Mattster's Content

#36592 Introducing Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 05 October 2012 - 07:12 PM in Netduino Go

Thanks Chris. We're playing around with some ideas for distributed processing. Is there any faster interconnect available for the NGo?

#36517 Introducing Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 04 October 2012 - 12:24 PM in Netduino Go

Hi Mattster,

Netduino Go can exchange data with GoBus modules using a SPI transport speed of up to 21 megabits/sec.

Simpler modules (like an RGB LED) will communicate at a slower speed, but more sophisticated modules (like the Ethernet module or Shield Base) can exchange data at speeds near or equal to the maximum.

BTW, communication is full duplex. So that's 21mbps simultaneously in each direction. ACKs are included in frame headers, so there is no waiting for dedicated ACK frames.

Chris

So I should be able to plug to NGo main boards together with a GoBus cable and get 21 mbits between them?

#36397 Introducing Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 02 October 2012 - 01:34 AM in Netduino Go

Can anyone comment on the theoretical maximum speed of the SPI bus?

#26461 Introducing Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 04 April 2012 - 07:24 PM in Netduino Go

Awesome (he mutters as he shuffles off to find the Visa card ...)

#27424 Building custom go!bus modules for Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 17 April 2012 - 01:29 AM in Netduino Go

Having a shrouded header for JTAG would be cool though...would make it hard to plug in the cable backwards.

Chris

I got the unshrouded one from Mouser but was thinking that my Very Cool Black Limited Edition NG0 deserved a shrouded one in a contrasting color.

#27390 Building custom go!bus modules for Netduino Go

Posted by Mattster on 16 April 2012 - 06:47 PM in Netduino Go

Would it help if we bought a few thousand of each and bundled them in 10-packs for $9.95?

Chris

I would buy a ten-pack for $9.95. Mouser only sells the thru-holes in quantity 990 at $.55.

This would be for populating the JTAG

#26681 Hardware Details: Shield Base

Posted by Mattster on 07 April 2012 - 02:06 PM in Netduino Go

Hmm, very nice. But it seems to me that rather than limiting the future Shield Bases you might wish to offer both versions. Some folks would be willing to pay a premium for the higher capacity.

#39255 Netduino Plus 2 Pinout Reference Sheet

Posted by Mattster on 13 November 2012 - 02:04 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Yes, they were waiting patiently for me to get home on Sunday (had to go to Boca Raton on Saturday). Started playing with the last night.
Chuck

Went to Boca Raton and didn't bother to stop by for a beer?

#38350 Nwazet Go Pro Kit

Posted by Mattster on 01 November 2012 - 07:30 PM in Netduino Go

Got my Go Pro plates kit yesterday, had it all assembled in less than an hour. Very nice, great quality, looks very professional. My only comment is about the knob - it's a little loose on the shaft so it resulted in a slightly lop-sided motion when turned. I solved this by wrapping two turns of scotch tape around the shaft before sliding the knob onto it - it then lines up nicely and turns smoothly without the slight off-center wobble.

#25059 Recommend a scope or PC card for working with Netduino?

Posted by Mattster on 04 March 2012 - 12:39 PM in General Discussion

I bought the Oscium iMSO-104 (http://www.amazon.co...30864604&sr=8-1) which is a bit on the expensive side for a casual buy, but I already owned an iPad and an iPhone which makes it very convenient. It's got a single channel of analog at 5MHz and 4 channels of logic input. I haven't used it a lot but it has already solved the original problem that I purchased it for with my Netduino.

#25060 Recommend a scope or PC card for working with Netduino?

Posted by Mattster on 04 March 2012 - 12:54 PM in General Discussion

By the way, there's another device out there that seems pretty nice - the Quant Asylum QA-100 (http://www.quantasyl...ucts/QA100.aspx). I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has experience with it. The only reason I bought the Oscium instead of this one was for the portability.

#28181 GO! Module wishlist

Posted by Mattster on 27 April 2012 - 03:04 AM in Netduino Go

Rapid switching between the modules is fine but I'm sort of hankering for using the intelligence on the module as a dispatchable task engine that runs as an independent coprocessor. Dunno that the 8S has the horsepower for that, but some of the boards have stronger CPUs. Like the Nwazet display module.

#28085 Powering the Netduino Go! with a Lipo

Posted by Mattster on 25 April 2012 - 03:39 PM in Netduino Go

drilling was the easiest solution

#26638 Hardware Details: Netduino Go (mainboard)

Posted by Mattster on 06 April 2012 - 02:20 PM in Netduino Go

Thanks Stefan, I found to 20pin-10pin adapter on Mouser as p/n TI MDL-ADA2 for $17

#26630 Hardware Details: Netduino Go (mainboard)

Posted by Mattster on 06 April 2012 - 12:44 PM in Netduino Go

regarding the JTAG to Mini-JTAG at Mouser, can you please specify a model or a part number? There seems to be a number of them there and they differ. Thanks.

