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P1 Flip Multicore Module Carrier — Parallax Forums

P1 Flip Multicore Module Carrier

David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516
edited 2023-12-15 03:05 in Propeller 1

I missed the web session where this was being discussed. Is there a description of it somewhere?

Comments

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,003

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,339

    Still a work-in-progress, but here's a current snapshot since the P2LF version...

  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516

    @JonnyMac said:

    Thanks! I forgot that the sessions were recorded. This seems like an interesting board!

  • tritoniumtritonium Posts: 542

    Hi

    Looking at the forum video this month, at 39 minutes in, its announced that- "all these parts will be in a bag so the customer will assemble these.....". Oh I don't think that was made obvious at the start unless I missed it. Also that all these parts will be a couple of dollars cost...
    So to be clear- are you going to offer a kit of parts including the pcb for a couple of dollars?
    I think your intention for doing this is to promote the selling of more P1 Flips?
    Why do I ask?
    Because I would buy some boards but not any flips.... And I would put a Prop1 in the socket levering out the crystal and 9v pins, and attaching a 2102 usb serial with a transistor and necessary resistors and capacitor for the coms. (Or of course you could add those to make a hobbyist construction kit.)

    Now why do my friends call me scrooge? :)

    Perhaps you had better ONLY supply kits of parts WITH flip modules.

    Dave

  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516

    @tritonium said:
    Hi

    Looking at the forum video this month, at 39 minutes in, its announced that- "all these parts will be in a bag so the customer will assemble these.....". Oh I don't think that was made obvious at the start unless I missed it. Also that all these parts will be a couple of dollars cost...
    So to be clear- are you going to offer a kit of parts including the pcb for a couple of dollars?
    I think your intention for doing this is to promote the selling of more P1 Flips?
    Why do I ask?
    Because I would buy some boards but not any flips.... And I would put a Prop1 in the socket levering out the crystal and 9v pins, and attaching a 2102 usb serial with a transistor and necessary resistors and capacitor for the coms. (Or of course you could add those to make a hobbyist construction kit.)

    Now why do my friends call me scrooge? :)

    Perhaps you had better ONLY supply kits of parts WITH flip modules.

    Dave

    I think they said the entire package including the board and bag of parts would be around $10.

  • Christof Eb.Christof Eb. Posts: 1,161

    @VonSzarvas said:
    Still a work-in-progress, but here's a current snapshot since the P2LF version...

    https://www.pollin.de/images/1200x1200x90/I442889.1-Platine-528196-FR2-160x100-mm-35um.jpg

    I am somewhat shocked, that Parallax does now want to offer an almost "naked" board as substitute for their project boards, as you can buy "naked" boards.
    Well I can see, that for the two schools, those boards seem to be tailored to their special curriculum.
    For other uses, I for example don't see the advantage of a special place for an LED, that can be connected to power or to any pin via a resistor.

    But what are the specific strengths of P1 and P2? If you take a look, what has been discussed in the Forum here in the past, then it's either robotics or retro computer / game emulation. Why? Because these applications can make use of the multicore concept relative easily and because here the video capabilities VGA -which are unique features- shine. So, it is just ridiculous to not have the features on board, which make easy to use these specific strengths!!!!

    Once again: VGA, PS2 keyboard, servo-motor, SD-card, 3V3, 5V, (I2C bus?)

    • perhaps for PS2: USB, HDMI, SPIRam!!!

    Well, the cost thingy isn't addressed, if we now need a FLIP plus the carrier board.... ?!?

    If a new 68pin module is offered, it must have USB serial, SD-card onboard to be competitive and to make easy the starting!!!
    Of course, these days WLAN and BLUETOOTH open up great possibilities, but I can see, that some Software effort would be needed. The effort must be spent first to finish proper documentation for P2. (The actual status of the documentation forbids the use in commercial projects, because it is too expensive to have to experiment to find out how the "smart" features are supposed to work.)

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,339
    edited 2023-12-16 20:17

    All good feedback, and I don't think anyone disagrees with the documentation and software development needing more resources (the desire is there, but the funding isn't, so it takes time to solve based on sales).

    About the LED pads, they are 0.1" GND & SIG, and could be used for many input or output purposes.
    - Perhaps for many projects it would be handy to have that simple connection near the board edge? Light sensing, temperature sensing, switches, proximity/bumpers, etc. etc. It's a protoboard after-all, so always think bigger :)

    Also- many customers often request having a dedicated power rail indicator, not just those two colleges. Although it's true that those were the main responders when Ken called out for contributors.

    For the other features, they are all available on 0.1" breakouts nowadays, and without volume customers wanting them on-board, the choice was made to remove them in favor of more prototyping areas.

    Some examples of what we discovered...

    • VGA breakouts are lower cost nowadays than the expensive slimline VGA socket that used to accompany the previous Propeller USB board, and the resistor network real estate was wasted for most customers.
    • PS2- does anyone still use that? Well, they could with a compact 0.1" 4-way breakout cable; no problem !
    • SD-card - no problem either, plug an SD-Card accessory into one of the two P2 accessory headers (bottom left and bottom right).
    • Or attach a couple of button boards, to create a rapid control solution!
    • I2C bus- that's provided via the QWIIC socket near the top edge of the board, AND also at the I2C header pins of the FLiP, and could also be routed to one of the 4-way headers top-left, or to the right-side BRW breakout under the reset button.

    Overall it's supposed to be a convenient way to hook into the various functions of the FLiP, for colleges, system builders and hobby projects alike.

    Sure- you could also do anything with a blank protoboard- just that using this board could save time and effort in many projects by having the basic functions (power, I2C, I/O, etc..) already in the right places. I'm sure it won't suit everyone, but hopefully you'd be able to "give it a try" at some point. There's still some way to go with the layout work, and your feedback is appreciated.

  • Christof Eb.Christof Eb. Posts: 1,161

    Well, whoever wanted to make a project with a flip module and such naked board will have done so in the past. I have done so, so I know of what I write here.
    So how will there be additional sales with such board?

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,339

    Maybe you will buy a bunch to find out :)

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