11 replies to this topic

[Elisoj]

Hello Netduino Community,

I am a complete noob in embedded development and electronics. I just ordered a Netduino to follow along the new Arduino tutorials. With my background as a professional .NET developer I figured it would me more appealing to me than using an Arduino.

However, I am a bit uncertain as far as controlling motors is concerned. There is the Adafruit motor shield for Arduino which isn't that simple to get to work with the Netduino from what I found in these forums. Then there is another Arduino motor shield for which someone developed a driver. I haven't tested any of these options. Can anyone comment on the idea to use the .NET gadgeteer motor module plugged into a Netduino Go? Is this a valid way to go, has anyone tried it out?

Generally speaking, are there any incompatibility issues with using Gadgeteer modules with Netduino Go? For example, will the relay and RFID module also work?

Best regards

[Chris Walker]

Hi Elisoj,

However, I am a bit uncertain as far as controlling motors is concerned. There is the Adafruit motor shield for Arduino which isn't that simple to get to work with the Netduino from what I found in these forums. Then there is another Arduino motor shield for which someone developed a driver. I haven't tested any of these options.

I've used the DFRobot Shield, and Stefan's driver should work well with it. The Shield Base has 6 PWMs (vs. the 2 PWMs on the traditional Netduinos) so the Adafruit motor shield should work better there too.

Can anyone comment on the idea to use the .NET gadgeteer motor module plugged into a Netduino Go? Is this a valid way to go, has anyone tried it out?

Generally speaking, are there any incompatibility issues with using Gadgeteer modules with Netduino Go? For example, will the relay and RFID module also work?

Netduino Go works natively with plug-and-play GoBus modules, but we're creating adapters so you can use a number of pin-mapping component kits with it as well. The Shield Base is designed to let you use Arduino Shields and the upcoming Gadgeteer Adapter should let you use the Gadgeteer Motor Driver, Relay, and RFID modules as well.

Chris

[Arron Chapman]

First, Welcome to the community.

There is the Adafruit motor shield for Arduino which isn't that simple to get to work with the Netduino from what I found in these forums.

I built my first robot with the Adafruit Motor Shield and I ported a driver for it. You can see it in action, unfortunately I don't have any video of the robot.

Can anyone comment on the idea to use the .NET gadgeteer motor module plugged into a Netduino Go? Is this a valid way to go, has anyone tried it out?

If your refering to the Motor Driver Module available from GHI than unfortunately at this point it won't work. The Netduino Go currently only supports S, U and X type modules and even using those is not a great idea, IMO, as you lose the use of 3 other sockets when you do. When the Gadgeteer Module is available you'll be able to use the Motor Driver Module.

[Elisoj]

The Shield Base has 6 PWMs (vs. the 2 PWMs on the traditional Netduinos) so the Adafruit motor shield should work better there too.

The Shield Base is designed to let you use Arduino Shields and the upcoming Gadgeteer Adapter should let you use the Gadgeteer Motor Driver, Relay, and RFID modules as well.

Hi Chris,
thanks for your answer. Liked your interview with Ladyada, btw.
So with all the adapters and upcoming modules available and given that (at least as far as PWMs are concerned) the Shield Base is a better option than, say, a Netduino Plus, is there any reason to buy the latter except for the price? Is there anything you can do with a Plus that you can't do with a Go + Shield Base?

What about the differences between GoBus 1.5 and 2.0, will this create any breaking changes? A friend of mine is thinking about getting a Netduino Go "at the end of the year". Might it be a better idea for him to wait until 2.0 is stable?

Again, thanks for your input. I tried to find information about that in the forums but didn't quite find the answers I was looking for. Maybe it's just that at this point I don't understand all the differences.

Elisoj

[Elisoj]

First, Welcome to the community.

Thanks a lot :-)

I built my first robot with the Adafruit Motor Shield and I ported a driver for it. You can see it in action, unfortunately I don't have any video of the robot.

Ha, great, didn't find that one. I only went through topics where it didn't work.

If your refering to the Motor Driver Module available from GHI than unfortunately at this point it won't work. The Netduino Go currently only supports S, U and X type modules and even using those is not a great idea, IMO, as you lose the use of 3 other sockets when you do. When the Gadgeteer Module is available you'll be able to use the Motor Driver Module.

Sorry, I should have included a link, but this is what I was thinking of, yes. So the Gadgeteer Module will act as an adapter between GoBus and Gadgeteer ports if I understand correctly. And then Gadgeteer Modules should work without hacks, I assume.

