On 14/05/2011 20:10, Mike Hord wrote:
> Arduino is to microcontroller as breadboard is to circuit board. I hear a
> lot of elitist babble about why it is for idiots or losers who can't do
> "real" electronics. That sort of talk isn't doing anybody any favors- it'=
s
> just juvenile.
>

Actually my original post was a little harsh. I see it's the PIC32=20
(MIPS?) that makes more sense than PIC18F etc as the Jal version of=20
Arduino is.

The problem here is Schools. They just aren't doing "hands ons" stuff at=20
all, so hardly any people doing electronics. Also Web2.0 time wasting=20
and re-inventing wheels in Linux I think sucks in people who in years=20
gone by would have had Electronics as a hobby and then maybe later as=20
career.

It's the microwave meal "ready meal" syndrome. I did the HW for this in=20
just over a day. The idea of Ardunio isn't that bad, but the original=20
"base" CPU was poor choice, choice of on board HW poor and mechanical=20
layout concept is poor. The "Shield connector" should have duplicate=20
holes in two rows at PCB edge to allow Right angle slave PCB or layer=20
above or below, or boards above and below or slave board at right angles=20
+ 2nd board in plane or board plugging into a "motherboard" chassis.

Maybe I should make my idea with choice of PIC67Jxx, Cortex Mx, ADI=20
Blackfin and FPGA...
All surface mount with options for serial, usb, ethernet, SDHC slot and=20
separate edge connectors for SPI, I2S, I2C, TTL Serial (inc PS/2  i/o).
Audio I/O options
Option boards with LCD, OLED, (basic and touch) VFD, LED that can be=20
fitted planar above/below or right angles.
High speed ADC with programmable attenuators and anti-alias filters and DAC




--=20
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