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What is the Netduino Mini?


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#1 Chris Walker

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 04:49 AM

As announced on this week's Hanselminutes podcast, Netduino Mini is the third member of the Netduino family.

Technical Specifications (Netduino Mini)
Where to Buy

A few fast facts about the Netduino Mini:
  • Teeny. Tiny. 1.2"x0.6" (3.0 cm x 1.5 cm) small. DIP-24 form factor.
  • Can be powered by a 9V battery. Or an AC power adapter. Or power from a USB TTL cable.
  • Programmed via RS232 (breakout, adapter, or just cut the end off a cable) or TTL (3.3V USB TTL cable, etc.).
  • Pin compatible with BASIC Stamp 2 boards -- you can use it with most/all the Parallax kits/robots.
  • 16 digital pins. 4 are also analog inputs. Includes I2C, SPI, UART, 4x PWM.
  • 4-layer PCB. ENIG (gold immersion). RoHS, Pb-free. Industrial temperature rated.
  • $29.95 MSRP (single units), volume discounts available from some resellers.
  • Available worldwide in 3-4 weeks; some resellers will be taking pre-orders.
What will you build with your Netduino Mini?

Chris

#2 lynxeyed_atsu

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 05:59 AM

Cool! We can use netduino with another device more easily!

#3 CW2

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 06:01 AM

Superb.

#4 pascal06

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 09:32 AM

Excellent, I really like the form factor. Pascal

#5 Paul

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 11:06 AM

Ignore this post. I had my question answered by rereading the "fast few facts" at the top of this thread. Paul

#6 MattW

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 08:14 PM

Love it! I was thinking a few weeks ago how it would be nice to create a PCB with a programmed chip on it. I was thinking of programming a ATmega328 and putting it on. :angry: No more! B) This fits the bill perfectly! What I'm eventually looking at doing is bringing up some sensors whenever I go flying so I can load it on the PC when I get home.

#7 Fred

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Posted 23 October 2010 - 11:31 AM

Awesome. I'm not sure I need one for anything yet (although muyinteresting and I were discussing something similar for home automation) but I might just have to get one anyway.

#8 dab

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Posted 24 October 2010 - 11:45 PM

That is pretty cool. Small and cheap enough to install in a dedicated project B). This definitely gives me some ideas. Watch out ;)
Thanks,
~ David ~

#9 peterfjorgensen

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Posted 25 October 2010 - 05:48 PM

Chris, This mini board is sooo cool! I just love the size. I just bought a Netduino board last week (This is cool by itself), but had I known that this mini version would come out so soon, I might have waited for that. But hey, why not have both boards :-) Keep up the good work. Peter PS: I have several ideas for this new module...

#10 pascal06

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 09:52 PM

My dream could be a mesh of Netduino Mini associated to ATMEL AT86RF231, all accessible over Internet by a NetduinoPlus/AT86RF231 as a bridge :) It should be a real Internet of Things revolution ... Pascal

#11 Chris Walker

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 09:57 PM

My dream could be a mesh of Netduino Mini associated to ATMEL AT86RF231, all accessible over Internet by a NetduinoPlus/AT86RF231 as a bridge :)

It should be a real Internet of Things revolution ...

Pascal


What about a mesh of Netduino Mini paired with Atmel ATMEGA128RFA1s? And maybe 6lopan? :)

Chris

#12 pascal06

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 10:11 PM

What about a mesh of Netduino Mini paired with Atmel ATMEGA128RFA1s? And maybe 6lopan? :)

Chris


I see a lot of discussion arround IOT about one MCU versus two MCU on a single node. Like Ethernet Shield, we can use one MCU as the main brain, and the other for networking communication.
On a wireless node, we are very concern by the low power consumption. And some people can be say, why use a ARM MCU in this case and don't use the AVR for sensor communication also (probably enough in most of case) ? By using two MCU, you need to update two firmwares also.

But it can be a easier first step :)

Though ?

Pascal

#13 Chris Walker

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 10:23 PM

In this case, the ATMEGA128RFA1 would act as an upgradable communication coprocessor (with integrated radio). Very cost-effectively. [Inside tip: we *cough cough* just happen to have thousands of parts (ATMEGA128RFA1 chips, baluns, etc.) in stock.] Theoretically it would be cool to build a module and a shield. Maybe codename the projects "CipherBee" and "Beeduino". Theoretically. We happen to have a lot of mesh networking experience at Secret Labs. You could build a world of wireless network connected devices. You could build a swarm of rescue robots which crawled gently through rubble at a disaster site and relayed back photos and coordinates of trapped victims. The possibilities are endless. Chris

#14 Fred

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Posted 27 October 2010 - 08:31 AM

Some very interesting times ahead for Secret Labs by the sound of it. I'll be watching (and buying no doubt) with interest. In fact, if you could buy Secret Labs shares I'd be getting some right now!

#15 skpang

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Posted 29 October 2010 - 02:30 PM

"Secret Labs" maybe is owned by some big name company already. Atmel, Microsoft?

#16 Charles

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Posted 07 November 2010 - 01:00 AM

Chris,
This mini board is sooo cool! I just love the size.
I just bought a Netduino board last week (This is cool by itself), but had I known that this mini version would come out so soon, I might have waited for that.

But hey, why not have both boards :-)

Keep up the good work.

Peter

PS: I have several ideas for this new module...


Are the proper pins broken out for us to add the MII chip and effectively make it a Netduino Plus Mini??

#17 Chris Walker

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Posted 07 November 2010 - 01:04 AM

Are the proper pins broken out for us to add the MII chip and effectively make it a Netduino Plus Mini??


Netduino Mini offers networking support via SPI.

I wish we could have built a 64- or 128-pin DIP chip and exposed everything :)

Chris

#18 Brian Surowiec

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Posted 07 November 2010 - 04:40 AM

I'm looking at using one of these boards but I need to connect an SD/uSD card to it and another SPI based device. Is there access to the second SPI interface on here?

#19 Chris Walker

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Posted 07 November 2010 - 04:45 AM

I'm looking at using one of these boards but I need to connect an SD/uSD card to it and another SPI based device. Is there access to the second SPI interface on here?


Brian,

Welcome to the Netduino community!

SPI works with multiple devices per interface. You just need to allocate one GPIO as a "chip select" for each device.

In other words, the three main data/clock lines (MISO/MOSI/SCK) can be shared among devices; a device will not use these three lines when that device is not currently selected.

Chris

#20 Chris Walker

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Posted 07 November 2010 - 04:48 AM

P.S. Netduino Mini officially ships in less than two weeks. We are conducting final testing and integration of the new v4.1.0.5 firmware and will be flashing/shipping units to resellers starting this week. Chris




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