NEW: Propeller Platform SD - Real-time Clock + microSD, Now 100% pre-assembled!
Nick McClick
Posts: 1,003
The Propeller Platform SD is now available:
Project Page
Specs;
Program without a Prop Plug
It comes pre-programmed with a simple bootloader, too. In the propeller tool, use F8 and select 'save as binary'. Save your program to the microSD card root directory with the name 'run.bin', and pop it in the Propeller Platform SD. When you turn it on, the Propeller will begin running your program. It's not as easy as a USBThumb or Prop Plug, but it will give you an inexpensive introduction to Propeller Programming.
You can also program it with a USBThumb, Prop Plug, Prop Clip, or Bill's upcoming Serial programmer (SerPlug)
DS1307 RTC
I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when people asked for an onboard RTC. But after going through the design verification and testing, I'm convinced it's awesome. The DS1307 uses the same pins as your EEPROM, so there's no impact to I/O. I've been using Kwabena's RTC driver (in the Obex). It's a piece of cake, and it uses only 600 bytes. I made it optional to keep the price low for those that don't need it, but it's really useful and nice to have.
One more photo of the Propeller Platform SD with Prototyper & El Jugador;
Check out the project page for more info. As usual, let me know if you have any questions!
Update: The Propeller Platform SD now comes completely pre-assembled, so you can start using it straight out of the box.
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Post Edited (Nick McClick) : 4/21/2010 5:58:40 PM GMT
Project Page
Specs;
- Propeller, 5MHz Removable Xtal, 64kb EEPROM
- 5v @ 3.3v regulators, 1.5A output with a min input voltage of only 5.5v
- microSD card slot with pullups connected to P0..P3
- Comes with Terminal Block and barrel jack power connector
- 2.8" x 2.5" footprint
- Breadboard-able. Supports all the other Propeller Platform Modules (Prototyper, El Jugador, TermBoard, DMXIO, LCDUI, OctoDriver, Battery, and more)
- Optional DS1307 Real-time Clock with power backup
Program without a Prop Plug
It comes pre-programmed with a simple bootloader, too. In the propeller tool, use F8 and select 'save as binary'. Save your program to the microSD card root directory with the name 'run.bin', and pop it in the Propeller Platform SD. When you turn it on, the Propeller will begin running your program. It's not as easy as a USBThumb or Prop Plug, but it will give you an inexpensive introduction to Propeller Programming.
You can also program it with a USBThumb, Prop Plug, Prop Clip, or Bill's upcoming Serial programmer (SerPlug)
DS1307 RTC
I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when people asked for an onboard RTC. But after going through the design verification and testing, I'm convinced it's awesome. The DS1307 uses the same pins as your EEPROM, so there's no impact to I/O. I've been using Kwabena's RTC driver (in the Obex). It's a piece of cake, and it uses only 600 bytes. I made it optional to keep the price low for those that don't need it, but it's really useful and nice to have.
One more photo of the Propeller Platform SD with Prototyper & El Jugador;
Check out the project page for more info. As usual, let me know if you have any questions!
Update: The Propeller Platform SD now comes completely pre-assembled, so you can start using it straight out of the box.
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Post Edited (Nick McClick) : 4/21/2010 5:58:40 PM GMT
Comments
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24 bit LCD Breakout Board now in. $24.99 has backlight driver and touch sensitive decoder.
If you have not already. Add yourself to the prophead map
One question: from what direction does the SD card get inserted?
Good job!
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24 bit LCD Breakout Board now in. $24.99 has backlight driver and touch sensitive decoder.
If you have not already. Add yourself to the prophead map
The uSD slides in across the edge of the pcb, just like you would expect it to. When the uSD card is inserted, it covers up the uSD card slot pads/pins.
Here's a picture of it with the RTC using a terminal block instead of a power jack;
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PS: OK ... lesson learned ... update if thread opened more than 10 sec ago before giving comments ;o)
Post Edited (MagIO2) : 3/22/2010 8:50:12 PM GMT
Okay, that makes sense. To me, at first glance, it looked like it slid in from the crystal side. Apparently mctrivia thought the same thing, too.
For the uSD card, I too had the first thought of which way does that socket go and which way does the card slide in. Perhaps it would be good to post a picture with an SD card inserted, it might help anyone looking at this product on your product page.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
www.tdswieter.com
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test lc: 27.3mA
test hc: 107.8mA
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24 bit LCD Breakout Board now in. $24.99 has backlight driver and touch sensitive decoder.
If you have not already. Add yourself to the prophead map
For the ds1307, here's the datasheet (pdf). Looks like it consumes 1-2mA when active.
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P.s. I have not herd back from you on my last couple emails. Check your junk box.
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Check out my brand new site.
