Weekly Roundup #10 - New Maker Products // News
The Weekly Roundup for New Maker Products has a pocket oscilloscope, a cheap 3D resin printer, a bunch of CortexM0 boards, a new type of CNC machine and the new UpBoard.
Crowd Funding
KickStarter
We have the UpBoard. It’s live now on Kickstarter! Excellent! The next revision is a departure from the Raspberry Pi form factor and it’s no surprise.
They’ve gone and added in 2 HDMI and one eDP port capable of 4K video, 2 1Gb ethernet, 4x USB 3.0, SATA port, M2 slot, PCIe and RTC.
It runs the Apollo Lake CPU with Intel HD Graphics 500 and contains an Altera Max 10 FPGA. What the heck? This board has everything that you’d want!
They are releasing several versions, one with dual core M3550 CPU up to 4G RAM and 32G eMMC, and the top end with quad core N4200 CPU up to 8G RAM and 128G eMMC.
What makes it really interesting is the inclusion of an FPGA. I think this is the first board to have one. They’re going fast, so get it while it’s hot!
The BluBug - IoT and Wireless Programming Shield
The BluBug is a small KickStarter coming out of India.
It contains an ESP8266, with WiFi, Bluetooth and two L293D motor drivers. It can also be used as an Arduino shield.
MORPHEUS delta; Fine Quality Resin 3D Printer at FDM price.
I’m surprised they didn’t attach “World’s First” to this kickstarter.
The Morpheus delta is a full 3D resin printer. Normal resin printing works by firing a laser into a bucket of resin which hardens. This method works by using Light Induced Planar Solidification, which potentially lowers the cost of the device.
Danyboard M0 | Electronic prototyping platform
Yet another Cortex-M0+ board. The Danyboard contains the Atmel SAMD21, with WiFi, SD, RTC, and LiPo battery management and is fully supported under the Arduino IDE.
Tau: The tiny 32-bit Arduino Zero compatible!
The Tau was on Kickstarter a while ago, but the previous campaign had limited funds to produce more of them. So it’s back on Kickstarter again.
This is yet another Cortex-M0 based board with just the basics.
Pi18650 HAT
Looking for a battery backup for your Pi? This hat takes standard 18650 Lithium-Ion batteries and has all the usual monitoring options accessible over I2C.
Maker Batteries: Build your own lithium-ion battery packs!
If you have a need to create your own battery packs, then this is a good idea. The Maker Batteries concept gives you two different pre-welded battery pack types that you can put together in any format or size you like.
Maslow CNC - a $500 open source 4 by 8 foot CNC Machine
The Maslow CNC is a new take on an old concept. Instead of having a horizontal bed, the Maslow flips it vertically and the router is controlled by two chains driven by motors. Two bricks and gravity does the rest. Capable of working in four by 8 foot area. All for under $500! Nice.
Linbell – The Wireless Doorbell Requires No Battery
The Linbell, well hey, it’s just a doorbell, but the difference is, it’s programmable, and the switch has inbuilt energy harvesting. Which means no batteries! Would be good to see more energy harvesting solutions like this around.
IndieGoGo
Autonomous self infinite energy magnetic motor
I thought I’d throw this one in, because it’s just so outrageous.
You’ve seen it all before; infinite energy from magnetic motors. Good grief and this guy wants only a billion to pull it off. Funnily enough there’s only one perk which will set you back around $2billion which is “If you giveme this womani will give you the company exclusive”. Whatever that is.
CMOS
Another dubious one. These guys want around half a million to create a new Linux distribution which is “faster and safest than any other we have used”.
First of all it’s not brand new.
Secondly it’s all open source guys, come on!
Thirdly, it’s just Linux.
BiBli - An Intelligent Social Robot for Anyone
The BiBli was another one that I originally thought was dubious but it turns out is a 3 year old creation created by a bunch of students, teachers and engineers to create a platform to teach robotics to students. They provide a all the hardware and a Robotics operating systems to get young Makers learning about social robotics.
Crowd Supply
The World’s First Open Source RISC-V-based 32-bit μC
Crowd Supply only has one campaign in pre-release status, which is an Open Source RISC 5 based microcontroller. Hmmm. Not sure what to make of this one as there’s not much information on what it really is achieving.
Maker Shops
Tindie
DAAC-100 Data Acquisition and Control for the RPi
If you’re in to analog acquisition, then this board has 8x 12bit ADCs, 2x 12bit DACs, 2 PWMs, oscillator and extra GPIOs.
