Chris Walker

This shield here seems to work as well:

http://www.seeedstud...tml?cPath=48_49

It lets you plug in 3 wire cables to do the LEDs, piezo, pot, title, etc sensors/switches.

There are lots of Arduino-compatible shields. Many/most of them work with the Netduino. Some of them require C# drivers, some do not. A few community members have asked for a list of tested/compatible shields, components, etc. Let's make that list here. There are literally thousands of components out there, so this will serve as a very brief introductory list--but let's not worry about making it a really long introductory list A few notes: 1. Please link to the manufacturer's website where possible--for details on the accessory 2. If you've built a project, please link to it (or its post) showcasing your use of the accessory 3. If the accessory requires C# drivers, please link to them here... Chris

Hi Steven, Good point. It's an alpha (pre-beta) release; no exception handling has been implemented yet. We'll update the sample when the code is further along. I'll also update the sample to iterate through the directories instead of hardcoding "SD1" in there twice... Good feedback. Thanks! Chris

Hi Websteria, Are you running the updated firmware (v4.1.0.2)? There was a bug in the earlier AnalogInput code (sorry about that) which could cause this... http://forums.netdui...e-v410-patch-2/ Your Netduino is probably not dead; it probably just needs some good firmware upgrade medicine Chris

Phil, that's pretty awesome. I believe that's the first Netduino projects using an InterruptPort to decode an incoming signal. Neat! Phase 2 sounds awesome as well. Chris

Here is a very preliminary implementation of the .NET Framework's StringBuilder class, placed in the System.Text namespace for code compatibility with desktop/mobile C# applications.

This sample code uses an ArrayList and is not performance-optimized.

System.Text.StringBuilder.cs

using System;
using System.Collections;
using Microsoft.SPOT;

namespace System.Text
{
    class StringBuilder
    {
        ArrayList m_charArray = new ArrayList();

        public StringBuilder()
        {
        }

        public StringBuilder(string value) : base()
        {
            Append(value);
        }

        public void Append(string value)
        {
            Char[] charArray = value.ToCharArray();
            Append(charArray, 0, charArray.Length);
        }

        public void Append(char[] value, int startIndex, int charCount)
        {
            for (int index = startIndex; index < startIndex + charCount; index++)
                m_charArray.Add(value[index]);
        }

        public int Length
        {
            get
            {
                return m_charArray.Count;
            }
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return new string((char[])m_charArray.ToArray(typeof(char)));
        }
    }
}

Nope you are correct. What does the SetRange do? is it like the map method in arduino programming?
I'll contact rugged circuits' support and see if they can tell me what to do.

AnalogInput.SetRange maps the analog input values to a specified range of integres. If 0-1023 on your device maps linearly to 0-100, then AnalogInput.SetRange(0, 100) will cause the AnalogInput.Read() method to return those values instead.

You can also submit reverse values to SetRange, such as AnalogInput.SetRange(100, -100)--which would cause an analog reading of 0V to return 100 and an analog reading of 3.3V to read -100.

Chris

I also had a question about pull-up resistors. In wiring my I2C clock chip, I used external pull-up resistors. Is it possible to use the internal pull-up for this? I'm not really using the pins as input per-se, but if I plug in an I2C device, it likely needs pull-up resistors. Yes, I'm a hardware newbie... I'll bet it shows.

You'll want to use external resistors. I2C will sometimes work with the internal pull-ups, but they're fairly weak.

If you search for I2C on the web, there are some general algorithms which help you figure out which resistors to use (2.2K and 1.8K are pretty typical with one device--but there are more exact ways to measure it).

Fun note for those new to I2C: with I2C, the Netduino only "pulls down" the current to 0V. This allows you to choose your I2C line voltage (5V or 3.3V) which is fed through the pull-up resistors. This also helps make Netduino compatible with the I2C capabilities of Arduino shields (which may use 5V or 3.3V for I2C).

