Shields compatibility and interoperability

[Ferb 0]

Hi folks,

 

because of I'm a noob, can someone explain me if is possible or not to use the huge ammount of arduino's shields with the coming stellaris launchpad?

 

Thanks

[OppaErich 25]

Hmmm, because of the weird Arduino pin spacing the shields don't fit mechanically and the voltage does not match ( 5V <-> 3.3V ). But it can be done though, it's just no plug and play.

[wrecker 0]

Hmmm, because of the weird Arduino pin spacing the shields don't fit mechanically and the voltage does not match ( 5V <-> 3.3V ). But it can be done though, it's just no plug and play.

Will a adapter boosterPack work? However I'm not sure how ADC voltages would be made compatible. I find Arduino shields a bit expensive while the msp430 boosterPacks so far are pretty low priced.

[Ferb 0]

Thank you very much, Oppa; Mechanicall compatibility would not be a disaster while voltage could take just a little effort more, I guess. Bu the way your answer solved my question because I'm e newbie and this means my brain works fine!

 

@wrecker thanks. But, can you supply me a list or a place to take a lock for booster packs?

 

[wrecker 0]

@wrecker thanks. But, can you supply me a list or a place to take a lock for booster packs?

 

Sure:

TI BoosterPack listing

List of community BoosterPacks from 43oh - There are almost 80! and you can buy most of them at the 43oh store.

[OppaErich 25]

Mechanicall compatibility would not be a disaster while voltage could take just a little effort more, I guess.

You have to look at every single Shield and look up the datasheets of the active parts, a lot of 5V devices run happily at 3V3 too. Voltage conversion could be just 2 resistors, even level converters are cheap these days. So the answer is "Depends...".

 

There's a chain of people trying to make a buck of Arduino Shields, Booster Packs are made by community members happy if they get their cost covered or by TI for promotional reasons. That makes the big difference in price.

[igor 163]

Although the Stellaris Launchpad is not directly compatible there are other

ARM based development boards that aim at some level or arduino shield compatibility.

 

e.g.

Leaf Labs Maple

Freescale Freedom Development board

Simplecortex http://www.brc-electronics.nl/

 

[Edit: added simplecortex]

[Ferb 0]

Thank but...I found yesterday one shield for arduino, capable of memory expansion.

 

Tech notes wrotes about 'library'.

Bcause of I'm a newbie, I guess that, if you like to use it, you have to write brand new library to be used with C and CCS instead of 'Arduino IDE'.

Am I wrong?

[abecedarian 330]

From what I've heard, you should make sure the I/O voltages, signalling and such are compatible- may need some hardware for this.

[igor 163]

Ferb - Can you provide link to the shield? Might be easier to answer if could see details.

 

Would almost certainly involve some programming to access.

 

--

Addition:

Just looking around a bit I found this

http://hackaday.com/...n-arduino-mega/

about somebody building an Arduino memory expansion.

 

The memory part they used looks to be 5 volt, so adapting might be needed.

 

But there are 3 volt capable SRAM modules.

Even found one available in a DIP package

AS6C4008

(512K x 8 SRAM)

 

I think if one added a couple of latches

(e.g. SN74AHC373NE4 )

Plus the usual capacitors

Then work out the timing for a driver.

One might come up with a memory add-on for the Stellaris LP.

Would take about 1316 I/O pins.

 

(Caveat - I am more of a software sort, just dabble in hardware, may have overlooked something. I mention the DIP chips because easier to connect, but plenty of other options for

those with more soldering skill.)

[Ferb 0]

Thank you, Igor.

This is the shield that I was talking about.

 

http://shieldlist.org/swfltek/fram

 

Becasue off, I repeat, I'm a newbie and I'm approacing this world, little by little, I'm not sure about what I see around MCU's world, so' I have to learn from you :-)

 

This shield is multi voltage capable. :-)

[igor 163]

On the swfitek FRAM board:

From the schematic it looks like they brought out the 3.3v. interface to a header so voltage shouldn't be a problem.

 

Would require writing a library for it (I2C).

 

What application are you aiming at that need the particular merits of FRAM?

 

I think FRAM is generally more expensive than either regular RAM (SRAM, DRAM) or flash.

Of course it has advantage over flash in lower power, higher speed, more write cycles, less hastle to manage.

Advantage over regular RAM in being non-volitile.