Lpc2000

Well,

worth mentioning is the fairly new "Education board" from Embedded Artists.
http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/education/index.php

An LPC2148 forms the heart of the system with some nice on-board 
peripherals like SD and USB - but that's what most other also have - and 
an 8x8 LED matrix controlled via SPI, a small motor (with PWM controlled 
driver circuit), a 3 pin header for a standard servo motor as used in RC 
controlled systems and a 2x16 LCD.
A nice board for those who like to get some ARM7/LPC21xx hands on but do 
not like to solder anything themselves.
With the expansion boards that will come out you could even go ahead 
with Ethernet, Bluetooth, Zigbee, a graphical LCD and even a GPS and GSM 
board are announced.
I've got one of these boards but did not yet have the time to play with 
it too much (work is a nice thing, just a shame it takes up so much of 
my free time ...) but it 'feels' great.

If, then there are only two small demerits: there is just one normal 
push button switch (the other switch is a joystick) and the color of the 
board is dull-green instead of the flaming red of the other boards :o)

There must be more of these boards with lots of devices to play with 
from other vendors. I noticed that Olimex now also uses the flaming red 
color for some of their PCBs and their LPC-MT-2138 is great for creating 
small user interface centric devices without having to do any soldering.
Maybe they will also follow, there must be a market for these (fairly 
cheap) boards that can be used for embedded programming courses.

Rob

--- In lpc2000@yahoogroups.com, Rob Jansen <rob@m...> wrote:

> worth mentioning is the fairly new "Education board" from Embedded
Artists.
> http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/education/index.php

They are a very interesting company, but I have 2 concerns:

1) how many of the demos require the closed source libs or RTOS in
order to function?

2) I guess there is no USB demo program?

Eric Engler wrote:
> They are a very interesting company, but I have 2 concerns:
>
> 1) how many of the demos require the closed source libs or RTOS in
> order to function?
>
> 2) I guess there is no USB demo program?
>   
The sample code mentioned is all without use of the RTOS (except for the 
RTOS examples delivered).
The code that came with the lpc2103 christmas tree uses the RTOS but the 
samples delivered with the lpc2106/38/48 boards do not.

The education board contains a test program in Flash that uses USB 
(mouse emulation using the joystick), such a test program was also 
delivered with the lpc2148 quickstart module but there is no source code 
for this program delivered with the board.

1) Indeed, would be great if they had used some sourced OS like OpenRTOS 
or Micro OS-II instead.

2) Not (yet), maybe they could open the source of their USB.
   Of course, this may not be possible if they use some commercial solution.

I've also got a few questions left for them:

The example code is delivered with some libraries and a build environment.
There are (C) statements in the examples and build environment files 
(make file, link files and startup/environment code).
These files must be bound to some license so there are limitations on 
distribution of these files as part of your own program.


1) I guess it is not allowed to distribute these files with Gnu GPL 
software (cause that would void the Embedded Artists license)
2) Is it allowed to use these files with your own commercial product?
3) Is it allowed to use these files with your own non-commercial product 
that is distributed as source code?

I know that Embedded Artists follows this yahoo group, maybe they could 
reply to the list.

Rob

Since there were some questions regarding licenses for our products, 
I'm taking the liberty to answer.

--- In lpc2000@yahoogroups.com, Rob Jansen <rob@m...> wrote:
>
> Eric Engler wrote:
> > They are a very interesting company, but I have 2 concerns:
> >
> > 1) how many of the demos require the closed source libs or RTOS 
in
> > order to function?
> >
> > 2) I guess there is no USB demo program?
> >   
> The sample code mentioned is all without use of the RTOS (except 
for the 
> RTOS examples delivered).
> The code that came with the lpc2103 christmas tree uses the RTOS 
but the 
> samples delivered with the lpc2106/38/48 boards do not.
> 
> The education board contains a test program in Flash that uses USB 
> (mouse emulation using the joystick), such a test program was also 
> delivered with the lpc2148 quickstart module but there is no 
source code 
> for this program delivered with the board.
> 
> 1) Indeed, would be great if they had used some sourced OS like 
OpenRTOS 
> or Micro OS-II instead.
> 

Rob, you're absolutely correct in your description. The sample 
applications are written to illustrate how different features in the 
LPC2xxx chips can be activated and used. No RTOS is needed for these 
sample applications.
Then we also provide a library of our own RTOS that can be freely 
used on our QuickStart/Education Boards, just as a little added 
bonus. For commercial applications we sell a license for this RTOS 
(including the source code).
For hobbyists this is of course not interesting, but it is possible 
to port the FreeRTOS and/or uCos-II with little effort to our boards.

> 2) Not (yet), maybe they could open the source of their USB.
>    Of course, this may not be possible if they use some commercial 
solution.
> 

Unfortunately we cannot make the source code public right now. We 
have to write our own driver for this, which is on the `to-do' list 
but not yet on top of the list. Some form of sample driver will be 
available during the spring. It will be samples code to get you up-
and-running, but not a complete USB stack.

> I've also got a few questions left for them:
> 
> The example code is delivered with some libraries and a build 
environment.
> There are (C) statements in the examples and build environment 
files 
> (make file, link files and startup/environment code).
> These files must be bound to some license so there are limitations 
on 
> distribution of these files as part of your own program.
> 
> 
> 1) I guess it is not allowed to distribute these files with Gnu 
GPL 
> software (cause that would void the Embedded Artists license)
> 2) Is it allowed to use these files with your own commercial 
product?
> 3) Is it allowed to use these files with your own non-commercial 
product 
> that is distributed as source code?
> 

You are correct. I realize that we could be somewhat clearer on this 
issue. We will update our documentation with this information in 
coming revisions. 
The answer is: yes to question 2) and 3) but please remember that 
these files have been produced as an added value for our customers 
when using our boards. Please keep the copyright notice in the 
headers.
The answer right now to question 1) is: no, since we do not provide 
a proper license text with our framework. We will have an internal 
discussion and see how we can make life simpler for our customers. 
Maybe we can release the files with a more suitable license model.

> I know that Embedded Artists follows this yahoo group, maybe they 
could 
> reply to the list.
> 
> Rob
>

That is certainly true. This is an excellent group with many 
relevant discussions, and some fun every now and then...

This coming week we will add more detailed information about the new 
expansion boards 
(http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/education/index.php).

And, Rob, the boards are "cool-back" instead of "dull-green" :-)


Regards,
Anders Rosvall
Embedded Artists

> kristianstad2001:

> This coming week we will add more detailed
> information about the new expansion boards
> (http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/education/index.php).

your site mentions a GPS-board as one of the planed expansions.  i'm
prototyping a heliostat and could make use of it.  would it give my
application precise time and geo-coordinates?  what's the time-line on
it?

  clemens

--- In lpc2000@yahoogroups.com, clemens fischer <ino-qc@...> wrote:
>
> > kristianstad2001:
> 
> > This coming week we will add more detailed
> > information about the new expansion boards
> > (http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/education/index.php).
> 
> your site mentions a GPS-board as one of the planed expansions.  
i'm
> prototyping a heliostat and could make use of it.  would it give my
> application precise time and geo-coordinates?  what's the time-
line on
> it?
> 
>   clemens
>

Hi Clemens,
The GPS expansion board will be based on Tyco A1035-C, which is a 
new module from Tyco with integrated antenna. Very nice indeed.
We expect to have this board ready by mid May (there is a delivery 
time for the modules right now).
If you are in a hurry you can maybe contact a Tyco distributor 
directly.

Best Regards,
Anders Rosvall
Embedded Artists AB