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Parral dev board, based on parallax propeller — Parallax Forums

Parral dev board, based on parallax propeller

coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
edited 2016-11-15 06:52 in General Discussion
Hi everybody.
I want to introduce you to my new project, it is a dev board based on the parallax propeller microcontroller. It is a wonderfull dev board for beginners.
I hope you could help me with a like on hackaday.io where you will find more information about the project and soon it wil be on Kickstarter for all you.

https://hackaday.io/project/18178-parral-dev-board#j-discussions-title

Thank so much.
Daniel Garcia
received_1272199196157529.jpeg
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Comments

  • hatallicahatallica Posts: 175
    I love to see new approaches for Propeller development. Can you tell us a bit about what is unique with this design?

    There have been perhaps a dozen or so designs shared on this forum, such as:
    http://forums.parallax.com/discussion/156132/propeller-breadboard
    and here
    http://forums.parallax.com/discussion/163198/breadboard-friendly-propeller-module/p1
  • DavidZemonDavidZemon Posts: 2,973
    I like this concept a lot. Thank you for creating it. I look forward to supporting you on Kickstarter :)
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    On the I/O section that straddles the center of the breadboard area were you not able to condense it into a 0.300" wide form-factor? I suppose durability is also a factor, but 0.600" eats up more space. Other than that I think it's a unique and interesting approach to breadboard-based design.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Chris Savage wrote: »
    On the I/O section that straddles the center of the breadboard area were you not able to condense it into a 0.300" wide form-factor? I suppose durability is also a factor, but 0.600" eats up more space. Other than that I think it's a unique and interesting approach to breadboard-based design.

    Looks like, (from the Diptrace? screenshot), there is not a whole lot of space to condense. But I would leave out XO, XI and RST. You would not put another XTAL that far away from the chip. The RST is already attached to a pushbutton on the main board?



  • Keith YoungKeith Young Posts: 569
    What are you doing to make sure you're getting genuine FTDI chips? I've heard they're creating firmware that bricks clones. It would be easy to accidentally get a clone batch while looking for a discount.

    What do you expect the price to be for the board?

    When do you expect the boards to be available?

    Cool project. Interested in using it in our school.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Parallax used to be a distributor for FTDI. I guess not any more. I would expect any chips you got from Mouser or Digikey would be genuine.

  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    Looks like a pretty good design in that it fits the need of clean usage of a breadboard with a Propeller Dev board. Here are my comments:

    1) As mentioned, shrink the width of the tab if possible.
    2) Avoid usage of the USB B connector. Use a mini or micro instead.
    3) Add access to IO on the main area of the board. Could be simply an extra row of holes on either side of the DIP40.
    4) Use a QFP/QFN Propeller to gain real estate. Also gains you the ability to make the board width closer to the width of the breadboard
    5) How do you intend to use a DIP40 on the breadboard like mentioned in your project log?
  • coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
    DavidZemon wrote: »
    I like this concept a lot. Thank you for creating it. I look forward to supporting you on Kickstarter :)

    Thank so much for your encouragement David, I will let you know when it be available on Kickstarter :)
  • coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
    Publison wrote: »
    Chris Savage wrote: »
    On the I/O section that straddles the center of the breadboard area were you not able to condense it into a 0.300" wide form-factor? I suppose durability is also a factor, but 0.600" eats up more space. Other than that I think it's a unique and interesting approach to breadboard-based design.

    Looks like, (from the Diptrace? screenshot), there is not a whole lot of space to condense. But I would leave out XO, XI and RST. You would not put another XTAL that far away from the chip. The RST is already attached to a pushbutton on the main board?



    Yes, I Will consider all the tips for this project, now it is in testing phase, and I will consider all your tips for the next review.
    the RST pin is attached to a pushbuttom on the main board.

  • coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
    Keith Young wrote: »
    What are you doing to make sure you're getting genuine FTDI chips? I've heard they're creating firmware that bricks clones. It would be easy to accidentally get a clone batch while looking for a discount.

    What do you expect the price to be for the board?

    When do you expect the boards to be available?

    Cool project. Interested in using it in our school.

    Hi Keith, I buy all the components in stores like Digikey, Mouser, Newark and Parallac inc. so, I trust all the components I am using are originals parts.
  • coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
    WBA Consulting wrote: »
    Looks like a pretty good design in that it fits the need of clean usage of a breadboard with a Propeller Dev board. Here are my comments:

    1) As mentioned, shrink the width of the tab if possible.
    2) Avoid usage of the USB B connector. Use a mini or micro instead.
    3) Add access to IO on the main area of the board. Could be simply an extra row of holes on either side of the DIP40.
    4) Use a QFP/QFN Propeller to gain real estate. Also gains you the ability to make the board width closer to the width of the breadboard
    5) How do you intend to use a DIP40 on the breadboard like mentioned in your project log?

    Hi friend.

    1) the width of the tab can be smaller, but it can be more fragile at the same time.
    2) use a micro or mini usb connector is a possibility that I am analyzing.
    3) for now, Parral is designed to be used on a breadboard, but I will consider your tip for a future version.
    4&5) the porpuse of using that packaging it´s give the opportunity for beginners to learn using the main board and using a more real way to learn electronics, as any engineering student would do it.

    Your opinion is very important for me and I am open to new ideas, I will consider all your opinions in a future review, so thank so much for your tips. :)
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    Thanks for the responses, I'll be watching the project log. I hope that you do lean towards micro or mini for USB. Other than Arduino users, I don't know anyone that has USB B cables laying around. I have two total in my house, yet have numerous mini and micro. There are many options available for both mini and micro that are extremely durable when designed in correctly.

