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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PCBs from Silicon Chip
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elproducts Senior Member  Joined: 19/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 282 |
I tried to do a comparison of Olimex choices assuming the user wants Maximite plus Arduino configurations: 1) Duinomite plus Duinomite I/O Board = $42.80 AUD 2) Duinomite Mini plus Shield board = $42.80 AUD (+ add 26 pin cable) 3) Dunomite Mega = $48.92 AUD Roughly the same price. #1 seems like the best value though not a major advantage. Mega has the most features of any version so it lives up to the name. 
There is still a thrill to building your own Maximite so a Geoff mini-Maximite or Maximite kit or even a UBW32 is still worth playing with in my opinion. Sometimes its more than just saving a few dollars. Even Arduino has a mini in the Arduino Nano. And it's not a saving either. What is interesting is Arduino was an open source project that depended on third party sales. There were lots of home brew designs early on as well. Now with all the success of Arduino, the original team website Arduino.cc has it's own store front. Open Source almost always ends up commercialized. Arduino had some I/O compatibility issues as well when projects written for the UNO/Duemilanove didn't always run the same on an Arduino Mega due to pinout differences. They've tried to correct it with new designs being released soon. We seem to be going through the same growing pains. www.elproducts.com |
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| Keith W. Senior Member Joined: 09/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 118 |
Rohan, in my suggesting a Hamfield motherboard for the miniMaximite I am not thinking that it result in a standard Maximite but that it also contain things that a bare Maximite lacks. With RS232 drivers, a larger regulated supply and RTC for example for power users. You have already addressed some of these requirements in your boards. It need not be too large; the area beneath the miniMaximite can be utilized. The difficult question is what to add? I do think that staying with a standard miniMaximite card profile is worthwhile. Geoff will hopefully continue to develop around this. A suggestion of 100 units as a high quantity does not come close. Trying to think of an example I have remembered the latest (no longer) Sandy Bridge PC motherboard recently purchased. It is much larger than a Maximite but with many times the component count. It has on board high definition colored video including DVI output, programmed 2 * 32 megabyte flash memory for bios, RTC and battery, RS232, Network, USB3 and other drivers and power regulators and high value capacitors, many connectors and Hi Def Audio. It came in a strong custom colored box with a disk and printed documentation and a warranty. It is already out of date; Gigabyte can expect its design to be current for only months to recover development costs. It would be incorrect to suggest that it contained just 4 times the electronics of a Maximite even without its main processor or memory. But it cost $90 and is now cheaper. Using this 4 times multiple a completed tested commercial Maximite would cost $23, I suggest less. I wonder how many thousands of each model motherboard Gigabyte must sell to survive and what do they pay for components? This is dreaming but it demonstrates the power of quantity, also competition. VK6MRG, those are interesting prices. Keith W. |
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VK6MRG Guru  Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 347 |
Final price for enough bits for 10 MiniMaximites is $70.20 I just hope i've ordered the correct parts.  Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission! ............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............ |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Ok, I am at work now... found my PIC32 Stamp design.. Note it is just a start... It needs a lot more rehashing... no caps no XTAL but is the size I was looking for... 2mm smaller each way than the futurelec one (36mmx36mm) and has SPI and would have had XTAL and CAPs that every PIC32 needs.. Pins are 4 banks of 8x2 every one on .1" grid to suit proto boards.. I like the idea of the 45degree notch to identify pin 1 on the futurelec one. 
Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| VK6MRG Guru Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 347 |
Mick, How easy/hard would it be to add the Vss/AVss (grond) connections, Vdd, Acap, AVdd and associated capacitors and the crystal to your PCB design? If using SMD components on both sides of the PCB, there should be just enough room to fit it all in. And taking into account that not all the PIC32 pins need to be taken to the header pins on the sides of the PCB if the above can be achieved. Even if the larger size was required to be able to accommodate the ground and 3.3 volt rails, a 40mm x 40mm PCB is not something to be worried about. As there are some of us designing a building I/O PCB's to suit our own projects, adding a set of headers to accommodate the Maximite Stamp is not that hard (in my case anyway). Now that I can buy the Maximite enclosure from Altronics, I can redesign my project with the provision for the Maximite Stamp and all associated I/O circuitry knowing that I'll have heaps of room. My original I/O PCB was designed to plug on top of the Maximite EV, so with a bit of time and effort spreading the circuit over a larger area, I'd still have plenty of room. Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission! ............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............ |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Hi VK, The tracking was just a proof of concept.. to determine if the size was big enough to fit the chip..... I am sure that the CAPs and XTAL would fit if mounted on the underside of the PCB... GND and Power rails need to be wider where possible of course... As I work in the racing industry, and the Melbourne Cup carnival is on starting Tomorrow I have no time to spend on the design at this stage but if you have some suggestions I would consider re-visiting it in a couple of weeks.. If size was increased to 41mm square (an even .2" for pin spacing) I am fairly certain I could route the tracks and have all/most components on top layer with GND shielding on bottom layer. I would be happy to throw the artwork (done in Protel 99se) into the public domain if there was demand for it. Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| elproducts Senior Member Joined: 19/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 282 |
Mick, Were you thinking of something like this board from AtriaTechnologies.com for your design? They call it the Basic On Board. Its based on a Freescale coldfire chip and has the StickOS, which is a Basic Interpreter similar to MMBasic, developed by Rich Testardi. StickOS also has a version for PIC32 running on UBW32 and chipKIT as well. Atria also has several small add on boards but I think you have to wire things together. They don't stack on each other like Arduino. You can't easily breadboard them either. When you have these double row headers you are limited. I like the in-line headers like the UBW32 and mini Maximite because you can plug it into a breadboard. 
www.elproducts.com |
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| Keith W. Senior Member Joined: 09/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 118 |
Similar to the format of this board as used in some of my projects. Keith W. 
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Hi El, Similar... My idea was that you `could' fit pins and plug it into a proto/vero board as all pins are on .1" grid... No power supplies or USB or other real world connections on board. You could also just solder wires to the pins you needed and supply the relevant power and connect the lines to where you wanted for the task at hand.. For example... If you wanted to modify a certain Game console, the whole box and dice will only be 3-4mm high and could slip inside a case with minimal fuss. It would also be a `standard' for `engine changes' if a better CPU came out a new PCB could be designed and the CPU plugged in.. As I said... it was an idea I was toying with when I designed Dons DonDuino Patch and DonDuino Cross PCBs for him. Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
It also has the advantage that if you blow your engine, you just buy a new engine and replace it. Quicker than a Formula One engine change too, and a lot cheaper. 
Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
What about this one? 
http://www.eflightworks.net/PIC32_DIP.htm Vasi ____________ Here, the signals and how to connect a SD-Card breadboard in order to use retroBSD. Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| rhamer Senior Member Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
I saw some guys remove a VW engine in 2.5 minutes on the TV the other day. Apparently the record for a complete VW engine swap is 1.5 minutes, held by a team of Germans. I don't think I could swap a Pic32 in that time
Cheers Rohan Rohan Hamer HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions Makers of the Maximite Expander. http://www.hamfield.com.au |
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| rhamer Senior Member Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
I like that........ That is the vision I had for a small embedded version. Cheers Rohan Rohan Hamer HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions Makers of the Maximite Expander. http://www.hamfield.com.au |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Available for purchase, $35 + shipping! for a 440 micro. I wonder what the 695-795 price will be. Again, just a reminder the DM mini will be under that price, of course it all depends on what your requirements are for your end application. I can see a lot of interest generated in PIC32s right now. It can be used in so many different ways. At $7 to $8 a chip, what an engine. And for Rohan, I fitted an FJ Holden 6 cylinder engine in a VW Kombi Van for my Electrical contracting business in a previous life. (circa 1964-ish) Took about a week and a half. Does that count? Dr Porsche was a genius. Well ahead of his time. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
I love that PCB but the Price makes me shudder (esp as it is a 440 CPU when I see what Don and Tsvetan are offering with the 795 CPU.... I think the days of making massive profits from PCBs are gone (silicon Chip excepted .... it appears). If that board was about $20 US I would think it was a killer... Regards, Mick PS. Don that PCB has the round `samtec' pins I was telling you about a while ago.. Mik Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
I saw an F1 engine removed from a car in about .25seconds once..... putting it back in would have been a bugger though. 
Mik Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Well, I pointed to the design... the same as UBW32. Mikroe have one even smaller but the PIC is also smaller - I wonder if they can replace it with something powerful. http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/711/mini-32-board/ 
Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
I saw an F1 engine removing himself in less than one second! 
Vasi Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Maybe this PCB is a good start for anyone.... http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/466/lv-32mx-v6-mcu-c ards-empty-pcb/ Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Hi Vasi, Thats what I said... .25seconds 1/4 second.... from big crash... Cheers Mate Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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