COMPLETED - Arduino Development Boards

[granz]

From Joe's thread on his "Pico 1/2 /Picomite PDB" (https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=396.0):

While browsing eBay, I found the following sales, and thought about you, and this PicoMite PDB. While these boards are specifically for the Arduino, the components, and ideas, would go well for your board.

I just found these on eBay, and ordered them for my experimenting:

• Multifunction Expansion Board DHT11 LM35 For Arduino UNO 9 in 1 Sensor Shield - https://www.ebay.com/itm/204865329325
• Multi-functional Expansion Development Shield Base Learning Arduino - https://www.ebay.com/itm/204866996021

These are kind of cool, but they have the soldered on male pin headers to plug directly into the Arduino. This blocks the Arduino pins which are not used. They are great for learning, but you cannot use them for more than the included components. You should probably think about that if you directly run PCB traces from the PicoMite to the components, leave connectors for the non-dedicated pins. Or, you could do like the Parallax PDBs and leave all the pins uncommitted, and let the user use hookup wire to connect components. The dedicated PCB traces to the components are easier for beginners, while the undedicated hookup wire connections are better for more advanced users.

Well, I have received these boards, and even though they have the male headers soldered in (they should have used pass-through female headers) I saw one of my Arduino Mega-2560 boards which will hold one of these, and still provide many GPIO pins for further experimenting.

In addition, while at Dollar Tree today, I saw this "wall shelf" (https://www.dollartree.com/small-decorative-hanging-wall-shelves-with-rope-2ct-packs/336687.) This looks like a 5" X 6.75" piece of plywood at about 1/2" thick. It looked like a great little board for mounting Arduino-type projects. We could screw the Arduino, a battery box and a breadboard (some breadboards) to it and have some thing kind of compact to play with.

When I got home, I noticed that I had missed that it was a 2-pack. Since it is a 2-pack, each board will be half as thick as I thought. I may have to use glue, rather than the small screws that I was planning on using. This may end up being a pretty cool little experimenting station for Arduino playing, err studying. 

[granz]

How does this look? Nothing is stuck down, yet. The breadboard has double-sided sticky tape on the bottom, it should do fine. The Arduino has screw holes for mounting, or I could use the foam tape there, also. The battery box does not have any mounting screws, but I could drill a couple holes for that, or use the tape here, too.

Unfortunately, the board is so thin, that the screws would have to be tiny, and they may not hold well. So, tape (or glue of some kind) may turn out to be the best option. Another option would be to go back to Dollar Tree, and buy some other board.

What do you guys think?

[Chris Savage]

How does this look? Nothing is stuck down, yet. The breadboard has double-sided sticky tape on the bottom, it should do fine. What do you guys think?

I'm going to have to check it out from home...you're still blocked at work.

You cannot view this attachment.

[granz]

Thanks.

I tried to get with SophosLabs, but they won't help me now  - they want me to schedule a meeting. I'll try again tomorrow (heading to my meeting with Brendan in a few minutes.)

[zappman]

How does this look? Nothing is stuck down, yet. The breadboard has double-sided sticky tape on the bottom, it should do fine. The Arduino has screw holes for mounting, or I could use the foam tape there, also. The battery box does not have any mounting screws, but I could drill a couple holes for that, or use the tape here, too.

Unfortunately, the board is so thin, that the screws would have to be tiny, and they may not hold well. So, tape (or glue of some kind) may turn out to be the best option. Another option would be to go back to Dollar Tree, and buy some other board.

What do you guys think?

Houston We Have A Problem!
In your picture you are showing using an Arduino Mega 2560 "clone" board.
You also show using two AA 1.5 Vdc batteries with in a battery holder, the pair of batteries would have a max voltage of about 3 Vdc.
(Maybe the battery holder in your picture has four batteries (2 pairs stacked on top of each other, would a max voltage of about 6 Vdc.)
If you would use 6 AA Vdc batteries, the max voltage would be about 9 Vdc.

As "The Robot" from "Lost In Space" would say "That does note compute!"

From the Official Arduino Store at https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-mega-2560-rev3

Power

The Mega 2560 can be powered via the USB connection or with an external power supply. The power source is selected automatically.

External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter (wall-wart) or battery. The adapter can be connected by plugging a 2.1mm center-positive plug into the board's power jack. Leads from a battery can be inserted in the GND and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector.

