As many will know fellow member Rockwallaby and I have been working on a new ARM-based controller board that will be an Arduino Due workalike but with a lot more IO and with most of the Due’s “hidden” features broken out.
The design is progressing well with schematics and PCB layout slowly becoming firm, and while we are not ready to release full details at this point the following is a quick list of the main features.
• Atmel SAM3X8E processor, same as Arduino Due.
• External memory support, 16-bit data, 20-bit address.
• On-board 2MB SRAM.
• Switching primary regulator can handle VIN of 7-30V and supply 2A.
• 3v3 system but a lot of support for 5v.
• 120-pin backplane with 4 addressable slots and optional card guides for mechanical stability.
• Control over power to backplane slots and shutdown/wake up of entire system.
• Native high-speed 4-bit support for microSD cards.
• Native Ethernet support with PHY and magjack.
• USB host interface with micro AB socket.
• On-board transceivers and/or buffers for RS-232, RS-485, 2x CAN, LIN, 1-WIRE, TTL serial, 2x SMBus/I2C.
• Where appropriate all serial IO selectable to be 5v or 3v3.
• XBEE format socket for RF modules including those for XBEE, Bluetooth, and WiFi.
• 52 of the SAM’s native digital IO pins supported on backplane.
• 8 high-current (24mA) GPIO signals on external IO expander. Can be 5v or 3v3.
• 8 analogue inputs on external ADC (internal ADC not used), 12-bit resolution standard but 14- and 16-bit optional. 0V to 5V, 0V to 10V, ±5V or ±10V, single ended or differential. Protected to ±25v.
• Provision to mount a 4D Systems .96” OLED directly on the board. 96x64 pixels with 65K colours. Can be used for debugging or a simple user interface.
• Provision for remote and/or larger displays with a 4D Systems-compatible header.
• 3 user push buttons mounted below the OLED for general-purpose or simple menu input.
• 2 external options for the RTC oscillator, standard crystal or TCXO (Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator).
• On-board battery backup for RTC and external RAM.
• CPU supervisor chip with advanced power-lost warning and battery changeover.
• Fits a standard Hammond enclosure.
The design can still be modified so if you are interested in this board either as a potential user or co developer email Rob (rob@robgray.com).
Rob