Inspiring Mini Computer

[David Martin]

Yebbut these are limited edition first models.. And the sale price is to raise oney for the foundation so it is a charity auction.

Looking forward to the first batch of production models.

[TheLurker]

It's all about the IO.

Programming in the sandbox environment of choice on a desktop computer is a solved problem.  It's also largely boring.

Making a *thing* that actually does something in the real world, be it blink an LED, play a tune, command a furby to sneeze or guide a robot through the inter-dimensional portal at the back of the wardrobe in the spare room is far more satisfying.

Worked for me, anyway.

+1
It's also cheap enough that if you manage to fry it then replacing it isn't going to be a problem.   *Thinks* I wish the IO lines on the ZX81 had been buffered....

[aidan.f]

This sort of open source hardware allows you to start experimenting, learning, building and coding easily and cheaply.

I built this over Christmas:Video of it (drunkenly and only just) working here:

Brings back memories  of  my  control engineering  poles, zeros, open loop gain and frequency response  and 1st second  and  third  order loop filters. Seems  like the  loop is  a  bit underdamped, the  control (motor) frequency response is  probably  a  bit  limited. (put  simply I will guess the  ball rolls  faster  than the  motor can operate). How  about  offsetting  the  beam below  the  pivot to make  it  inherently  more  stable? It  would  be  nice to have  a  stable  loop where  you can push  the  beam down  to roll the  ball towards one  end and  watch it  oscillate  back to the  mid  point. Then change  loop gain and damping  with  software  filters and  watch  the  change in performance.

[David Martin]

Dammmm.. Looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight. Guess what just arrived

Fun lies ahead by davidmamartin, on Flickr

[Gruff]

Woohoo!  Toys for grown ups, smashing!   

[David Martin]

My (nearly 15yo) daughter may want to dostuff with it as well..

[Jules]

I've just received a similar parcel from Oomlout 

By way of (bare bones but dirt cheap) comparison I've also got one of these waiting for me to collect at my local RS component depot

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/7122649/

[David Martin]

I'm not sure my tech fu is up to the MSP one yet, but the Arduino is a lot of fun. I have managed to get the example circuits and modifications working, got it to read data from a 1-wire network and am now looking at getting it to control mains power for triggering heating controls.

Learning loads, having fun and haven't quite managed to fry anyting yet (though I did get a DS18S20 rather warm by inappropriate connectivity..)

All good fun. I might be getting a late Christmas present of a datalogging shield or an ethernet one..

[tiermat]

If you have a Pi, and are struggling with the IO issues, maybe the Beaglebone Black would be for you?

Near enough the same price (45p difference) and has a better processor, but less USB ports.