The board can operate on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts. If supplied with less than 7V, however, the 5V pin may supply less than five volts and the board may become unstable. If using more than 12V, the voltage regulator may overheat and damage the board. The recommended range is 7 to 12 volts.

The power pins are as follows:

• Vin. The input voltage to the board when it's using an external power source (as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin.
• 5V. This pin outputs a regulated 5V from the regulator on the board. The board can be supplied with power either from the DC power jack (7 - 12V), the USB connector (5V), or the VIN pin of the board (7-12V). Supplying voltage via the 5V or 3.3V pins bypasses the regulator, and can damage your board. We don't advise it.
• 3V3. A 3.3 volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum current draw is 50 mA.
• GND. Ground pins.
• IOREF. This pin on the board provides the voltage reference with which the microcontroller operates. A properly configured shield can read the IOREF pin voltage and select the appropriate power source or enable voltage translators on the outputs for working with the 5V or 3.3V.

[granz]

Houston We Have A Problem!
In your picture you are showing using an Arduino Mega 2560 "clone" board.
You also show using two AA 1.5 Vdc batteries with in a battery holder, the pair of batteries would have a max voltage of about 3 Vdc.
(Maybe the battery holder in your picture has four batteries (2 pairs stacked on top of each other, would a max voltage of about 6 Vdc.)
If you would use 6 AA Vdc batteries, the max voltage would be about 9 Vdc.

As "The Robot" from "Lost In Space" would say "That does note compute!"

From the Official Arduino Store at https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-mega-2560-rev3

Power

The Mega 2560 can be powered via the USB connection or with an external power supply. The power source is selected automatically.

External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter (wall-wart) or battery. The adapter can be connected by plugging a 2.1mm center-positive plug into the board's power jack. Leads from a battery can be inserted in the GND and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector.

The board can operate on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts. If supplied with less than 7V, however, the 5V pin may supply less than five volts and the board may become unstable. If using more than 12V, the voltage regulator may overheat and damage the board. The recommended range is 7 to 12 volts.

The power pins are as follows:

• Vin. The input voltage to the board when it's using an external power source (as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin.
• 5V. This pin outputs a regulated 5V from the regulator on the board. The board can be supplied with power either from the DC power jack (7 - 12V), the USB connector (5V), or the VIN pin of the board (7-12V). Supplying voltage via the 5V or 3.3V pins bypasses the regulator, and can damage your board. We don't advise it.
• 3V3. A 3.3 volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum current draw is 50 mA.
• GND. Ground pins.
• IOREF. This pin on the board provides the voltage reference with which the microcontroller operates. A properly configured shield can read the IOREF pin voltage and select the appropriate power source or enable voltage translators on the outputs for working with the 5V or 3.3V.

Good point - I just grabbed the battery holder that was in the same box as the Arduino Mega. Although, I am pretty sure that if I were to plug the wires into the 3.3V pin on the Arduino header socket, it would still work.

No worries, though. It would probably be best to get some kind of Arduino-good power source.

I don't know, maybe I should just get a 7.5VDC wall wart, or something, and use the space for a tiny component box with some LEDs, resistors, etc. Another possibility would be to move the Arduino up a bit, and slip a single-cell 18650-based USB power pack (something like https://www.amazon.com/Tmboryuu-Friendly-Charging-Enclosure-Smartphones - caution, month-long delivery time) in between the Arduino and the breadboard. A small USB type B cable from that power pack to the Arduino would power up the system. Then we could place the component box where the battery is in the picture.

I have so much in the way of development gear (Arduino, as well as others) that I am thinking of maybe giving this away when I am done with it. Maybe I'll use these as door prizes at the meetup. I don't really know - I got it to show Joe (and to make sure that I was right) for some ideas for his PicoMite Professional Development Board (see link above.)

[zappman]

Good point - I just grabbed the battery holder that was in the same box as the Arduino Mega. Although, I am pretty sure that if I were to plug the wires into the 3.3V pin on the Arduino header socket, it would still work.

I think you meant to say:
"I am pretty sure that if I were to plug the wires into the 3.3V 5.0V pin on the Arduino header socket, it would still work."
The board uses 5V logic levels/power not 3.3V logic levels (yes, some features / ICs on the board run on 3.3V)

[Chris Savage]

I like to use these on my breadboards.

[JKnightandKARR]

From Joe's thread on his "Pico 1/2 /Picomite PDB" (https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=396.0):

While browsing eBay, I found the following sales, and thought about you, and this PicoMite PDB. While these boards are specifically for the Arduino, the components, and ideas, would go well for your board.