Makes me think of an arduino, except with 8, 32bit cores
and an sd socket. An arduino w an atmel168(typical) just has
about 20mips...this board with a 6.25 xtal would be at about 200mips
or 10x the bang
The bootloader running a start file from the sd is a nice touch.
EDIT: Just looked at the project's page.
You should also offer it with a 6.250 xtal in place of a 5.000
Post Edited (HollyMinkowski) : 4/8/2010 10:51:35 PM GMT
Ray
k.
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New ICON coming, gotta wait for the INK to heal, now we have colour!
The crystal is "removable" so you can plug in your own 6.25 mhz crystal.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" 16:9 LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT, PropNET, PolkaDOT-51
www.tdswieter.com
Granted that the arduino's have a lot built in.. ram/rom and depending on the chip and lots of addons, price for the money and usability, Propellers still have them beat.
So I don't think i'll be picking up one soon.. but some of the sheilds available look really neat!
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New ICON coming, gotta wait for the INK to heal, now we have colour!
It comes 'mostly pre-assembled', so you can set it up the way you want;
- The pin sockets aren't already soldered on so you can choose where you want to put them (inner row or outer row, pointing up or down),
- If you want a screw terminal power connection or barrel jack (comes with both),
- If you're using a Prop plug or Prop Clip,
- If you want an RTC
but adding the sockets and RTC is a 10 minute task.It doesn't come with the RTC pre-assembled to keep the entry price low. I've been surprised by how useful the RTC is - I might make it default in a re-rev.
crystal is removable. You can put in anything else. I've tested it with a 6Mhz xtal w/o any problems.
My only gripe on the Arduino is the weird pin spacing (on one side, the sockets are something like 170 mils apart), so it doesn't fit on breadboards / protoboards. Performance wise, there's no comparison.
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Yes, the arduino is a midget compared to what a similar board setup would be if
powered by a propeller chip!
The arduino's 20mhz Atmega168 is a decent chip though...and has a nice free C compiler.
I use a 168 for projects that don't need the power of the prop.
And the 8pin AVR tinys are great for small projects and cost
almost nothing when you buy them in bulk....you can scatter
them all over a project since they cost so little...they are best
programmed in asm though since they have only 2k of flash
in their cheapest form.
I have been involved with Arduino Development on and off for three and a half years and that spacing problem was an early on mistake. It has driven me nuts that TPTB absolutely refuse to fix it because of all the shield boards that have been designed around it. If only they had fixed the problem 2-3 years ago it wouldn't be cast in stone as it is now.
cheers ... BBR
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cheers ... brian riley, n1bq, underhill center, vermont
The Shoppe at Wulfden
www.wulfden.org/TheShoppe/
www.wulfden.org/TheShoppe/prop/ - Propeller Products
www.wulfden.org/TheShoppe/k107/ - Serial LCD Display Gear
@Holly - I really like the ATtiny, they're awesome for simple logic, although they're not as easy to develop for (at least for me). Sometimes I wish there were a single cog prop that sold for $2, but I'm not sure that's possible or practical (and the prop needs a supporting EEPROM, anyway).
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Sometimes I hate ebay.. I've bid on 6 boards and always out bid.. sorry for not being up to play the bidding game at 4 am est.. so I under bid on a 328 chipped unit and of coarse I won it now that I don't want it.. I paid more for shipping than I did for the board..
kpr
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New ICON coming, gotta wait for the INK to heal, now we have colour!
Some of you may know that I'm a fan of AVRs. I think it's a good idea to choose the right chip for the job (I even occasionally use BASIC Stamp IIs in the mix with Props and AVRs).
The current Arduinos use Atmel 328s, not 168s. This means more available memory.
You can fit an awful lot of code into the available memory. Although I have played with assembly for AVRs, most of my projects have not required it. There are several good compilers available - commercial and non-commercial.
You can use Arduino hardware without the Arduino IDE and language. And, you can use the IDE and language without Arduino hardware. It makes a very convenient development platform either way. There is nothing particularly special about the hardware but the array of shields (etc.) is convenient.
However, I do agree that the pin spacing was a big mistake to keep and it continues to be an annoyance.
So, for my sidetrack comment: I don't know the Arduino so maybe this is an ignorant statement, but if it is just a fancy/easy platform for an Atmel device, why doesn't someone make a user friendly Atmel development board that can use the existing shields but also has 0.100" spaced headers/holes. (maybe even in a propeller platform pinout!?!?!?!?)
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Andrew Williams
WBA Consulting
WBA-TH1M Sensirion SHT11 Module
Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge, Mar 20, 2010
@WBA - next up is a PICaxe platform module (picture), that's almost done, just going through testing. I might eventually do an arduino module, but it's low on my list,there are already a ton of great arduino boards out there and it's a crowded market.
The nano is breadboard compatible, but then you can't use any shields. I did do an Arduino / Propeller Platform shield converter, but there were some testing problems and I haven't picked the design back up yet.
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