Stackable Daughter Board for the BOE Development Board
wleger
Posts: 7
One of the problems that I am running into with my BOE development board is the small prototyping area. I recently added a coprocessor to my BOE board and it used 50% of my real estate. I went with a 3-wire protocol so I would not have to mount a resistor but I lost an I/O pin.
The following should be a winner for Parallax and the BOE community.
Could Parallax offer a daughter board for the BOE development board? The daughter board would be the same physical size as the BOE. The daughter board would attach to the BOE via the existing 20-pin header. A ribbon cable or straight through pins could be used to make the connection. The daughter board would also have a 20-pin header so they would be stackable. Breadboards would be placed on either side of the daughter board for development.
The NRE costs would be low because the pcb layout for the daughter board would be a simple modification of the existing BOE layout. The only question in my mind is the height of the daughter board above the BOE board if straight through pins are used.
This daughter board would bring new ideas to the BOE-BOT without creating a rat’s nest. Also, this BOE daughter board would not compete with the Professional Development Board because they are for different markets.
As a side suggestion; could Parallax offer a piggy-back kit for the 24-pin BASIC Stamp that supports the uM-FPU co-processor? The end-user could solder jumper wires to select the I/O method and pins. I do not know if the sales of uM-FPU chip by Parallax would justify the NRE costs to develop and market this piggy-back kit.
The following should be a winner for Parallax and the BOE community.
Could Parallax offer a daughter board for the BOE development board? The daughter board would be the same physical size as the BOE. The daughter board would attach to the BOE via the existing 20-pin header. A ribbon cable or straight through pins could be used to make the connection. The daughter board would also have a 20-pin header so they would be stackable. Breadboards would be placed on either side of the daughter board for development.
The NRE costs would be low because the pcb layout for the daughter board would be a simple modification of the existing BOE layout. The only question in my mind is the height of the daughter board above the BOE board if straight through pins are used.
This daughter board would bring new ideas to the BOE-BOT without creating a rat’s nest. Also, this BOE daughter board would not compete with the Professional Development Board because they are for different markets.
As a side suggestion; could Parallax offer a piggy-back kit for the 24-pin BASIC Stamp that supports the uM-FPU co-processor? The end-user could solder jumper wires to select the I/O method and pins. I do not know if the sales of uM-FPU chip by Parallax would justify the NRE costs to develop and market this piggy-back kit.
Comments
Now, if Parallax's PCB layout guy was paying attention to maximizing cross-product compatibility, twenty of those holes will line up exactly with tha AppMod connector on the BOE.
-Phil
The board that you are making reference to is a generic board. I am looking for a plug and play, stackable, solution.
I like to see a BOE daughter board with two solderless proto boards on either side of a 20-pin expansion header. Place a power header on top, and an I/O on the side, of each proto boards. Basically, make a mirror image of the BOE but without the controller, RS232/USB and power stuff.
Parallax use to sell a Speech Board (27975) that mounted right on top of the BOE. It provided a clean physical interface to the BOE. I like the same simplicity from a BOE daughter board. Otherwise, I might as well take out a wire wrap gun and build a rat’s nest.
I like the stackable idea for my work bench. I could use two of these boards today. Parallax could even sell this as a kit because it is so simple.
I have not tried the coprocessor that you mentioned but I guess it is something you need and will not be taking it apart any time soon.
If I understand correctly, you would like something like:
http://mikronauts.com/products/morpheus/schoolboard/
but made to specifically stack on the BOE, with some way (like the headers on the board above) to access the signals from the BOE 20 pin header?
The reason I ask is that if Parallax does not want to do it, and I get enough pre-orders, I'll do it.
(The above is a breadboard on my Proteus board, a new version of which recently became available <grin>)
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130665-Announcing-Proteus-an-advanced-4.00-quot-x3.05-quot-prototyping-board
And a smaller one if that is too big:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130644-Announcing-miniPro-a-very-versatile-mini-prototyping-board-for-all-Propeller-boards
If you are coming to UPEW, I'll be there.
My boards have the same footprint and mounting holes as the Parallax boards; it would not be difficult for me to make a board that stacks on the BOE.