Thanks for your input. Seems like I have enough pointers (pun intended) to get me started.
Elisoj

[Chris Walker]

Hi Elisoj,

So with all the adapters and upcoming modules available and given that (at least as far as PWMs are concerned) the Shield Base is a better option than, say, a Netduino Plus, is there any reason to buy the latter except for the price? Is there anything you can do with a Plus that you can't do with a Go + Shield Base?

Netduino Plus is a really nice, integrated board. Netduino Go has Ethernet and SD modules (coming soon), but these are available today on Netduino Plus. Then again, Netduino Go has a lot more flash and RAM.

What about the differences between GoBus 1.5 and 2.0, will this create any breaking changes? A friend of mine is thinking about getting a Netduino Go "at the end of the year". Might it be a better idea for him to wait until 2.0 is stable?

GoBus 2.0 will be fully backwards-compatible with GoBus 1.5. No breaking changes. Additionally all of our GoBus 1.0 modules will be upgraded as well.

Chris

[Jack Chidley]

Hi Elisoj, there is another good source of Arduino/electronic tutorials here: http://tronixstuff.wordpress.com/ Jack

[Elisoj]

Chris, thanks a lot for your explanations. My Netduino Plus arrived yesterday and I played around with LEDs and analog input. Awesome. Great things are afoot. I also had to reset it once due to some things I messed up with the USB controller. I'll keep on trying, maybe I'll have to ask something about it in a different thread.

Hi Elisoj, there is another good source of Arduino/electronic tutorials here: http://tronixstuff.wordpress.com/

Jack

This is a great source, thank you for that one.

Elisoj

[DaveFer]

First, thanks to Aaron Chapman for his contributions to the public good with his Adafruit Motor Driver. Nice work.

 

Tried using it and quickly found that, because I'm using a NetduinoGo w/ ShieldBase, this driver would need to be modified for me to use it. Started that last night and quickly ran into some "NotImplemented" exceptions. 

 

In the mean time, I can't help but wonder if the Adafruit Motor Driver could be access directly (without a driver) by using the ShieldBase pins and existing PWM channels.

 

This code allowed me to control a motor via the LCTech driver board. Couldn't I just modify this to use the Adafruit board? Isn't it just a matter of accessing different pins?

 

BTW, I'm simply trying to drive 2 tiny page motors and a laser diode.  

        public static void Main()

        {

            // write your code here

            netBtn.ButtonReleased += new NetduinoGo.Button.ButtonEventHandler(netBtn_ButtonReleased);

            var sBase = new NetduinoGo.ShieldBase((GoBus.GoSocket)5);

            Microsoft.SPOT.Hardware.PWM pwm0 = new Microsoft.SPOT.Hardware.PWM(sBase.PWMChannels.PWM_PIN_D5, 200, 15, PWM.ScaleFactor.Microseconds, false);

 

            On = true;

 

            pwm0.Start();

         

            while (true)

            {

                if (On == true) pwm0.DutyCycle = 0.999;

                else pwm0.DutyCycle = 0.000;

            }

        }

 

        static void netBtn_ButtonReleased(object sender, bool buttonState)

        {

            On = !On;

        }

[Chris Walker]

Hi DaveFer, PWM is PWM...so barring any bugs we haven't caught...you should be good to go. Chris

[Thomas Maynard]

the upcoming Gadgeteer Adapter should let you use the Gadgeteer Motor Driver, Relay, and RFID modules as well.

 

I'm not fond of thread hijacking, but I'm not sure a brand new thread is warranted here.

 

Are the interface specifications for the Gobus <--> Gadgeteer socket pinouts published anywhere?   A few jumpers and a solderless breadboard would be a bit crude, but would get the job done if we wanted to connect a Gadgeteer module to a Netduino (or vice versa, if you know what I mean).

 

The proposed, Beta, Gadgeteer Adapter has a couple of additional components mounted -- are these spec'd out as well?  We could homebrew our own adapters until production ramps up (is there any ETA for shipping these?).

 

I don't actually own any Gadgeteer modules at this point, but having the interface specs might influence my shopping patterns.  Just asking.

 

Tom.

[Chris Walker]

Hi Tom,

We designed the GoBus spec so that you could plug Gadgeteer components into it, in theory, without damaging either the board or the component. But the newer Netduino Go firmware doesn't provide direct IO access to the virtualized ports--so you'll want to wait for the Gadgeteer Adapter if you want to plug in any of the legacy Gadgeteer gear.

BTW, the next firmware release is a big update for Netduino Plus 2...followed by a big update for Netduino Go. The first new firmware for Netduino Go is focused on supporting a bunch of new STM8S-based components...and then we'll focus in on STM32-based components after that. A ton of the Gadgeteer gear has been discontinued at this point so I'm not sure if there will be a lot of demand for an adapter--but at minimum we'll be able to provide electrical compatibility.

Chris