I just found these on eBay, and ordered them for my experimenting:

• Multifunction Expansion Board DHT11 LM35 For Arduino UNO 9 in 1 Sensor Shield - https://www.ebay.com/itm/204865329325
• Multi-functional Expansion Development Shield Base Learning Arduino - https://www.ebay.com/itm/204866996021

These are kind of cool, but they have the soldered on male pin headers to plug directly into the Arduino. This blocks the Arduino pins which are not used. They are great for learning, but you cannot use them for more than the included components. You should probably think about that if you directly run PCB traces from the PicoMite to the components, leave connectors for the non-dedicated pins. Or, you could do like the Parallax PDBs and leave all the pins uncommitted, and let the user use hookup wire to connect components. The dedicated PCB traces to the components are easier for beginners, while the undedicated hookup wire connections are better for more advanced users.

Well, I have received these boards, and even though they have the male headers soldered in (they should have used pass-through female headers) I saw one of my Arduino Mega-2560 boards which will hold one of these, and still provide many GPIO pins for further experimenting.

In addition, while at Dollar Tree today, I saw this "wall shelf" (https://www.dollartree.com/small-decorative-hanging-wall-shelves-with-rope-2ct-packs/336687.) This looks like a 5" X 6.75" piece of plywood at about 1/2" thick. It looked like a great little board for mounting Arduino-type projects. We could screw the Arduino, a battery box and a breadboard (some breadboards) to it and have some thing kind of compact to play with.

When I got home, I noticed that I had missed that it was a 2-pack. Since it is a 2-pack, each board will be half as thick as I thought. I may have to use glue, rather than the small screws that I was planning on using. This may end up being a pretty cool little experimenting station for Arduino playing, err studying. 

Looks pretty interesting.

[granz]

Good point - I just grabbed the battery holder that was in the same box as the Arduino Mega. Although, I am pretty sure that if I were to plug the wires into the 3.3V pin on the Arduino header socket, it would still work.

I think you meant to say:
"I am pretty sure that if I were to plug the wires into the 3.3V 5.0V pin on the Arduino header socket, it would still work."
The board uses 5V logic levels/power not 3.3V logic levels (yes, some features / ICs on the board run on 3.3V)

No, I did say what I meant to say. I may be wrong, but the ATMega 2560 runs at 3.3V, and so I think that it would work.


Any way, it's all academic since I'm not interested enough to try it - I've got too many other things to do. Plus you were right that it should be higher voltage - that is why I have some USB power banks on order to test it out.

[granz]

I like to use these on my breadboards.

Yeah, I ordered a few of those, years ago. I was disappointed in that they required USB-A to USB-A cables. These are the only things that I have which require that type of cable. I have dozens of USB-A to USB-mini, dozens of USB-micro, a couple of USB-C and even a couple Apple Lightning cables. Why would they use a cable that is rare, when there are millions of the -micro laying around gathering dust. Unfortunately, when I look for them, I don't find the ones with a micro, or mini, connector on the board.

As far as the 2.5mm barrel connector, I have a couple of those, but nowhere near as many as my -mini and -micro cables. If the industry is producing gazillions of the -micro cables for phones, and other devices, those should be used.

[granz]

Looks pretty interesting.

Yeah, I thought so, too. I was also hoping that it would give you some ideas to help with your PicoPDB project. I love those types of dev boards/kits.

[Chris Savage]

As far as the 2.5mm barrel connector, I have a couple of those, but nowhere near as many as my -mini and -micro cables. If the industry is producing gazillions of the -micro cables for phones, and other devices, those should be used.

If you click on the link in my original message, you'll see these come with a small cable that plugs into the barrel jack and has a 9V battery snap. That way you're getting good voltage and it still remains portable.

[zappman]

I like to use these on my breadboards.

Yes, those boards are great!
As the picture shows:
Input voltage on the 2.5mm barrel connector: DC 6.5~9v
Output Voltage on Header Pins: 3.3v
Output Voltage on Header Pins: 5v
The Female USB connector on the board is labeled "USB interface to power external device"; so it is an OUTPUT connector.

[JKnightandKARR]

Looks pretty interesting.

Yeah, I thought so, too. I was also hoping that it would give you some ideas to help with your PicoPDB project. I love those types of dev boards/kits.

Maybe, right not got my RP500 project on my mind.