Nevyn

A rainy day in North Yorkshire gave me the perfect excuse to break out the Netduino and start to play with the RedBear 4.0 low energy module.

Full post describing the experiment along with video can be found here.  You can also find a video of the application turning LEDs on and off on YouTube.

Regards,

Mark

I'd be looking at the SPI config and wondering if the device you are connecting to is say expecting the clock to be high when not in use but you'd configured the SPI on the Netduino to be low when not in use.

If you need more help it might be an idea to post a link to the datasheet for the device in question plus the SPI config code.

Regards,

Mark

At the moment the GO! product line is lacking credibility and I must say that is really down to the lack of support from SL.  I feel that it will take a long tie to recover from that.  And by a long time, I really mean a large number of modules coming from SL to show support for the product range.

The concept is great, the implementation is great, the follow up is lacking.

For me the final nail in the coffin was the release of the Netduino Plus 2.  We had been waiting all summer for the release of the SD module and the Network module for the GO! and in the autumn we get the full package - Netduino, Networking and SD card all for the similar price of the Netduino GO! main board.

Regards,

Mark

This module might not be available to buy but a description of how to make the module is now online.

The post has a heavy software bias.

Regards,

Mark

I feel the same way and will be purchasing the NetDuino 2 PLUS and shelve the go. 

I read this post and I must admit it struck a chord.  At the moment the best value option for me is the Netduino Plus 2:

[*]It's here
[*]Can work with shields
[*]You can convert existing drivers and use the previous work from community members
[/list]

Given the cost of the N+2 and the GO! and a ShieldBase the N+2 is better value for money,

 

Regards,

Mark



• neslekkim likes this

Welcome to the forums.

I'd head over to the Wiki and have a look for the pages which discuss using the Sparkfun Inventors Kit.  There's several pages and they provide a great primer for those who are new to connecting hardware to the Netduino.

Hope this helps,

Mark

Mark, it would be nice to have it built similar to Arduino Mega, to accept ready to use Arduino modules

What an interesting idea.  The reason for me choosing this form factor was simplicity.  I only have Arduino compatible shields (no Mega shields).  Another factor, it fitted into iTead's cheap prototyping form factor.  It is just under 5cm x 10cm.

The schematic and code are in the posts, all the tools I used are free...

I think DesignSpark has a library of Arduino parts.  There is certainly a library of SparkFun parts.  That should make things easier to layout.

Regards,

Mark

Over the past few weeks I have been developing a module which will add 32 digital outputs to the Netduino GO!.  I have also been writing about it.  Yesterday saw the first board assembled and tested, and here it is:

 CompletedBoard.jpg   107.32KB   45 downloads

The blog post which discusses the project can be found here.  The first post and summary is as follows:

This series of posts will examine the activities required to take the concept of a module for the Netduino GO! through to production.
 

Project Definition

A simple project will allow the series of posts to concentrate on the principles required for the production of a Netduino GO! module without being too distracted by the functional aspects of the module.  The following project definition should meet this brief:

• Provide 16 or more digital outputs
• Work with the Netduino GO!
• Low cost manufacture
• Use simple tried and tested components/techniques

Meeting the Objectives

As you can no doubt see, this is a reasonably simple project and with the exception of cost, we should have no major problems reaching the objectives.  The most obvious solution to this problem is to look at using 74HC595 serial to parallel chips.  These are cheap components and the techniques needed to solve this type of problem are tried and tested.  The project definition looks like the counting example which is discussed in the Counting Using 74HC595 Shift Registers post with the addition of the Netduino Go! functionality.

Project Plan

Initial assessment of the project indicates that the following steps are required in order to take the project from concept to manufacture:

• Build a hardware prototype using the STM8S103F3 to control two shift registers.  This will have some form of visual output to prove that we can control the digital lines (probably some LEDs)
• Write the software for the STM8S which will control the output of the 74HC595 chips
• Generate the schematic for the board
• Layout a prototype board and send to manufacture
• Write the software for the Netduino GO! while waiting for the manufactured boards to turn up
• Assemble a prototype on one of the prototype boards
• Conclusion

All of the work is open source so please feel free to use it in your own projects.  If you do find the work useful then please drop me a line as I'm always interested in how this work is being used.

Regards,

Mark

The big question is: How to I proceed to work with this code in emulator, so that I can test out my logic while I wait for the stuff to arrive? (Also, if you're in Norway and know a good place to buy the netduino GO, please let me know)

I'd probably look at getting the Netduino Plus 2.  There are not a lot of modules available for the Netduino GO! at the moment.