Although they say it is to be used with a Raspberry Pi, you can use any microcontroller that has an SPI bus.
Cypress FM24V10 - 1Mbits I2C FRAM breakout
This little breakout contains a FRAM chip, which is a non-volatile RAM that offers faster write, low power and more write-erase cycles than other non-volatile memory.
OLEDiSCOPE an Oscilloscope for your pocket
Now you can have an oscilloscope in your pocket! Great!
This is actually a handy little digital oscilloscope with a small OLED display capable of sampling up to 300KHz. So it’s not the bees knees, but something that is useful nonetheless.
SlushEngine: Model X
The SlushEngine was on Kickstarter a while back and is a souped up stepper motor controller. It allows you to control acceleration and deceleration ramps, current draw and supports up to 4 7A steppers running off 9 to 35 volts.
It handles all the hassle of control of the steppers for you making your coding simpler.
BQ25504 Solar Cell LiPo Charger
This little board is basd off the BQ25504 chip which is a solar Cell LiPo charger. Handy if you want your project to run outside for extended periods.
LoRaWAN RN2483/RN2903 Breakout board (Assembled)
This LoRa breakout module is based on the RN2483 and RN2903 Microchip modules. This is a 3.3v based module, so you’ll need logic level converters if you want to use it in a 5V scenario.
One of my Patrons mentioned to me that there was a batch of LoRa modules that have some firmware issues which made them unusable in certain parts of the world. Essentially, if you’re down under and you’re looking for LoRa modules, I’d hold off on getting them until that’s been fixed.
SMD Soldering kit of GPIO Demo Module
If you want to get into SMD soldering, then this little kit looks good. It provides all the bits required to create a little GPIO expansion board.
Of course doesn’t include soldering iron.
Honorable mentions
KiwiSDR Board
From Seeed there’s a Software Defined Radio allowing you to broadcast shortwave, longwave and AM bands between 10kHz and 30MHz. It’s designed to fit onto a BeagleBone and so is therefore called a cape.
Zero4U - 4 Port USB Hub for Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3
AdaFruit have their Zero4U which is essentially a four port hub for the Pi Zero. Actually it was in stock a few minutes ago, apparently not now.
Adafruit DRV8833 DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board
The DRV8833 breakout allows you to control two DC motors or one stepper. It’s a nice little low voltage motor controller capable of running between 2.7 and 10.8 volts. You won’t be able to drive more than 1A so it’s designed only for low power applications.
SparkFun ESP32 Thing
SparkFun have their ESP32 thing…. Oh wait not they don’t! It’s on back order. If you want to get your hands on one I’d suggest signing up to be notified.
Piper
Then there’s the Piper which is a great new STEM concept that combines a modified version of MIneCraft and a self-assembled kit that allows you to literally explore the world of electronics. A great idea that will get any Minecraft obsessed child into electronics.
CJMCU-110 Optical Flow Sensor Module APM2.52/2.6 ADNS 3080 Flight Controler
If you’re in to extreme UAVs and have trouble with your drone holding a stable position when GPS isn’t available, then you’ll need to get one of these.
It’s essentially a flow sensor similar to your mouse and can provide accurate 3cm movement measurements.
CJMCU-1100 MS1100 MS-1100 VOC Formaldehyde Benzene Concentration Gas Sensor Module
This nice little breakout allows you to detect the existance of any formaldehyde in the air. Useful for detecting volatile gases. Why not make a gas leak detector?
CJMCU-1051 TJA1051 High-speed Low-power CAN Transceiver For Arduino
If you want to start hacking around with your vehicle’s CAN bus, then this breakout will do the trick. Capable of working on any CAN network up to 1Mbit/s.
TF Card Expansion Board Stackable V3.0 SD Card Stable Shield For Arduino
There’s also an SD and TF card expansion slot Arduino shield. It also has two Grove connectors.
DIY 5 DOF 5 Fingers Humanoid Manipulator Arm Right Hand + 5pcs Servos For Smart Robot
This is weird. This robotic hand has 5 servos that control each of the finger digits. A little pricey, but at least all the hardware is there. I think.
CC2650MODA, SimpleLink™ Wireless Microcontroller
DigiKey have their Cortex-M3 based module with all the usual stuff you find on the CC2650.
ARTIK 1020 Modules and Developer Kits
Or if you want something a little more beefy you can step up to an octo-core Samsung Artik module. They are pricey, but you are getting Bluetooth, ZigBee, 16G eMMC, 2G RAM, and all the usual GPIO options all in one small package.