Now where is my BOE....
UPDATE
Found my BOE.
Proteus actually mounts nicely in the 2x10 header using my stacking headers, covering over 50% of the board - but leaving the bread board area uncovered!
I'll find my camera and post a pic or two later.
Students could then either build on the Proteus prototying board, or put a bigger breadboard like I use on my SchoolBoard on Proteus.
Your board has the I/O pins on the “short” sided of the board. This may cause a problem if this is stacked on a BOE-BOT.
Here are my suggestions for a modification to work with the BOE.
1) Center a 16-pin, single row, I/O header on the long side of the board.
2) Center a single row power header on the opposite long side of the board. We would not need too many pins because your style of prototype board has power rails.
3) You might even have enough room left over on this to add four more servo headers, with selectable I/O pins via jumper.
Can we still stack this new daughter board? Even if we can not, your solution as it stands open the door for more experimenting.
What height should a daughter board be above the main BOE board as to not interfere with the servo headers or RS232 socket? Two inches would do the trick but it might be too high. One inch would work but it would be hard to reach the reset button. Split the difference and say 1.5 inches? Do the make 4-40 standoffs in 1.5 inches? We may be forced to 2 inches just for this reason.
Here is the big question, what is an acceptable SRP to the community and at what quantity to make it happen?
Thanks for the idea!
Bill Leger
I am glad you like the idea!
The links I showed are for my current standard products; if I can get enough pre-orders, I can make boards customized to the BOE platform. miniPro actually works very nicely on the BOE, I tried it
From memory, by current stacking headers produce roughly 0.750" spacing (measured from top of one board to top of board below it)
I would still have the two ten pin headers on the left, because that would allow using my other boards and modules with the BOE ... I am afraid I can't reveal too much until after UPEW, but I have already announced and have in production the following modules:
SerPlug (RS232 on 5 pin header)
485Plug (RS485 on 5 pin header)
DIG-8-IN-V (opto-isolated input board, 8 channels, with screw terminals - fits my 10 pin connector or breadboards)
DIG-8-OUT-V (solid state relay output board, opto isolated, available with various small SSR's: DC up to 500mA at 0-60VDC, AC at up to 120mA up to 120V)
miniPro (link above, small prototyping board)
Proteus (BOE footpring large prototyping board)
I will be showing more modules at UPEW - I think you will like them, and most will work well with BOE or homework boards.
I've started the preliminary layout out of a BOE-expander PCB that would plug into the 2x10 header on the BOE, as I can do that using two of the 1x10 stacking headers I use for my Propeller products; it would also have two optional 1x10 EXP headers so that the rest of my product line could be stacked on top of BOE-X (I still nave not settled on the exact name)
The MSRP for one protoboard and two 1x10 stacking headers (not including breadboards) would be around $15+s/h (quantity 1 price);
A version including two BOE style breadboards for a higher price is also possible, at a guess it would be around $25+s/h each. (exact price to be determined after I get quantity quotes on the breadboards)
Obviously I would be able to offer better quantity pricing (ie set of 25 for a classroom)
For me to commit to doing this, I'd need pre-orders for 50-100 units, and I would make it a standard part of my product line (ie readily available in the future).
You are most welcome,
Bill
I have started a layout for a BOE expander board, however I probably will not have prototypes until end of May due to UPEW.
I do know how long this thread will remain active; keep us informed of your progress. When you have a sample product, please post a few pictures.
I will also keep an eye on your web site to watch for updates.
Best Regards,
Bill Leger
I will definitely keep updating this thread with progress reports... and the first one is:
- the boeBridge prototype is 95% laid out in Eagle
Sorry for lack of recent updates; I had to prepare for UPEW. Due to some high-priority UPEW derived work, it will take at least a week before I can finish the prototype to send it in for manufacturing, so I expect it to be 2-3 weeks before I can post pics of the prototype - however I intend to order a short run instead of only 5 prototype boards, so unless there is a significant problem, I will have a small quantity on had for early adopters
(boeBridge is the name I gave to this prototyping board, as it fits my naming convention)