Home
JAQForum Ver 24.01
Log In or Join  
Active Topics
Local Time 17:46 23 Nov 2024 Privacy Policy
Jump to

Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.

Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Maximite and the EEVblog.

     Page 3 of 3    
Author Message
VK6MRG

Guru

Joined: 08/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 347
Posted: 05:05am 08 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

  Gizmo said  I think you'll find they would get used anyway. There's going to be a lot of Maxmite Mark 1's out there. If people have a choice of buying a cheap expansion board for their Mark 1, or buying a brand new Mark 2, most of them will go for the cheaper option.
Glenn


If there is a MKII Maximite, I'd buy one anyway! And if it's not pin compatible with the MKI Maximite I can still use the expansion gear that I have. Makes more since this way as Rohan and Don have the MKI Maximite and expansion covered and I'm sure given half a chance Don will bring out 101 MKII expansion products when the MKII is released.

And I’m still pushing for the use of the 100 pic PIC32, is way we can still have the standard features of the MKI and the additional I2C, serial, colour VGA and I think PWM output without affecting the standard 20 I/O's of the MKI. And yes i know that the physical pins from the PIC will have to be different, but that should be no problem.
This will allow the use of Arduino products as well. And yes, I think that the MKII should be the same stile as the MKI and with the extra I/O's an adaptor board to sit on top of the MKII box for the use of expansion via Hamfield, Dontronics and Arduino products.

Just because the MKII will be on the market i think that the MKI will be around for a long time to come!


MatthewEdited by VK6MRG 2011-08-09
Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission!

............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............
 
EEVblog

Newbie

Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 11
Posted: 05:11am 08 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

  Geoffg said  
  EEVblog said  I think you should definitely continue to sell your nice version in a box, it looks great, and will suit many people very well. But I can't help but think that an Arduino format version that suits the shields can tap into a MASSIVE market you can't begin to imagine.

Thanks for the comment Dave. It seems that the discussion has resolved to "the Maximite should have Arduino compatible connectors (and perhaps form factor)" and I agree, it would be great.

So, this should be another consideration for the design of the Maximite Mk II. I am not sure what the associated requirements are (voltages, signal types, etc) for Arduino compatibility but surely they can be worked around. The only other issue is that I would not want to obsolete the expansion boards being currently used. Time for the thinking cap!

Geoff


Not so much a Mk2 version, but I guess just the "bare board" version should be Arduino pinout compatible. The one that the hackers will want to use and embed into products, or just generally play around with because it'll be cheaper than a nice fully enclosed unit.
I think there is still a good market for a well designed unit in a nice case, and poeple will likley pay a premium for that. The Arduino version of course doesn't itself to that at all. So I wouldn't market it as a "Mk2" unit, I'd just say it's an alternative form factor version.

Dave.
 
vasi

Guru

Joined: 23/03/2007
Location: Romania
Posts: 1697
Posted: 10:21am 08 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

Funny is that the hackers have already what to hack. Look here Ken's hack:


http://www.kenseglerdesigns.com/cms/node/6

You can still use the standard Arduino (not Mega) shields. Is a "breadboard" where you can work the Mk2, testing various shield compatibility and adding the required language extensions... I strongly recommend it to Geoff, whatever he may end up with.
Edited by vasi 2011-08-09
Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton
Elvish name: Mablung Miriel
Beyound Arduino Lang
 
vasi

Guru

Joined: 23/03/2007
Location: Romania
Posts: 1697
Posted: 12:42pm 08 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

You can't teach children C language. Well, you can but you get better results teaching them Basic language. I see Maximite also a better variant for an electronics and IT lab computer in a school than the $100 computer (which is harder to manufacture and need also additional tools) for the third world. It not replace it but can go lower (to younger kids) than that.
Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton
Elvish name: Mablung Miriel
Beyound Arduino Lang
 
elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282
Posted: 04:39pm 11 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

I've sat back and watched this discussion with great interest and have to say it's nice to see a few more people agree with the concept of a Maximite in Arduino form. For a while I was feeling like a loner. Don's Arduino shield compatible expansion boards seemed to be the only progress to date but I know there are other concepts in the works so I hold out hope.

It's also nice to see Dave's comments agree with my previous posts that the Maximite's unique feature over Arduino is the the ability to be programmed without an PC connection. Just hook up a keyboard, display and power and you are programming. In fact I set this up at the Detroit MI MakerFaire using one of Don's Maximite boards. It got a great response from the older crowd and in general people found it interesting but they were more interested in the chipKIT and Arduino module I had displayed at the booth. So it was clear to me that an Arduino style Maximite would be interesting to a segment of users that want to use shields and still program in the BASIC they grew up with.

I'm sure we'll see that at some point.
www.elproducts.com
 
Keith @

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 167
Posted: 02:55am 12 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

elproducts

Thanks for the feedback.

It is interesting that there were more people for the chipKIT but I suppose not unexpected given the relative newness of the Maximite.

Could you elaborate if this may have been due to a higher number of people having Arduino experience or usage that were attending the Detroit MI MakerFaire? Or what type of people were most likely to attend this type of event?

Keith
The more we know, the more we know we don't know !
 
elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282
Posted: 08:06pm 13 Aug 2011
Copy link to clipboard 
Print this post

The audience is hobbyists, hackers, professionals of various ages. From kids to adults.
You have to understand that Arduino has sold over 150,000 boards in the last 5 years and that doesn't include all the clones so yes more people are familiar with the Arduino. Many of the electronic gadgets on display where controlled by Arduino or Arduino style modules and shields. It is clearly the trend in hobbyist electronics over here in the USA.


www.elproducts.com
 
     Page 3 of 3    
Print this page


To reply to this topic, you need to log in.

© JAQ Software 2024