sparkfun likes a different USB chip with GPIO

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
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This chip has a royalty free distrabution licence. General purpose IO for example it could control my boards SPI programmable resistors from the PC without using my microcontroler. :sunglasses: :o :stuck_out_tongue:
It also might be cheeper.
I also could use some fast SPI A/d converters that could be triggered to take the samples at the same time. So then where the signal came from could be triangulated.

Basic breakout board for the new Silicon Laboratories' CP2103 USB to Serial IC. The CP2103 is superior to the FTDI chip in many ways:

  • Implements full v2.0 USB protocol
  • Needs no external crystal
  • Internal EEPROM for device ID and Product Description strings
  • 4 independently controllable GPIOs
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hello

we used it in some custom arduino made for a project but the drivers were a bit difficult to find and the part is hell to solder by hand. I liked it because it saved us pcb space but they were difficult to source in italy.

We are about to launch a new edition of the arduino board which features the ft232r that addresses some of the same issues.

BTW some of the pins coming from the ft232 are on the connector next to it on arduino. you can use them as gpio. infact some open source DMX interface do just that.
also if you install the other driver from FTDI you get a different level of control on the chip (you lose the virtual com port though)

massimo