Microsoft gadgeteer kit

[siempre.aprendiendo]

I suffered MS a lot working 6 years with the awful MFC (yes, Win32 were/is even more awful) but, may be, they are redeeming themselves with Kinect and ...

gadgeteer


72MHz 32-bit ARM7 processor
4.5 MB Flash
16 MB RAM
(full specs below)

14 .NET Gadgeteer compatible sockets
Configurable on-board LED
Configuration switches.
Based on GHI Electronics EMX module
72MHz 32-bit ARM7 processor
4.5 MB Flash
16 MB RAM
LCD controller
Full TCP/IP Stack with SSL, HTTP, TCP, UDP, DHCP
Ethernet, WiFi driver and PPP ( GPRS/ 3G modems) and DPWS
USB host
USB Device with specialized libraries to emulate devices like thumb-drive, virtual COM (CDC), mouse, keyboard
76 GPIO Pin
2 SPI (8/16bit)
I2C
4 UART
2 CAN Channels
7 10-bit Analog Inputs
10-bit Analog Output (capable of WAV audio playback)
4-bit SD/MMC Memory card interface
6 PWM
OneWire interface (available on any IO)
Built-in Real Time Clock (RTC) with the suitable crystal
Processor register access
OutputCompare for generating waveforms with high accuracy
RLP allowing users to load native code (C/Assembly) for real-time requirements
Extended double-precision math class
FAT File System
Cryptography (AES and XTEA)
Low power and hibernate support
In-field update (from SD, network or other)
Dimensions: W 2.25" x L 2.05" x H 0.5"

Power

Supply voltages are regulated 3.3Volt and 5.0Volt DC.
Low power and hibernate modes
Active power consumption 160 mA
Idle power consumption 120 mA
Hibernate power consumption 40 mA

[i-Bot]

Sadly the .NET micro framework is not real time and a disappointing subset of the full .NET found on bigger iron.

Linux based solutions still seem to have the cost and performance lead.

While Kinect is cool, I wonder if .NET micro will get lost in the same way as Robotics Studio did.

[siempre.aprendiendo]

I think it will be strange if in a near future there are no other options to program it

[i-Bot]

Sorry, I thought it was the MS framework you were looking at not the GHI instantiation.
The GHI version does have some good .net drivers, but is part open source and part closed source.
If you just want LPC2000 hardware their are other options.

eLua is a alternative good free open environment for embedded devices.

[siempre.aprendiendo]

It seems that one of the "other options" is almost here

GHI is offering [offered] a $500 coupon to the first user who shows Linux running on FEZ Hydra

And the winner is...

phpBB [media]

Here the forum thread.