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2016-11-16 18:39
    I like the use of the 40 Pin DIP. Easily replaceable in a education environment if pins get clobbered.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    I love the concept.

    Couple of thoughts:

    1) Arrange that the board is the same width as a breadboard. Not critical but would make things look very neat and tidy.

    2) Use a surface mount Prop. Given that the idea is a DIP connection to a breadboard there seems little point in using a DIP Prop on the board itself. A surface mount Prop would allow the board to be narrower, as in 1). I suspect that smaller boards and fewer holes are cheaper.

    3) Be sure to have a power LED on there.

  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    I didn't read the whole thread, but as soon as I seen the picture I loved it. Will read later.
  • Keith YoungKeith Young Posts: 569
    Yeah for us to teach with it we'd want the USB changed. Not sure if I'd prefer surface mount for a smaller board, or DIP in case a student fries a pin.
  • macrobeakmacrobeak Posts: 354
    mmmm, this board has received some expert consideration and feedback.
    May I suggest consideration that the breadboard rails are changed from VDD-GND __3.3V-GND to VDD-GND__3.3V-5V
    5V is often needed on a breadboard!
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    I think you will find 5.0 volt available one the top rail on the first post. Better seen here:
    Prop.jpg
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    Prop.jpg 196.3K
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    Another thought: you could also save real estate by moving the crystal, EEPROM, and a few other parts under the DIP40 depending on the type of socket you use.. Here is how I did the same with my M44D40+ modules:

    M44D40%2B_DIP40_05.JPG
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    You could also make the dev board pin spacing width 0.7" so the board could straddle the power bus between 2 prototype board sections. That way it could connect power between the dev board and the prototype board.
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2016-11-17 15:21
    WBA Consulting wrote: »
    Here is how I did the same with my M44D40+ modules:

    M44D40%2B_DIP40_05.JPG



    That is a very nice concise little setup there, going to get more info on it. It looks like a board i'd want to own. Especially when you took care of a lot of the incidentals under the 40 pin DIP. Any power regulation under there? It would be a plug and go, create your own circuit. I'll just follow the link and see what's there, long live the Propeller 40p DIP!
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    No power regulation underneath, it comes from being paired with a PowerTwig. I was selling them as a set, with the PowerTwig wiring for $25 for a while. I still sell both, just haven't had time to keep marketing up. I still have parts for about 200 PowerTwigs and fabs for 400+ M44D40+ Propeller Modules, so it should be around for a while. Maybe I should make up a fresh batch of both between Christmas and New Years and re-post the deal. V2 of my Propeller module does include the PowerTwig circuit and also has uSD so that you don't need the USB adapter (module would be preloaded with an SD bootloader). That design has been 90% done for 3 years now..... I would be rich if I could afford to retire and get these things on the market, lol.

    82840.jpg
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    I need to purchase a couple of these from you.
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516
    WBA Consulting wrote: »
    No power regulation underneath, it comes from being paired with a PowerTwig. I was selling them as a set, with the PowerTwig wiring for $25 for a while. I still sell both, just haven't had time to keep marketing up. I still have parts for about 200 PowerTwigs and fabs for 400+ M44D40+ Propeller Modules, so it should be around for a while. Maybe I should make up a fresh batch of both between Christmas and New Years and re-post the deal. V2 of my Propeller module does include the PowerTwig circuit and also has uSD so that you don't need the USB adapter (module would be preloaded with an SD bootloader). That design has been 90% done for 3 years now..... I would be rich if I could afford to retire and get these things on the market, lol.

    82840.jpg

    This looks like a nice setup. Please let us know when you have these sets available again.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    Sorry Coderbad, I didn't mean to hijack your thread, so I will continue discussions about my module over on it's thread. Thanks!!

    Thanks for the interest Chris and David, For those interested, here's the M44D40+ module thread.

  • JonMJonM Posts: 318
    The design from coderbad looks similar to the Pi Cobbler for the Rasberry Pi. I believe the 40 pin Pi Cobbler version would work with the Quick Start board, although the pinout would not be correct for the Propeller. I like the cobbler design since it can be removed and separate from the main board by a ribbon cable.

    I really like the design if the M44d40+. It would be helpful to slap a pinout sticker on top of the Prop or on the side of the headers. I'll have to look for the associated thread for this.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    JonM wrote: »
    I really like the design if the M44d40+. It would be helpful to slap a pinout sticker on top of the Prop or on the side of the headers. I'll have to look for the associated thread for this.

    Parallax still sells the label:

    https://www.parallax.com/product/120-00003

  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2016-11-25 05:29
    Chris Savage wrote: »
    On the I/O section that straddles the center of the breadboard area were you not able to condense it into a 0.300" wide form-factor? I suppose durability is also a factor, but 0.600" eats up more space. Other than that I think it's a unique and interesting approach to breadboard-based design.

    I'm guessing there were too many traces to fit on a 0.3" PCB.

    I once considered making a board similar to these and I figured the center arm would need to be four layers if I didn't want to use wires or a wider PCB.

    I haven't used my breadboard friendly Propeller boards much since the Quickstart came out.
  • coderbadcoderbad Posts: 29
    Hi everyone.
    I invite you to participate and be the first one to get a free Parral dev board

    https://www.facebook.com/ParralLabs/photos/a.554267158099885.1073741828.549267565266511/643037069222893/?type=3&theater
  • microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194

    Sure. Can we have two please?

    One each for my colleague(relative) and I.

    Don't like Facebook. Is there another way to do this?
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