Update on February 6, 2024: We have received the printed circuit boards and they are shown in the set of photos below. We are currently building a kit or two, taking some photographs, and expect to have these for sale on Friday, February 9th with a starting quantity of 100 units.
We are planning the release of a sub-$10 prototype board for the FLiP Multicore Module (Propeller 1 – P8X32AQ44).
Customer feedback provided the direction for this design, and the story is an important part of how we arrived here. Last summer we announced End of Life (EOL) for the Propeller Project Board USB. The power supply on the Propeller Project Board USB was obsolete, and it was expensive to manufacture with the built-in Propeller 1 microcontroller circuitry, USB ports, and power supply — especially for a solder-ready project board where students need to consume them over and over (and at a low cost).
Many educational customers were actively using the Propeller Project Board USB with BlocklyProp, C, and Spin. Two of these customers, Mike Harrison of Great Bay Community College and Kenichi Kato of Singapore Institute of Technology, showed us how they were using the Propeller Project Board USB and provided direction for this new design. You can see their feedback in a recent Propeller Live Forum. If you are interested, the first 45 minutes of the YouTube video above shows the design process.
Their uses of the Propeller Project Board USB were extensive, as shown by this example below. We would need to support servos, motors, relays, video, cameras — and a socket for the FLiP Multicore Microcontroller. The socketed FLiP module would allow the module to be moved between FLiP Prototype Boards without the customer having to dedicate it to a single PCB.
And the educators wanted it for ten bucks. We agreed, provided they buy lots of FLiP Multicore Modules for their classroom.
Introducing the FLiP Multicore Module Prototype Board!
The FLiP ProtoBoard is a low-cost bare prototyping board with user-solderable headers that reduce the project cost of using the Propeller 1 as the Propeller FLiP Module can be moved from project to project. This approach encourages experimentation, soldering skills, and project building while reducing the per-project cost to $10. Students can each receive a FLiP Multicore Module Prototype Board to work on, without the risk or cost to the school of allocating abuilt-in Propeller 1 circuit to every project.
The new FLiP Multicore Module ProtoBoard comes complete with a set of headers and commonly used components, and is set to hit the shelves on February 1st for less than $10!
Some of the features:
Specifications:
Release plans for February 2024.