Chris

Hi folks. Here's the vision for supporting .NET Micro Framework development on Mac and Linux: * Use MonoDevelop (an established and impressive .NET development environment) for writing .NET MF code * Compilation using Mono C# compiler, MetaDataProcessor (post-processor) and deployment via MFDeployEngine * Compile/deploy process integrated into MonoDevelop "run program" feature Here are the chunks of work that we know of which will need to be done: * MonoDevelop --- Support for .NET Micro Framework assemblies, Intellisense, code completion, etc. <-- might be done already --- Integration of custom postprocessor and deployment into toolchain * Mono C# Compiler --- This is likely fine as-is, but we may need to work with the Mono team to ensure that dependencies to desktop assemblies are not added in. Microsoft's C# compiler can do this by compiling for the "compact framework". * Mono .NET-compatible Runtime --- There may be some glitches here (in particular with serial port support), but the Mono team has been very good about taking care of these so far. We should be in good hands here. * MetaDataProcessor --- Port this C++ command-line project to Linux/Mac * MFDeployEngine --- Make minor changes to enable compatibility with Mono runtime * MFDeploy --- Eventually, create native Mac and Linux GUIs; today, make minor changes to enable compatibility with Mono runtime * USB or USBHID code --- We'd like to implement support for Microsoft's custom USB device implementation on Linux/Mac so that we can debug/deploy to existing .NET Micro Framework devices without using a serial port --- We'd also like to create a driverless, standardized HID transport which sends/receives all data using HID reports. This would make cross-platform implementation easy and reduce the possibility of driver issues on computers simultaneously. I am _not_ opposed to going this HID route "only", but we'd need to start a project add it to the Netduino firmware. We can take care of the HID code on the PC side in managed code (we've actually written most of it already). Our focus will be on enabling the following two platforms: * Mac * Linux About MetaDataProcessor: * MetaDataProcessor is a program which takes standard compiled .NET assemblies and "compacts" them into .NET MF assemblies. * MetaDataProcessor appears to use parts of the .NET MF runtime to do its work (which makes sense from a code deduplication standpoint). About MFDeployEngine: * MFDeployEngine is the deploy and debug engine for reading/writing programs on .NET MF hardware and for communicating debug information from the programming IDE to the .NET MF device. * Our focus on the first release is on deployment only. In future releases, it would be cool to integrate Debug.Print (and other debug features if possible). * MFDeployEngine is used by Visual Studio to deploy and debug .NET MF applications. * MFDeployEngine does a "selective deployment." If assemblies are already present on a device (in the firmware image), it does not deploy those assemblies. About MFDeploy: * MFDeploy is a GUI front end for MFDeployEngine. It allows the user to do diagnostics on a device as well as upgrade the device's firmware. Compatibility with Netduino and other .NET MF products: * This project is open source and designed to provide support for all .NET MF platforms. We should not put any hooks into the software which restrict it to working only with the Netduino. Chris

I don't know? I'm reminded of the scenes from sci-movies where the hero is trying to disarm the bomb. "Just cut the red wire!" "They are all red!"

There are plenty of things that use these DC wall converters From Airsoft gun battery chargers to variable one like the ones keyboards use. Just read the label and make sure the voltage is between 7.5V to 12V AND under 200mA. As far as battery power a 9V battery can do something like this: 9V Battery Clip to Plug

To follow up on what OZ said, you'll actually want an AC power adapter that provides MORE power than 200mA. I'd recommend 500-700mA. The Netduino will only draw what it needs and what is used via the 3V3/5V/GPIO pins. USB is good for projects which don't require much power, and for really high power apps you'll want to provide separate power to the connected components directly.

As far as USB, the USB port on the Netduino is "USB device." You can make the Netduino into a keyboard/mouse if you'd like, but to plug a keyboard/mouse into the Netduino you'll need "USB host." There are some shields out there which do this, and either we or a community member could write drivers to support USB host shields and various connected USB devices...

Chris

Quick question: .NET Micro Framework has some great math functions built in, but they are designed for low-power MCUs (so some of them are not as high of precision as their desktop counterparts). There are .NET MF source code samples out there of high-precision functions. Would you all be interested in an open source high-precision math library. If so, any math experts want to volunteer to help with the implementation? The Netduino hardware can certainly support it. Chris

Could I make a regular windows form application that sends commands to the Netduino via USB?

Yes. If you switch to using the "serial deployment" firmware, you can turn your Netduino into an HID or other custom USB device--and deploy/debug your code using digital pins 0 and 1.

We're also working on some options for sending data over the USB connection in the standard configuration, but I'm not sure if/when that will happen. Right now, we're focused on enabling SD support in the upcoming v4.1.1 firmware.

Chris

Chris, since you asked for types of tutorials, I (and I guess many others in a similar boat as me) would love a tutorial series for n00bs . E.g. I have almost no idea what GPIO, I2C, SPI, PWM, etc. stand for and how they are used.

Kamal, thanks for posting!

As far as introductory tutoritals, we'll see what we can do

We have an AnalogInput (ADC) how-to video planned for next Monday. And then motor control, GPIOs, I2C/SPI accessories, etc. At that rate, hopefully we can get you up to speed on all the features by the end of September.

It looks like a serial enabled LCD like this should be quite easy: Serial Enabled 16x2 LCD

That should work...but you'll want to get one of the 3.3V LCDs instead. SparkFun has about a dozen 3.3V options. As long as you just need to send it character data to get it up and running, you can hook it to either of the UARTs (D0/D1 or D2/D3) and GND and you should be be up and running!

Please let us know how this works out for you...so we can add it to the "supported accessories" list that we're working on. And in the unlikely case you have any troubles, let me know and we'll play with it as well.

Chris