Look at this gorgeous line up of FEZes [url]http://www.tinyclr.com/compare/[/url] That was done in 9 moths :o not including the million other component we have too :o :o
From very small to the very powerful. But wait, there is more?! Let me ask you this, if I were to purpose a new FEZ to the GHI team (I will be hanged), what will that FEZ be?
I am not looking for random answer but for a ā¦
āI need FEZ ____ because I need ____ which is not an option on any existing FEZ and I think this will be a great FEZ because ____ GHI will sell a lot of those because ______ā
To answer the topic strictly, I day dream about airplanes. I quite like airplanes. Programming is a job and something I do that interests me when I canāt fly, but flying is strictly a passion.
To answer the question, though Iād really like a very fast FEZ with lots of memory. Something you youād use when you want low power consumption, but when you also want something faster than a Cobra but lower end than a PC. Currently, NOBODY is trying to sell a board like this to hobbyists. You could be the first to climb right out through the crack in the market!
I need a FEZ breakout because i need a lack of fluff which is not an option on existing fez. This would be awesome because it would be cheap, just have all the pins broken out, and not have all the crap you donāt need. GHI will sell a lot of these because i came up with the idea and clearly if i came up with the idea everyone will want one so they can be cool like me
Fez micro would just be a usbizi with itās immediately required discrete components, like xtal and caps, possibly a usb mini/micro connector. This would be on a square or rectangular board which has dual rows around the outside of it with headers in that could then be placed into a āmotherboardā, breadboard, protoboard, whatever like a CPU.
My other idea is FEZStickā¦ a USB stick that has a usbizi in the middle. similar to above but can be plugged into a usb port directly or used on a usb extension cable.
But before that, iād like to see a whole lot more documentation on the website, and make it easier to find the components and additions to your fez in the webstore. Iād want aftersales to be as good as the product itself so that sales go through the roof for this awesome product.
I need FEZ Robo because It would be nice to have a full .net mf board with all the robotic options any existing FEZ can do the job but not as well as a board designed for its use. I think this will be a great FEZ because it opens up a broader market to GHI. GHI will sell a lot of those because It will be the only complete solution for .NET micro framework robotics.
the items I would include. Deticated Motor control 4 Amp H-Bridges - control 4 DC motors, or two Bipolar Stepper Motors. 4 single/quadrature encoder input ports. Addon IMU board. Xbee/bluetooth socket. Control of up to 24 servos. Maybe a velocity and distance PID control algorithm built in. Not like i like robots or anything.
@ bstag : while waiting for the Panda to come, Iām currently designing another shield that may suit your needs, at least part of them.
It already has 2 bi-polar steppers and will have 2 DC motors along with x servos (I donāt know exactly the final number) and x IOās
I think though that such a board will be expensive :think: Not only the board itself but components too ???
I will second that I would also leave the headers non soldered, only the holes for them.
I like this idea, but USBizi-144 based, so it would have USB client on one end and host on the other. Doesnāt necessarily have to be a āstickā (i.e., with a male plug), I just like this form factor - light and tiny - think Arduino Pro Mini + Circuits@ Home USB Host Shield for the Pro Mini:
Oh, and if it could pull power from the device itās āhosting,ā its host, or externally, that would be great.
To sum up:
I need FEZMegaStick because I need the tiny form factor, and I think this will be a great FEZ because it will fill the air with unicorns and flowers and beautiful music. I donāt know if GHI will sell a lot of those, but people always seem to like USB and small form factors.
From very small to the very powerful. But wait, there is more?! Let me ask you this, if I were to purpose a new FEZ to the GHI team (I will be hanged), what will that FEZ be?
I daydream about being someone like Steve Job, who designs a cool product that more advance than the other.
I need FEZ Panda
because I need as much as IOs availables from USBizi100 chipset which is not an option on any existing FEZ,
and I think this will be a great FEZ because one can do all sort of things using this little board, control other microcontroller, send/receive data to/from PC, etcā¦
GHI will sell a lot of those because the price users pay for it speed, capability, and ease of programming the application to the board compare to the other microcontroller in the market.
I need a FEZ āconnector shieldā because I need to connect my Fez to many sensors, servos, motors and LCD modules for projects. There are currently enough FEZs, but there is a definite need for a useful shield that does lots. This is not an option on any existing FEZ shields or Arduino shield.
Basically Iād like a combo of the āComponent Shieldā, āI/O 40 Expansionā and āSerial Servo Motor Controllerā. Currently I can not stack all of these all at once. The output pins for these connectors would be the small header pins (to save space)
Also, some of the I/Os, would have a choice of 3v3 or 5v to power it, by use of those small switch components, or jumpers. Some of my components need 5v not 3v3, so the āComponent Shieldā would not work for me in this case.
What Iām asking for is the swiss army knife of shields
and I think this will be a great FEZ shield because it would keep projects clean, without messy wires everywhere. It will make it easy to lay out components and not make any mistakes in connecting them.
GHI will sell a lot of these because anyone with a Fez will want one for their projects. And anyone with a micro-controller with an Arduino pin out design will want one.
Since FEZ is all about making things freakin easy, letās make the shield Freakin easy to use. Once these shields get expose in the Arduino world, youāll find that you will get more people crossing to the dark side.
@ RJ : hereās the current status of my project for a similar shield : 16 servos, 2 bi-polar steppers and as much as possible IOs, including COM pins.
Iām using the ATMega168 chip used on the Lynxmotion SSC32 board.
For now, I still miss some connections infos and components, but I think I will get those infos.
Here, Iām using the Ext2 connector of the Domino, hence the M05x2 header in the center of the board (on the bottom layer).
Right now, I still donāt know if I will continue with the Allegro chip or if I will use only 1 stepper, though. Space is not what we have the most here
Other question : this kind of shield may be expensive, because of the number of components needed. Other problem could be the external power supply : which voltage ? Steppers and servos donāt necessarily use the same one And a 6V powered stepper might not have enough torque for use :think:
But what about using some Extenders, like those provided by LiquidWare ? You can āstackā horizontally and/or vertically, which would probably resolve your problem ?
Hey Gus jsut thought of this. What about a wearable. Like 2-3 pcbs connected with flat cable and maybe a battery charger circuit included in the design. So you can bag it and sew it to shirts or pockets and what not. Like a led light work pendent powered by bendable wearable fez. So it would be a fez that you can compact down and bendable so it can hang like the cloth does. Crappy picture included black bound boxes the pcb and grey ugly paintbrush stuff is the connecting flat cables.
A modest amount (8+ Meg) of SDRAM for those applications that need more ram but not at a cobra pricepoint.
Panda-style I/O connectivity, but with a carefully thought-out pinout pattern based on the standard 0.1" grid for perfboard compatability (which rules out the native Arduino grid pattern)
An optional passive adapter board to connect to arduino shields.
An Ethernet-capable processor but with the RJ45 connector (and possibly PHY if needed) on a stacking board so the board can be kept at a modest price-point, but being able to be upgraded to ethernet relatively cheaply without resorting to a WIZNet style solution.
I call it the āFEZ Leoāā¦
Leo = Lionā¦
Lion standing for ā(L)arge (IO) and (N)etworkā
When I take a look at the new Netduino plus, my first thougt was. Wow, great board. Ethernet and microSD on one board. For me ethernet would be more useful than USB host.
That was done in 9 moths :o not including the million other component we have too :o :o
And a 6V powered stepper might not have enough torque for use :think:
