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What would you like to see on a Propeller2 Development board? — Parallax Forums

What would you like to see on a Propeller2 Development board?

ratronicratronic Posts: 1,451
edited 2012-06-07 08:17 in General Discussion
From what I read in the preliminary specs for the Propeller2 external memory can be added for use by the video and all kinds of other stuff. I would like to see a development board with all the bells and whistles. Easy connections for the external memory, access to ALL ports, uSD card slot, Stereo audio amp, LED indicators, NO voltage translators, VR's, Pushbuttons/switches, VGA & TV connections, Large eeprom. But most of all I would like an easy way to switch in/out all of the added accessories to have the ports available. I'm not sure about everybody else, but the LED displays I have never used but to play with, maybe that space could be used for some goodies.

I don't mind paying a little more for a great Development board, what would you like to see on it?

Edit: ok voltage translators on the servo header connections.

Comments

  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-06-05 09:32
    How about making the footprint of the board fit into existing micro ITX cases. These boxes sell for about $40USD and up. They offer nice adaptability, some include power suppy.

    http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=3

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-ITX

    http://www.logicsupply.com/products/slfjt_01
  • John A. ZoidbergJohn A. Zoidberg Posts: 514
    edited 2012-06-05 09:34
    A small 3"~7" TFT Display? Plus, an audio DAC (if the prop2 doesn't have one).

    MP3 decoder will be cool too.
  • David BDavid B Posts: 592
    edited 2012-06-05 10:00
    Instead of hardwiring a whole lot of accessories on a board by default, most of which I'm not interested in, I'd rather see a set of connectors for adding the accessories that I want to experiment with, and have available a plethora of accessories having a standard connector to fit the board.

    Currently it seems that every accessory Parallax sells has its own different connector; standardizing for a development platform would be very helpful.

    Shields are a start towards the goal of a standardized connecter, but go a little too too far in the other direction in that each shield covers every pin, plus, piggybacking boards is an awkward construction, in my opinion.

    It would be nice to have a sort of backplane configuration with half a dozen or so sockets on a development board that each provide ground, power and maybe 4 to 12 IO pins, sort of like spinStudio, if anyone remembers that board.

    Plus, sell empty connector sockets so users can easily and cheaply build up their own accessory boards.
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2012-06-05 12:11
    David B wrote: »
    It would be nice to have a sort of backplane configuration with half a dozen or so sockets on a development board that each provide ground, power and maybe 4 to 12 IO pins, sort of like spinStudio, if anyone remembers that board.

    Plus, sell empty connector sockets so users can easily and cheaply build up their own accessory boards.

    Maybe a bit like Digilent does? They call their system PMod, and all their FPGA boards support the modules. Here is one (small) example: http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,400,790&Prod=BASYS2

    The Basys2 has 4 PMod expansion port headers, along with a collection of the most commonly used accessories.

    Here is the list of their PMod accessories: http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,401&Cat=9
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2012-06-05 13:07
    How about something simple and inexpensive like a 2x8 pin header, 1 row has 8 I/O signals, the other row has 2 pins for V1, 4 pins for ground, and 2 pins for V2. Short ribbon cables can connect modules.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2012-06-05 14:09
    Groups of those headers spread around the P2 chip would be nice.
    Assuming that most accessories need 8 or less I/O, they could come with a matching connectorr to fit right on one.
    Accessories that need more I/O (like RAM) could span a set of headers if they're placed in a regular pattern.

    Keep the board mostly clean, with just power, uSD, VGA and Keyboard/Mouse implemented on the board.
    Anything else on add-on boards. Make the boards a 'standard size' with known connector placement and screw holes, and anyone can make new ones.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-06-05 16:07
    I vote for a couple of standbys in P1 form factor -- particularly the QuickStart and Protoboard. Since the P2 has a lot more pins than P1, dedicate them to expansion RAM. Most likely this would require a bit bigger "nanoized" profile on the protoboard, but on QuickStart we could just lose the silly touch buttons maybe. And something like the DemoBoard in concept but in the form factor of the PPDB, with 32 I/O free and big protoboard of the PPDB but with the common I/O stuff on other dedicated pins DemoBoard style.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-06-05 17:55
    How about a Quickstart P2 board with one header like the existing Quickstart bringing pins 1-40 out to play (so you could plug in the growing number of QuickStart add-on boards) and in place of the touch pads, another 40 pin header of some sort (maybe right angle?).

    I don't use my PPDB much, use Quickstarts, PP-USB, Protoboards more. My C3 in a case gets tossed in my brief case a lot. Quickstarts are like microcontroller duct tape!
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-06-05 22:48
    More about boards fitting existing available boxes...
    Since some micro-ITX cases have quite a bit of extra room for a Cd player or hard disk, providing a board that fits a CD player or hard disk foot print might be another good alternative. One could set up an micro-ITX computer with a Propeller2 board in the same case. This would all be rather seamless for developers.

    Regarding back planes, shields, and such...
    Ribbon cables with multiple sockets make a good back plane with lots of flexibility.

    So if the Propeller2 board has a 90 degree ribbon cable socket coming off the board, one can stack endlessly. This would eliminate problems that Arduino shields have with stacking more than one.

    But beware that the edge for ribbon cable interface must not be mixed with other ports.

    Power, RS-232, VGA, USB, Keyboard and Mouse all need to be on another edge that can be fitted to holes through a chassis. The ribbon cable would conflict with this.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-06-06 06:23
    I never understood why they put sixteen segment LED displays on the PPDB, and why 5 instead of 4 or 6? Most people would go to some kind of LCD, either character or graphic, if 7 segment LEDs weren't adequate.

    On the old PDB, I've never used much of what's there, but I can see where some would.

    Maybe only 4 buttons and 4 dip switches would be enough. I never used the RTC because I prefer the DS1302.

    Instead of (or in addition to) the 2x8 LCD connector a 1x16 (or better 1x20) would have be more useful.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2012-06-06 06:38
    The sixteen segment LEDs can display pretty much any character, and the reason for 5 I imagine is '4 for 32bit HEX and some sort of prefix'
    LEDs are usually easier to control than LCDs, too.
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2012-06-06 13:28
    Because of the higher power usage (fewer battery applications) and more power I expect to see more graphical applications. I recommend two boards (not 5-6):

    1) A simple board like prop 1 demo or proto board, but with SD and SRAM.

    2) A bigger board like Prop BOE or PPDB with headers for various kinds of video (component/composite, VGA), keyboard connector, SRAM, SD connector, audio amp, servo headers, buttons, level translator (5V)

    All prop 2 boards should include SD and SRAM.
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2012-06-06 15:14
    What would I like to see on a Propeller2 Development board? How about a Prop 2 with a June 2012 datestamp? :)
  • ratronicratronic Posts: 1,451
    edited 2012-06-06 15:18
    There you go Dave!
  • John AbshierJohn Abshier Posts: 1,116
    edited 2012-06-07 08:17
    I have a Propeller Professional Development board and haven't used most of the stuff on it. I would like a simple, cheap development board. Features:
    USB IO
    SD for booting and program storage
    Big power supplies
    10 2x5 headers with ground, 8 IO pins and jumper selectable power (3.3 volts or Vin)

    I would arrange the 2x5 headers 4 on top and bottom and 2 on a side fairly close together maintaining pin spacing of 0.1 inches (no Arduino mistake). RAM, video, LCD, sound, etc. can be on boards that plug into the 2x5 headers or can be connected with ribbon cable if needed to be remotely mounted from the development board.

    Pins that are not sent to 2x5 header or used for USB, SD card, boot process, could be split between LED and push button switches.

    John Abshier
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