Community Mainboard

[Justin]

Time for us great unwashed to design the cough perfect community inspired NETMF board i reckon.

So speak now or forever hold your peace…

Options / ideas

[ul]Processor: STM32F4x5, STM32F42x, G120 / G400
Type: Gadgeteer / Vanilla NETMF
Sockets / PTH
Name
PCB Colour (if vanilla)
On board 3v3 reg
Size: small / medium / impressive[/ul]

Your 2p / 2c / 2 shekels worth

And if it’s viable maybe Uncle Gus will build more than the couple i can cope with

[Simon_from_Vilnius]

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

[Justin]

@Simon from Vilnius

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

Been there, done that :whistle:

[Simon_from_Vilnius]

Well, then it’s nothing to discuss about

[Gus_Issa]

@Justin

@Simon from Vilnius

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

Been there, done that :whistle:

LCD controller?

[Jason_ghielectroncs]

LOL @ Uncle Gus

[Justin]

@Gus

LCD controller?

S and LED’s…

[godefroi]

1. No Gadgeteer sockets (too expensive)
2. STM32 (obvious choice)
3. No onboard regulator (because you can’t be sure what the end user would want there…)

[godefroi]

@Gus

@Justin

@Simon from Vilnius

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

Been there, done that :whistle:

LCD controller?

The pictured board has a 427, but the 429 has an LCD controller. With 2MB flash, 256K RAM, LCD controller, running at 180 MHz in a LQFP100 for $12, it seems compelling, when it actually becomes available.

[godefroi]

@Simon from Vilnius

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

Being short on S sockets is ironic, given that SPI is a bus, and is designed to handle multiple devices on the bus. This is one of the biggest (IMO) shortcomings of Gadgeteer, that in general, a LOT of pins are wasted in any given socket.

[Justin]

@godefroi

@Gus

@Justin

@Simon from Vilnius

1. IMHO, G120 is too slow, G400 — too expensive. I’d vote for STM32 whichever has an LCD controller on chip.
2. Gadgeteer.
3. Plenty of S (3 at least) sockets!.. I’m always short of them.
4. A button and a LED on board.

Been there, done that :whistle:

LCD controller?

The pictured board has a 427, but the 429 has an LCD controller. With 2MB flash, 256K RAM, LCD controller, running at 180 MHz in a LQFP100 for $12, it seems compelling, when it actually becomes available.

problem is you cant get them and 427’s are fast disappearing with long leadtimes…

[ianlee74]

Built-in CC3000, accelerometer & gyro. Oh, and the total cost can’t be more than $30

[Justin]

@ianlee74

Built-in CC3000, accelerometer & gyro. Oh, and the total cost can’t be more than $30

Sweet - i’ll take a couple

[Jay_Jay]

lol

[FireyFate]

I’m in the camp of no sockets, G400 style or even Cerb40-ish design but with a 100 pin STM with all pins broken out. Then an adapter board could be added for those that like the sockets.

edit and 144 or more pins wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

[Architect]

I have more mainboards than projects for them

[ianlee74]

@Architect

I have more mainboards than projects for them

Me too. It’s becoming embarrassing.

[godefroi]

What about a card-edge style connector? 40-pin DIP is only BARELY big enough to fit the 64-pin package.

Something like a PCI connector can be had relatively cheaply, even in low quantities, and can be had with plenty of connections.

[ianlee74]

@godefroi

What about a card-edge style connector? 40-pin DIP is only BARELY big enough to fit the 64-pin package.

Something like a PCI connector can be had relatively cheaply, even in low quantities, and can be had with plenty of connections.

something pin compatible with G400 would be interesting

[KiwiSaner]

My existing maninboards are sufficient for protoripe devrlopment. But something I would like is a neat looking enclosue with built in main board, touch screen dispkay, rechargable battery, regulater and USB port to the outside world. But still maintain the ability to tinker inside the box to add specific modules etc. In other words a nice shrink wrapped product that just require software to become a sellable product. All I want to have to do is stick a label on the outside to make it a customized solution. If something like that would be avalaible it would allow someone like me to turn my hobby projects into a commercial product without expensive tooling as assocoated difficulties.