really awesome projects in the future.

If somehow the above could of been conveyed on a page, id been sold on the prop a long time ago. The cool projects etc that you all do really is really what got my attention in the first place.

Post Edited (atlstang) : 1/18/2010 9:05:25 AM GMT

SexieWASD

What made me choose the prop was the excellent documentation and a forum to grab help from when I get stuck on something. It needs to have links to the pdf's (education kit, prop manual, spin cheat sheet etc...) and a link to the propeller forum.

SamMishal

The things top 10 things I love most about the Propeller (in descending order)

1- EASY Parallel Processing
2- No Interrupts....but that is hard to·understand·as an advantage by the non-initiated and may actually be perceived as a limitation so I may leave that out....
3- Spin
4- OBEX
5- TV, VGA, PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard, Sound with just a few resistors
6- EASY EASY EASY EASY......even a normal person can program a Multiprocessor, Multitasking, Parallel Processing TV/VGA displaying, Keyboard/Mouse interfacing system in NO TIME.
7- Parallax's amazing and dedicated support.
8- The forum
9- The PPDB and the PDB
10-The people who use it.


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Samuel

www.RobotBASIC.com
·

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

How about some screenshots from a few programs from this list. There are some REAL GEMS here.

OBC

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New to the Propeller?

Visit the: The Propeller Pages @ Warranty Void.

trodoss

@OBC,
The Hydra list is a good one [noparse];)[/noparse] Certianly things on that list were influential in my first dabblings with the Propeller.

Cluso's list, "Prop Tools Under Devleopment" (http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=296149) and " Emulators: CPUs Z80 8080 6809 6502; Micros Altair (http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=321808) have lots of GEMS as well.

SRLM

I would also emphasize that despite all the capabilities listed elsewhere, the Propeller is a very affordable $8 per chip. I know some friends (PICers...) who respond when I tell them about the Propeller "Yeah, let's just stick a linux laptop on the thing, and spend $300 extra. Multicore, 32 bit processor...Ha!"

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Powered by enthusiasm

blittled

I would put on some external links such as the Chameleon, The Unofficial Propeller Expo, and others so someone can see all the diverse products and activites that center around the Propeller.

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Will work for Propeller parts!

JRetSapDoog

In terms of getting· attention, wouldn't the Propeller lend itself well to some kind of simple animated diagram, such as a Flash animation or an animated GIF?· Such an animation would probably show not only the HUB "arbitrator" spinning around to give COGS HUB access but also show all 8 (or several) COGS working simultaneously (possibly pausing occassionally for HUB access).· If·a picture is worth a thousand words, a carefully crafted animated one is probably worth twice that.· Then, one- or two-thousand words of hard-to-picture detail could follow (or otherwise accompany) the animation.· Maybe such an animation already exists (other than the spinning propeller beanie, I mean (as good as that is)).· If not, it's·probably worth creating...as it would also be applicable to·the Prop II, which reportedly also has a shared HUB and 8 COGS.· Such an animation, possibly with 8 COGS distributed around·a central HUB (or a perhaps a linear version, etc.) could blow away this four-stroke engine animation.· Hmm...such an animation (not Flash- or GIF-based) running on an actual Propeller with the TV object might also be cool (in a self-referential sort of way).·

Other than that, I second the need to emphasize ease-of-use, inexpensive development systems·and free tools.· In particular, mention the ability to compile, load and run within about 10 seconds.

Bump

Aye, as Ken has stated we've been notified! We're working on revising our website right now so this comes at a perfect time; we're very interested in reorganizing pages to be more thorough and to have a·logical flow, while not being too intimidating and overloaded with solid text-walls.

This is the current page being discussed:
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/407/Default.aspx

Ofcourse discussion isn't limited to just the landing page, there are a few pages that directly link to the General Information page which could become more highlighted than they are currently.· We have the current contest listed there, recent events like the UPENE, and the design specifics.· I see some requests for giving further emphasis on the product itself and easy to digest information as to what the Propeller microcontroller offers as a programmable chip.

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Martin Hodge

SamMishal said...
6- EASY EASY EASY EASY......even a normal person can program a Multiprocessor, Multitasking, Parallel Processing TV/VGA displaying, Keyboard/Mouse interfacing system in NO TIME.

I second this. (irrational) Fear is the biggest thing I've found hard to overcome when entering the prop realm.

Nick McClick

I think Rich is right - a landing page should be content-light & pique interest. And OBC is right - the best thing to do is show, not tell. The Prop is very easy to show off, too - plenty of videos, pictures, etc. Everyone says 'we're easy', but showing how easy it is is more convincing.

I wouldn't worry too much about the architecture, except maybe to use it as a 'reason for the magic' - "A microcontroller this inexpensive, fast, and power efficient simply isn't possible with a traditional architecture". A detailed technology discussion isn't relevant until people are interested in the product. I might also hype up Chip himself, "A Design by vision, not by committee".

Maybe you can do some light objection handling on the lander, but I'd keep it simple.

I like blitted's idea of showing all the activity around the Prop. It's good to show momentum - maybe a teaser of all the products / designs that use a Prop?

The benefits vary by audience, you might want to split the lander, or make multiple pages.

Just my 2 cents! Ideas are the easy part - copywriting, designing, etc. is what takes the most effort.

