Smallest Maximite to date

[bryan1]

G'day Guy's,
Recently an Ozzie guy started up a company for hardware design etc and with bringing out a new module he offered some of the backshed forum members some free samples. I was lucky enough to get one and I'm making up a carrier board to go into a Hammond box for a profession finish.

The website is here http://dimitech.com/ and here's a pic of the module.



Measuring just 25.4x25.4 mm and designed to go into a plcc 68 pin socket the module is purfect for an embedded datalogger.

Kon the owner is also porting his own version of MMBasic to include the RTCC onboard and in the future more features etc.

Regards Bryan

Note: if the mod's could edit this post so the image is shown full size then delete this note it will be appreciated.

 

[misterT]

I don't understand the point. It is a PCB that you need to fit in a "standard PLCC68" socket? The web page says "do it the pro-way" and that it is a "true system on a module".. That is some serious marketing bull**. "It is as easy as fitting a PLCC68 socket on your own design", buying this module and.. then what? ~40 USD!? what?

 

[blobby]

Actually, it makes perfect sense. If you use IC in your design, you don't call that a "serious marketing bull****", do you? Now try not use IC any more, because it's got a lot of stuff in it, that's been put in there by someone else, would you dare?
This is the same, just seen from a different angle. IMHO

 

[misterT]

I did not say that Integrated Circuits are marketing bull.. I said that making a PCB for an IC that works like another standard IC package and costs 40 USD is kind of useless. And to market useless things you need some bull***.

The product looks good and I'm sure the quality is good.. but why? I don't see any future for that product.

 

[Ian Rogers]

I did not say that Integrated Circuits are marketing bull.. I said that making a PCB for an IC that works like another standard IC package and costs 40 USD is kind of useless. And to market useless things you need some bull***.

The product looks good and I'm sure the quality is good.. but why? I don't see any future for that product.

Its no different to the Netduino systems..... They are basically a chip loaded with firmware.... You can buy a tiny module for use with .net with exactly the same capabilities... They are selling well.

 

[blobby]

I don't consider the cost as an issue. To me it sounds perfectly normal compared to what it would be if I was going to repeat the same schematic with my own parts. I am only a little bit confused about the mounting without socket. Obviously it will need some wide hole on the PCB and that could be a problem to someone. But except for that it is all good to me. I have a water pump controller/datalogger to design right now and think this could do the job just great with very little stuff outside. Also for my sumo robot, but that's a secret development

 

[Mr RB]

I think it's cool, and if it is Maximite compatible $40 is ok for something that has colour video out and can run BASIC off the SD card etc.

But I agree the PLCC68 seems a really poor choice! Sales would be mugh higher with a DIL40 PCB size like a Parallax propeller etc, something that could be put into breadboard, stripboard, or a home made PCB with a 40pin DIL socket etc.

 

[bryan1]

Hi guy's,
If anyone looked at the dev board made to suit the module one would see there are 3 plcc sockets on the board, this allows 3 of the modules to be used and thus expanding the use of the Maximite. Also other modules like SPI external ram are being designed and an extended version of MMBasic.

The module can also be soldered SMD by simply drilling a 15mm hole in the pcb so the pic32 can sit thru the pcb. So overall this module is a good candidate for a small embbed solution with also the full function of a stand alone computer albeit a TRS-80 or commodore 64 on steroids running a modified version of GWBasic......

 

[blobby]

Yeah.. The serial RAM costs a bit more, but compared to any static RAM from Digikey, still pretty good. Not available yet though
@bryan1, have you played with it yet? Should I get one?

 

[bryan1]

Hi Blobby,
I would surely recommend you buy one and today I got the DEV board with the 3 plcc sockets on so I'll be having a play with it very soon. At the moment I can't say too much but what I can say is in the near future expect some great products and on the software side even better stuff.

Regards Bryan

 

[bryan1]

G'day Guy's,
The latest Revision has been released and includes the Help System I created a couple of years ago and modified it for the module. The following pic's are from using TeraTerm.



The Main Help Screen



The Commands and Functions



The Editor Help Page ( Not noted is the ability to create files)



Regards Bryan

 

[bryan1]

I think it's cool, and if it is Maximite compatible $40 is ok for something that has colour video out and can run BASIC off the SD card etc.

But I agree the PLCC68 seems a really poor choice! Sales would be mugh higher with a DIL40 PCB size like a Parallax propeller etc, something that could be put into breadboard, stripboard, or a home made PCB with a 40pin DIL socket etc.

Hi Roman,

Well mate for only $2.50 extra now is a WDIP board http://dimitech.com/?wpsc-product=deb2-4105w40-plcc68-to-wdil40
so the module can plug straight into a breadboard. Also touted as soon as microchip release the MZ series there will be a module on sale with the top end chip onboard.

Where I thought my help file system was dead in the water it's now alive again and just think in the near future highlight a command in the file you are working on then hit F1 and the help file will be shown.

I am doing my best to give support to this new product which is really designed for the embedded world and now how many OTHER embedded modules have an active help file system to assist users on developing code.

Regards Bryan

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Thank you for posting this very useful info', Bryan...

Cheerful regards, Mike

 

[bryan1]

Hi Guy's,
Geoff has finally released Version 4.4 of the Maximite firmware so the porting for new additions is going ahead right now. In the following days I will be updating the Helpfile System to accommodate the new features and below is an extract from what Geoff has said about the new version.

This version has a load of new features, most of which have been tested in beta versions released on this forum. The short list includes:
- The LIBRARY command (was called the MODULE command)
- Random File I/O
- Support for Spanish keyboards
- The LENGTH keyword for string arrays
- The WATCHDOG command
- The ON KEY interrupt (command)
- SETTICK supports up to four timers
- Interrupts can now call defined subroutines
- The SPRITE COPY and the SPRITE PASTE commands
- Option for two stop bits on the serial Tx
- PWM output now has a resolution of 0.1% or better
- Bug fixes and improvements in many areas

As one can see MMBasic has grown to a new stage of a small standalone computer and extra features will be done to suit the module.

Things that are touted for release are a GSM/GPRS module and maybe sooner a RF module so these embedded modules can talk with one another in real time with the flexibility of a modified version of GWBasic and an active form of Help intergrated.

Pretty soon DIYer's and Professionals will have a decent platform for embedded systems to take this platform further and further.

Regards Bryan

 

[bryan1]

G'day Guy's,
Well on the thread title an even smaller chip has been brought out by Geoff himself and it's called the uMite or micromite. It is based on a pic32mx chip and now IR,DS18B20, ultrasonic, LCD rotary encoder etc all has inbuilt commands all on a 28 pin dip chip. There is also a tqfp 44 pin version for more I/O too. I was part of the beta testing and have to say this MMBasic is just getting better and better so it would be great if members of this forum got onboard and atleast have a go.

Regards Bryan

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Hi Bryan,

I got an email from Geoff a couple weeks ago announcing the uMite. I can't afford a PCB or kit to build a Maximite so this opportunity to build something with a through-hole part on a breadboard is pretty exciting, even if it's BASIC only (no video, keyboard, SD card, etc.). Still, Geoff's BASIC implementation looks much better than anything I've seen before for an embedded processor.

I'm pretty geeked and I've ordered 32MX150 samples.

Cheerful regards, Mike