Author Topic: homemade axon "compatable" board UPDATE preliminary PCB design (Read 9715 times)

SmAsH · « **Reply #60 on:** July 02, 2009, 02:42:32 PM »

i think it is possible but they have to mark it out big time

sonictj · « **Reply #61 on:** July 02, 2009, 02:58:48 PM »

Quote

i think it is possible but they have to mark it out big time Tongue

I'm confused

do you mean mark it up? And who's they? Are you saying that there is a surcharge associated with a non lead free product imported to Australia?

SmAsH · « **Reply #62 on:** July 03, 2009, 01:34:41 AM »

no, i meant they have to state it in big black letters all across the packaging...

Webbot · « **Reply #63 on:** July 03, 2009, 04:33:49 PM »

Quote from: sonictj on July 01, 2009, 09:02:43 PM

I sent my PCB design to Advanced Circuits today. I guess in a week I'll be able to see how the design came out.
Features
* 2.3"wide by 3" long
* access to ALL 86 i/o
*axon compatible
*.1" protoboard spacing on all i/o for simple shields
* USB boot loader support via a micro usb connector (arduino mega)
* 3amps of 5V and ~3amps unregulated
*basically all features of the atmega640/1280/2560 family.

Hi sonictj,

So is this just an ATMega640 smd chip with a header pin for each chip-pin?

ie a kinda ATMega640 breakout board - so "axon compatible" means it uses the same chip as the Axon

Or does it add any augmentation like AxonII has an LED display.

If I buy an ATMega640 chip then what will I be missing that your board provides?

Just trying to understand

sonictj · « **Reply #64 on:** July 03, 2009, 04:56:06 PM »

its pretty much a header board with usb and bootloader support. The best explanation is its an smaller version of the arduino mega with access to all i/o and the female headers are all .1" spaced so homemade protoboard shields are an option. All the usb Arduino brand boards have one header that is offset so that a custom PCB shield is required. The latest board pdf is attached. There are ground planes on the bottom and top sides, but I chose not to make them visible so you could see what else was going on. I can also give a schematic, I just don't know how to pdf it without chopping it in half. I'll look into it and get back to ya.

Quote

ie a kinda ATMega640 breakout board - so "axon compatible" means it uses the same chip as the Axon

There is no reason you couldn't use the axon code with any board based on a 640,1280, or 2560. So yes.

sonictj · « **Reply #65 on:** July 03, 2009, 05:13:14 PM »

The only major difference between my board and the axon is # of i/o and the power bus. My board is intended to allow a unique shield for any given robot I build. I personally don't use many servos so for me an axon doesn't fit. I prefer all my power buses to be +5V rather than BAT+ because most everything I use, digital sensors included, is 5V logic (sonars dc motor drivers, stepper motor drivers, analog sensors etc.). Taking away the power bus and allowing for a custom shield allows the board to be more versatile towards specific applications.

By no means am I saying don't buy an Axon, because it is a great board, with equally great support!!!

sonictj · « **Reply #66 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:54:54 PM »

@ Webbot

Quote

Just trying to understand Huh

do you understand now?

Webbot · « **Reply #67 on:** July 05, 2009, 08:02:05 PM »

Quote from: sonictj on July 05, 2009, 07:54:54 PM

@ Webbot
Quote
Just trying to understand Huh

do you understand now?

Got there in the end! Fast internet - slow brain.

I kinda agree with you - most things in life are +5v - sensors/motor controllers/I2C/SPI etc etc. Only direct driven servos are different and even then the supply depends on the servo.

Of course since you are ATMega640 then you could use my C library - plug plug - and benefit from working interfaces to lots of stuff! Sensors, motor controller boards etc.

sonictj · « **Reply #68 on:** July 05, 2009, 08:16:20 PM »

Quote

Of course since you are ATMega640 then you could use my C library - plug plug - and benefit from working interfaces to lots of stuff! Sensors, motor controller boards etc.

sure by any chance do you have any experience with bootloaders? I'm trying to modify a bootloader to allow the ATmega640 to function as an arduino mega. The code interfacing afterward is fine, its just making that bootloader work is whats bothering me.

Here is my post on the matter http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=8448.0

sonictj · « **Reply #69 on:** July 06, 2009, 10:02:10 PM »

As I said in other post I modified ADABoot ,an arduino bootloader created by ladyada of Adafruit.com, to support the ATmega640 mcu. I also created a modified version of the arduino mega software to support all i/o of the 640/1280/2560 family of microcontrollers.

Admin · « **Reply #70 on:** July 07, 2009, 04:47:31 AM »

Quote from: sonictj on July 06, 2009, 10:02:10 PM

As I said in other post I modified ADABoot ,an arduino bootloader created by ladyada of Adafruit.com, to support the ATmega640 mcu. I also created a modified version of the arduino mega software to support all i/o of the 640/1280/2560 family of microcontrollers.

Which UART port? (hoping its 1)

sonictj · « **Reply #71 on:** July 07, 2009, 07:27:54 AM »

its uart 0 but don't worry admin I can modify it for uart1 its a simple change

.

sonictj · « **Reply #72 on:** July 07, 2009, 04:36:55 PM »

I just built a version of the bootloader file that can support either uart1 or uart0 all you have to do is go into the ATmegaBOOT.c file and either leave uart1 defined or comment it out. then compile. I have attached the files. both hex files are available along with the code. To use the bootloaders you will need a reset button (connected to atmega640 reset, and ground) or a method or auto reseting. The arduino method is to tie the dtr line of the ftdi chip to a .1uf cap, then attach the other lead of the cap to the atmega's reset line. This will trigger a reset in software. If you use a button simply press it immediately after pressing upload in the arduino environment. Speaking of which I will post my modified version of that soon. I currently built in defines for all of the pins to where instead of calling a pin# in the pinMode, the digitalWrite, and other functions you can call the pin name.

example:
//G0 represents PG0 or digital pin 41
//to turn on the pin simply use
pinMode(G0,OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(G0,HIGH);
end example:

I did this because my board will have these labels not the arduino pin #s. I also feel this makes the transition to programming in AVR Studio easier, which is one of the premises of my design.

Tesla · « **Reply #73 on:** July 15, 2009, 11:32:25 PM »

Any pics of your prototype?

sonictj · « **Reply #74 on:** July 15, 2009, 11:57:06 PM »

Quote

Any pics of your prototype?

Here they are sorry for the confusion
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=8534.0

SmAsH · « **Reply #75 on:** July 15, 2009, 11:57:16 PM »

Quote from: Tesla on July 15, 2009, 11:32:25 PM

Any pics of your prototype?

if you mean the pcb he ordered, its here: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=8534.0

sonictj · « **Reply #76 on:** July 15, 2009, 11:58:37 PM »

I also have videos of robots using the board

http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=8544.0

gaurav.p · « **Reply #77 on:** July 17, 2009, 04:10:38 AM »

awesome mahn way to go

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