#39763 Seeduino GPRS / GSM shield

Posted by Mattster on 20 November 2012 - 09:23 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

So I'm messing around with the Seeed GPRS shield and I'm curious what insights anyone can give on network access - whose SIM are you using and what do they charge you for it? I got no joy when I called AT&T and asked about a data plan for GPRS devices. After a while they found a "supervisor" that wanted to sell me a $50/month data plan. T-Mobile also wants $30-50/month for GPRS service. Isn't there some way to get maybe like $10/month? Or better yet, how about a prepay SIM with a finite amount of kbytes in it. This thing uses less bandwidth than an old Motorola pager ...

#39762 Seeduino GPRS / GSM shield

Posted by Mattster on 20 November 2012 - 09:21 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

So I'm messing around with the Seeed GPRS shield and I'm curious what insights anyone can give on network access - whose SIM are you using and what do they charge you for it? I got no joy when I called AT&T and asked about a data plan for GPRS devices. After a while they found a "supervisor" that wanted to sell me a $50/month data plan. T-Mobile also wants $30-50/month for GPRS service. Isn't there some way to get maybe like $10/month? Or better yet, how about a prepay SIM with a finite amount of kbytes in it. This thing uses less bandwidth than an old Motorola pager ...

#30641 Oscilloscope

Posted by Mattster on 13 June 2012 - 09:57 PM in General Discussion

I went through this same step of the learning curve about 6 months ago. In the end, I settled for a "toy" scope, the Oscium iMSO. It was expensive for a toy but I bought it because I already owned the iPad and iPhone so the idea of a tiny portable scope with 4 channels of logic analyzer was attractive even at the price. And for a first scope it is fine. So my opinion is that if you've never owned a scope before and you're not currently working with 50+ MHz signals, a cheap toy can be fine for learning. Then with your experience in mind you can better shop for a higher-end scope. While shopping I found the Quant Asylum QA-100, a USB unit that has some pretty nice specs - 2 Analog inputs and 12 channels of 10-bit resolution Digital logic input. At $350 it's not cheap, but for a portable device it looks pretty good. I think it's going to be my next one. In the meantime, if you look at the QA-100 web page (http://www.quantasyl...ucts/QA100.aspx), there's an excellent feature comparison chart with most of the low-end to medium scopes compared.

#27815 Netduino Go! RGB Umbrella

Posted by Mattster on 21 April 2012 - 01:08 PM in Project Showcase

Nice! How many LEDs did you use?

#38428 Program in assembly language?

Posted by Mattster on 03 November 2012 - 12:53 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

IMO, assembler is a good thing. Anyone who wants to be a great programmer needs to learn how to assemble. I find it hard to believe that the educational system turns out degreed software engineers that have never touched an assembler. It's fine that C# and Ruby and Python and others provide high productivity and protect programmers from doing stupid things in their code, but if you don't understand how it actually works, how can you fix it when it is really broken? Oh, I forgot, that's why there will always be job opportunities for consultants that know how to assemble.

#25484 Netduino to Custom PCB

Posted by Mattster on 14 March 2012 - 01:33 AM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

In theory yes, but you'll need to cut down the NETMF core quite a bit to deal with the smaller flash and RAM.

Chris

Chris: which eval board do you use when developing for Netduino? Does anyone make an veal board with the 512K part?

#25530 Netduino to Custom PCB

Posted by Mattster on 15 March 2012 - 01:49 AM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

Hi Mattster,

We used the SAM7X-EK board, but we replaced the 256KB chip with a 512KB chip (by hand).

Chris

Aha! That was going to be my next question. Guess I need to learn how to do hot-air rework, eh?

Along that line of thinking, I notice repeated queries about JTAG access with the same standard answer each time. BTW, that's why I'm thinking of getting the SAM7X-EK, so I can use the JTAG ICE with it. So I was thinking today that geez, I have your board layouts and stuff so what's to keep me from just adding it on myself? So which one of the boards do you think it would be easiest to modify and add JTAG support?

Thanks!

#26457 Developing/Debugging ARM code

Posted by Mattster on 04 April 2012 - 07:13 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

A clarifying question if I may, I know what ICE and JTAG boundary scan are, but I'm not quite clear on the usage in the modern embedded space. I know that these aren't real in-circuit emulators as that function is embedded in the microcontrollers, but what is the difference between JTAG interfaces for ARM and AVR? I have an IAR (Segger) J-Link and its docs claim that it will work with any ARM (and many others) but it doesn't mention AVR. When I scan around on eBay there are more types of embedded JTAG devices than I imagined, many of them with various claims for compatibility with AVR and ARM. Other than buying one of each and trying, how do I determine what is what in this space? Thanks!

#28824 [nwazet Power Supply Module

Posted by Mattster on 11 May 2012 - 02:36 PM in Netduino Go

the '65 Peugot (Model 404?) is kewl but I want power ...

#20970 40% discount on Netduino Plus e-book (O'Reilly / MAKE)

Posted by Mattster on 25 November 2011 - 02:08 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

75% off is better. If you go to oreilly.com and register your paper copy of the book (by pasting its ISBN into an input box), the eBook can then be bought as an "upgrade" for $4.99.