Background: GHI now offers almost 100 gadgeteer modules. The community and other manufactures offers many more modules. The future brings more and more modules as well.
The problem: These modules are made to run with embedded systems, NETMF mostly. But, some projects require some serious horsepower, a PC. An example is a Kinnect controlled robot.
The solution: Your PC is your gadgeteer mainboard, through a USB cable! This also means you can program the gadgeteer moduels from C#, VB, JAVA and anything else your PC is capable of!
How does it work? A āmainboardā is connected through USB to a PC. With some provided DLLs, a user can access the sockets on that mainboard directly, PWM, Analogā¦etc. Some wrappers are added to simplify using the sockets.
Even better: For flexibility and portability, everything will be provided open source, hardware and software. Also, the USB drivers will be available for Windows, Linux, Mac and even android! This means an android tablet can be now a gadgeteer mainboard. Or any Linux/Andoid board with USB Host connector!
Road map: We started on this already and should have something in weeks. We will involve the community in this design as much as possible.
Honestly, it really does remind me of the Phidgets products. This is a seriously important need, and although DAQ boards are nothing new, 99% of users donāt need the horsepower (or complexity) these boxes have to offer.
Iād love to see you guys do something thatās open-source; Iād love to be able to contribute!