Regards,

Mark

Mark, I see that you are quietly trying to solve the problem of the lack of information.  The community needs to know what you are doing.  See

 

http://blog.mark-ste...co.uk/?m=201304 folks!

 

I am going to buy a shift register and follow along...

For those who are interested, part 2 has just been published.  This post completes the breadboard prototype and connects the Netduino GO! to the breadboard.  Some basic software is written to control the STM8S module.

Edit: Also just published the schematic in Part 3.

Regards,

Mark

Hi Netduino Go peeps

 

So... where is the standard firmware source for the STM8 and STM32 modules? Why is it so hard to find? Is it really just me, or is the information just really hard to pull out of the forums/wikis? I can totally understand if it just me, since I have such bad ADD and even instructions on a bottle of shampoo can confuse me on bad days - but I would really like to get a home brew  go!bus module working over the next couple of days.

There is some unofficial STM8S code available on my blog in the posts about SPI slave devices on the STM8S.  Note this is GoBus 1.0 only and the downloads are in the conclusion.  There is also a whole series of articles on the STM8S in The Way of the Register series of posts - don't know if you will find these useful.

There are a number of places where you can find the C# source for the module driver but very few people have released the STM8 or STM32 (or any other microcontroller implementation for that matter) code.

Hope this helps,

Mark

Thank you to NooM and Paul I have added a few new topics to the upcoming list of tutorials I'll be working on.

Here's the revised list:

Some topics which are either hidden in the above (i.e. SPI could be used in the shift register tutorial) or not mentioned:

• SPI
• I2C
• Networking
• Serial
• Storing data on SD

Other topics which might be worthy of consideration:

• Tools
• From prototype to PCB
• Reading a data sheet
• Reading a circuit diagram

Regards,

Mark

I'm also getting a little tired of the "to be released soon" messages.  In fact I have now got to the point where I ignore any new pending product announcements as hype.  I agree with Troll, announcing something which does not appear annoys people.  I can see the point in letting a community know what is heading our way but I'd like to see firm delivery dates not FITA dates.

I'm a great fan of these products but the only posts I have any confidence in are those which are restricted to technical discussions.

Regards,

Mark

A couple of thoughts for you:

Firstly, does a basic "Blinky" application deploy correctly.  If it does then your development environment is working correctly.

Secondly, rather than use the full toolbox, have you tried just adding the source files you need to the project?  I always prefer to work this way as the boards have restricted memory so there is no point in deploying the full toolbox if you only need one feature.  Also, it makes sure that there are no conflicts with library version etc.

Hope this helps,

Mark

Mark - the "waffle" is the best bit.

 

Reading what Chris has written and thinking about it a bit more, I realised that module building is really simple.

1. Build the stuff on top of a shieldbase.  Do all the coding, testing, etc.  I can do this now.

2. Take the shieldbase + hardware component sandwich (e.g. an Arduino shield) and convert the sandwich into a module. 

I suppose that the route you wish to take really depends upon the a few factors:

• Complexity of the module
• Speed of the module (i.e. sensor you are using etc.)
• Target market

For a simple module then the STM8S is a good choice, it is cheap, reasonably fast and the tools are free.  The downside as you have noted is that you really need to use C or be adventurous and try assembler .  On the upside, the code in the blog post does isolate you from the comms for GoBus 1.0 so you have a starting point.  If you go down this route then the VariableLabs module is a good choice - be prepared to learn C.  If there is enough interest I'll be happy to make the modifications to make the firmware work with the ProtoModule.

Now consider speed.  For a simple module, say a 16-port output module based upon the 75HC595 then you would not need fast processing.  You could then take the Shieldbase and distil this down to a single PCB with the essence of the ShieldBase plus the 75HC595 electronics.  The downside is that the cost then escalates as the cost of the ShieldBase hardware then outweighs the cost of the two 74HC595s.  So for something simple you really need to consider the STM8S route.  If you wanted something faster, say driving a WS2811 LED module then you are again back to the custom code in C (even for Shieldbase hardware) as the comms with the chips is time dependent.  By distilling the ShieldBase you have removed the need to use C but have introduced a performance hit.

BTW - if you want to know the pin mapping etc for the ShieldBase then head over to this post.

And I'm glad you like the waffle

Hope this helps,

Mark