Few more positioning /mood statements;

Business
"Making a stand-out product requires stand-out components"
"Break conventional design barriers with an unconventional design"
"At Parallax, we try harder"

Hobbyist
"Making Electronics Projects fun since 1990"
"Designed from the silicon up to support hobbyists"
"120 MIPS in a DIP Package. Who else?"

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icepuck

Another thing that might help draw new users to the prop would be a simple emulator that could show output on a simulated lcd or tv/vga display.
Some easy demos(maybe some games) that would allow people to get a taste of what SPIN is like.
Maybe make it a "plugin" to the prop IDE. I don't have any need for a prop but if I were to "demo" one I just might "find" a need for one.
-dan

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Arguing with myself--sometimes me, myself, and I don't always agree.
(Former) Caterpillar product support technician

Post Edited (icepuck) : 1/19/2010 4:21:21 AM GMT

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

The usual old marketing saw is this: sell the benefits, not the features. But I'm not sure this works with a techie crowd. When I go to a product website, the last thing I would ever click is the "Solutions" tab, since it always seems rather presumptuous to offer solutions when they don't even know what my problem is. I would rather know what features the product offers, so I can make up my own mind whether it's a "solution" or not. That said, I would not be bashful about touting the Propeller's features on page one. 'Just a thought...

-Phil

Clock Loop

The Obex.

If you notice how each category has a neat little icon, this attracts users into thinking that they are features,
but this is good, because they are features, but are called objects.

This page,

http://obex.parallax.com/

Shows how powerful the prop is, and would somehow help in the landing page i think.

Cluso99

Some random ideas of some of the above...

A good sample of objects with·picture(s) e.g.

• fsrw object + SD/uSD Card picture
• vga object + vga picture (a nice graphics & text picture)
• tv object + graphics game picture
• robot control + robot picture (help me here!)
• zigbee object + zigbee pic (si this done?)

What I am trying to convey is that the one chip (not a family of chips) can do all this using it's flexible counters and cogs(cores) plus·software objects.



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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)
· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm

MagIO2

What about having all this pictures in a row and a propeller comes along and eats everything (maybe like a packman) ... behind the prop comes the banner saying "Everything inside" ;o)

Fred Hawkins

I'd like to see this: a time lapse video that shows the construction of various systems, highlighting the prop's ease of interface. Start simple, battery power, a switch and an LED, then successively add different things. A 4x20 LCD, a graphic LCD, a TV, a computer monitor, a buzzer, a speaker, a five button control panel with an LCD (for instance), a touchpanel, a keyboard, "oh, how about a mouse?", an SD card, or a uSD card, a wall wart power supply, sensors, motors, servos, etc...

Have the video's webpage -- maybe even interactively -- link to the schematics and code for each elaboration and, importantly, shows how much of the propeller's resources are used.

Graham Stabler

Take a look at this website for stop motion animation software:

www.dragonstopmotion.com/

And click on the link to watch sixty second intro to the software. The propeller could benefit from something like this but it must be done well.

Graham

Bump

Still a work in progress; we're having a few different people from appropriate departments rewrite and edit sections.

Currently moving about information http://www.parallax.com/ProductInfo/Microcontrollers/PropellerGeneralInformation/tabid/407/Default.aspx


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Cluso99

Just a thought...

Could the page have a link to a Parallax FaceBook blog where we all could add photos and descriptions of our projects?

Of course, the facebook blog would just be for showing off projects with links back to threads for discussions. This would be hard to police, but could be an excellent way to get us all involved adding our pet projects.

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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)·
· Prop OS: SphinxOS·, PropDos , PropCmd··· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBlade Props: www.cluso.bluemagic.biz

CannibalRobotics

What got me was the ad in SERVO that was just the schematic of the demo board. I studied that for about 10 minutes and decided that if one chip could do all of that with a handful of components then I was in, all in.
Thanks to Parallax, the obex and forum, the promise was kept.

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Signature space for rent!
Send $1 to CannibalRobotics.com.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Hey Bump,

Nicely done!

One suggestion: On the Propeller Products page, get rid of the "Shopping" paragraph and put those links in the grid headings below. It would be too easy for someone to miss the links in the "Shopping" paragraph and assume that the products shown in the grid are the only ones available. Having the links, with a note, say, "Click to expand" or somesuch, in the grid headings, brings more obvious immediacy to the navigation experience.

Thanks,
-Phil

Cluso99

A few suggestions for the landing page...

I think the OBEX button needs to have Object Exchange or Code Exchange on it also. We know what it means but newcomers do not.

The Propeller chip... (add to the end) Other languages such as C, Basic, etc are available from third parties.

What do you need to get started?
To get started you need a Propeller Chip and a USB or Serial connection to the chip.

When you might choose to use the Propeller instead of another product?
...easy interface to external peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, and VGA monitor and SD/microSD.

On this page (in the shop)
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/PropellerAccessories/tabid/786/ProductID/423/List/0/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName,ProductName
Parallax’s Propeller Proto Board is a low cost, high quality solution for permanent projects using the Propeller chip. To save the user some expense, the USB programming interface is not included on this version of the Propeller Proto Board; we suggest you purchase a Prop Plug for programming your Propeller Proto Boards or use the Propeller Proto Board USB.


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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)·
· Prop OS: SphinxOS·, PropDos , PropCmd··· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBlade Props: www.cluso.bluemagic.biz