Computer Association of SIUE - Forums

CAOS Supported Groups => Robotics => Topic started by: William Grim on 2010-09-26T11:15:09-05:00 (Sunday)

Title: Netduino Plus, Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega 2560
Post by: William Grim on 2010-09-26T11:15:09-05:00 (Sunday)
I learned yesterday that some new Arduino devices have been created that update the original one quite a lot.  In case you don't know, these 8-bit microcontroller dev boards are good for small-scale robotics or some other physical automation.  I've messed around with them a bit, and they're very hackable, with me writing code for them from FreeBSD using C and assembly.

Now, the new Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega 2560 (http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/25/arduino-uno-and-arduino-mega-2560-get-friendly-new-usb-plugs-ne/) have been released.  The Uno is basically just a lower price point Arduino but with an upgraded USB speed and driver-less operation on Mac and Linux.  The Mega 2560 also has this upgraded USB speed but costs slightly more than the original Arduino and comes with twice the memory.

As for the Netduino Plus (http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/25/netduino-plus-earns-you-ethernet-and-microsd-an-approving-nod-f/), it looks like it's a fully 32-bit ARM7 processor, compatible with Visual Studio.  This thing has USB and Ethernet onboard, and its firmware supports coding via C# / .NET.

All the new *duino devices are pin-compatible with the older Arduino upgrade "shields" (add-on boards with extra functionality).

As an aside, in my personal opinion, since this the Netduino is an embedded system low on memory, I'd still opt for developing without the weight of the VM, just because there isn't a lot of memory.  I don't know how fast the .NET VM would run on here compared to native code, even though I know the VM can be as fast or faster as native code on "big machines" (i.e. desktops, laptops, etc.).  However, I think it could be fantastic for a place like SIUE for making early robotics more accessible to students.

Related links:

You can also find other Arduino-related development topics on that last link I gave you.  They even have a form of IDE available for it, but I never used it, instead opting for a lower-level approach to save memory.
Title: Re: Netduino Plus, Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega 2560
Post by: Jarod Luebbert on 2010-09-26T11:30:13-05:00 (Sunday)
Potential:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BstbG4UrVfQ&feature=player_embedded
Title: Re: Netduino Plus, Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega 2560
Post by: Brent Beer on 2010-09-26T19:44:27-05:00 (Sunday)
I'd actually love small projects like this for caos. Encourage students to build things and learn them. Maybe for some month long type of competition?


Thanks for the posts!
Title: Re: Netduino Plus, Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega 2560
Post by: Robert Kennedy on 2010-09-27T22:02:06-05:00 (Monday)
Quote from: Brent Beer on 2010-09-26T19:44:27-05:00 (Sunday)
I'd actually love small projects like this for caos. Encourage students to build things and learn them. Maybe for some month long type of competition?


Thanks for the posts!


I'm not sure how well it would work out with purely SIUE students, but I was really looking forward to going to this (http://coderetreatstl.eventbrite.com/) last weekend until a last minute family emergency kept me home.  Perhaps a one day coding event/competition might garner enough interest to be worthwhile?