Arduino Project Upgrades With 2 New Boards 113
EqualSlash writes "The Arduino Project is releasing two new boards — Arduino Uno to replace Duemilanove and Arduino Mega 2560 to replace the existing Arduino Mega board. With Uno, the board is not just getting a new pronunciation-friendly name but also has a custom-made USB-serial converter to replace the older FTDI chipset, thereby removing the need to install drivers (they now have their own USB Vendor ID). It now has a logo and stylish packaging, and soon will have its own branded web store. A new Ethernet integrated board and a tinkering toolkit will be made available shortly."
Re:And we care because? (Score:3, Insightful)
There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:4, Insightful)
It doesn't need any funny drivers or anything, it Just Plain Works.
Re:And the people who don't need the hype (Score:1, Insightful)
Yeah, but they wouldn't be too useful without something connected to any pins other than power.
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:4, Insightful)
On Windows you'll need to install a driver in order for USBserial to work. There were no drivers on Windows Update ~6 months ago so you need to install the drivers manually (possibly it's already fixed now). Otherwise the board is useless since it cannot be programmed.
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:5, Insightful)
the only thing that does not 'plain work' is the rts/dtr hack to reset the cpu.
that, and, well, the ftdi cable is $20 and is needed to program the chip. the ftdi chip is not that much but its a PITA to solder to (fine lead pitch) and the usual solutions (sparkfun) have the board at $15, anyway. cut that out of the picture and things are finally cheap enough to be used by 'anyone'.
anyway, RTS/DTR idea is that you toggle one of those lines for a short while to discharge a small value cap across the cpu's reset line. its a neat idea and the cpu does NEED to be reset VERY prior to the first byte in the download. either you press it 'very quickly' or have software do it.
ftdi uses RTS and some other boards use DTR. that's one problem. and the other is that windows or linux (both) have no easy way to twiddle that bit and needed to call other routines to do the reset and then start the download (via what's known as 'avrdude', the downloader).
if they properly architected instead of hacked this, it would be a big step forward.
also, with regard to ethernet; I posted something about this on the ladyada forum and it did get some commentary. the problem with ethernet/ip is that there is no security (none, not even a tiny bit). for a physical device that can turn things on and off in the real world (including ruining/damaging things) you NEED security. I just firmly believe this. no firewall, no hosts.allow, no nothing. not authentication or encryption or MAC access control, just like TRULY nothing. I find that unacceptable in a real-world device.
given the fact that you can buy $50 things (pogoplug, seagate dockstar, even WRT routers) that run a full linux and IP stack, why hack around with dodgy ip-on-a-chip things (the arduino ethernet shield) when you can front-end the controller (arduino) with an embedded linux board that has proper IP features. as long as the linux board can shake 2 bits it can talk i2c. if it has 2 leds or 2 colors, it can shake 2 bits. there, you have all you need really to talk between the 1board linux plastic router thing and the arduino. AND you can run a real apache, php (etc!) there. even mysql ;)
the controller is great for fast polling of i2c devices and even spi and analog. its really really sucky for things like ethernet and IP and apps that sit on them. just not meant for them and its the wrong tool for the job.
(disc: I develop for arduino and have spent over a year on an embedded project using them).
Re:And the people who don't need the hype (Score:3, Insightful)
That's why I prefer simple, smaller carrier boards instead. They got the ISP header and sometimes a place for a crystal+caps or a resonator and a power supply connector at most.
I had a small batch made for the ATtiny85, and my PCBs only adds one row above and below for the carrier board pins (useful for connecting into protoboards), and 2.5 columns more to the width for the ISP header.
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:5, Insightful)
So Ethernet, at layer 2 of the OSI model [wikipedia.org] doesn't offer the security functions of layer 6?
With all those rules regarding collisions, timing, and even the physical wiring, they didn't even throw in the simple requirement for all Ethernet devices to have a powerful processor, memory, persistent storage, keys, and programming to handle security? Or even the ability to update as new encryption becomes standard?
Those lazy bums must have no idea what they're doing!
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:1, Insightful)
On Windows you'll need to install a driver in order for USBserial to work
Well, they can't support every niche OS out there. Anyone with half a brain is going to be doing their microcontroller development in Linux.
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:There's nothing wrong with FTDI... (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone with half a brain is going to be doing their microcontroller development in Linux.
Fortunately I have a WHOLE brain, so I know how to install a (mostly automated) one-time driver on Windows when necessary.