Annotatable (hopefully annotated) Arduino Schematics now available!

Hi guys,

You can now help add annotations to the arduino schematics:

http://brittonkerin.com/annotateduino/annotatable_duemilanove.html
http://brittonkerin.com/annotateduino/annotatable_uno.html

I wasn't sure what all the parts do and how they work so I made these
pages. Arduino is a great learning platform I think this can make it even
better. Now get out there and (bad Italian accent) "annotate da dueno" :slight_smile:

Britton

Britton, this is Way Cool!

How did you do this? I'd love to use this approach to explain some other stuff I am working on, such as this: http://yourduino.com/ElectronicBricks1.htm

And this: http://yourduino.com/pins-bits-1-0-.htm

WhatIf there was a similar thing with a image of the physical Arduino, with "normal" voltage readings at different points, for those of us trying to fix an abused or unlucky Arduino??

Wow. So much stuff to learn about...

Hey Terry;

I bought one of those brick shield boards and several 'brick' modules about a year ago. I really like the concept and the quality seemed pretty good, but I stopped buying modules for three reasons.

Most important reason is none of the sellers publishes schematic drawings of the modules, documentation on a whole really sucks on this product line. That's not a big deal for a button brick or a pot brick, but when you get to a mic/audio brick it's impossible to actually tell what kind of signal output to expect or how much amplification range one has, etc.

Second problem is that some of their example sketches for some of the bricks are downright dishonest in that they are not actually testing the module for it's primary purpose, but rather just say lighting a led to say it probably is functioning somewhat. That added to the zero documentation can make it very difficult to actually utilize some of their brick products.

Lastly for being Asian sellers, selling on E-bay, their prices seem very high relative to all the other electronic components and modules I buy from Asia on E-bay.

Looking forward to your thoughts and comments on this product line?

Lefty

It looks like Jquery Annotation was used along with some CGI

http://code.google.com/p/jquery-image-annotate/

retrolefty:
...
Most important reason is none of the sellers publishes schematic drawings of the modules, documentation on a whole really sucks on this product line. That's not a big deal for a button brick or a pot brick, but when you get to a mic/audio brick it's impossible to actually tell what kind of signal output to expect or how much amplification range one has, etc.

Second problem is that some of their example sketches for some of the bricks are downright dishonest in that they are not actually testing the module for it's primary purpose, but rather just say lighting a led to say it probably is functioning somewhat. That added to the zero documentation can make it very difficult to actually utilize some of their brick products.
...

Hi Lefty,

Absolutely right and I am working on this now. My friend in Shenzhen, China (I lived there for 2 years) found the guy who designed the original Electronic bricks (As compared to other follow-ons from DFRobot etc). His name is Xiao and he is from Beijing. He is a very technically sharp guy who has designed stuff like a W5100 Ethernet Brick, but does not have a lot of English.

I have schematics for some of the bricks I plan to be marketing real-soon-now and I have the documentation issue going on with Xiao now. I am also asking him to design a GPS brick with that simple 3-wire interface cable (Probably with another optional cable to set up the GPS if needed..)

And I really want to get better Sketches together for the bricks that are nontrivial.

I hope to get some stuff finished enough to critique soon.. In my Other Spare Time. I can't Imagine doing this if I was under 60 and had an annoying actual Job :slight_smile:

I need to understand how to do that annotated drawing thing, that's SO informative.

And I REALLY need a good similar thing for Glossary definitions on a page with text, but I haven't found one yet. One that looks cool only works on single HTML pages, and I need to have definitions of things like INPUT and PULLUP appear on multiple pages..

Thanks for the very valuable opinions!

I'm glad you like it, thanks. I put the source targzball for the page on the page now.
Lots of notes added already I see, thanks everyone.

As someone said its based on
http://code.google.com/p/jquery-image-annotate/
but I had to hack it a good bit to take off the edges and make
it more suitable for schematic annotation.

Britton

OK, I have this farther along and have acquired a lot of different "Electronic Bricks". Here's what I'm thinking about the bricks now: (Disclaimer, I AM showing stuff I have for sale, but you can buy them elsewhere, Ebay etc also..)

"Electronic Bricks" for Arduino are quite small circuit boards with various components on the like pushbuttons, sensors for light, sound, infrared signals, temperature, etc. or output devices like LEDs, beepers and more. Bricks have a connector for low-cost cables that can plug right into an Arduino via a "Sensor Shield". Take a look here: http://yourduino.com/ElectronicBricks1.htm

Electronic Bricks are especially good for beginners and class situations where you'd like to be really sure about your connections and concentrate on designing software sketches and higher-
level systems. There are over 40 types of bricks available, and you can see many examples here: http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_list&c=5

There are also high-function bricks like an Ethernet interface, clock-calendar, motion-detector, audio playback, EEPROM and SD Card storage and various wireless communications modules. A starter set of 12 bricks is shown here: http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=148

More bricks are being designed and there is a prototype brick to help you make your own..

I am working to get the schematics for many of the existing bricks online...

I was also able to get cables that are flat on one end a plug nicely into a Sensor Shield, with the other end polarized/latched for the Bricks...

Hi Terry,

I gather from the photos that the bricks use the quasi-standard GVS 3-pin interface. How will the "high-function" bricks communicate?


Rob

Hi Rob,

The information on a LOT of the Brick stuff has been (much still is) inadequate and I have that as a major undertaking right now... That (and the lack of schematics for the mid-level bricks, like Analog Light or Sound, that have a chip but still a Gnd-Voltage-Signal pinout). And example of what I WANT to do for all of them is the Touch Sensor (Which has jumpers) : http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=25 Follow the "How-To" ...

Plain serial-out or 1-wire bricks need similar information. (Wow I just found wrong photo for DS18B20 brick!! Fixed)..

And some like the Joystick: http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=116# have 3 connectors, two analog and one digital. Click on the image..

The Ethernet Brick http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=80 is an example of an SPI connection (multipin) that needs good documentation for those who want to connect it with their own wiring, not the cable/shield shown (click the image to see)...

For the Electronic Bricks to meet their objective of making it easy to get things started and then build higher-level functions, this has to get a lot better... Fortunately I have a connection to the guy who designed these, and a Chinese friend with good English in between...

Anyone stuck on something, email me and I'll try to help.

I had a good look around your site, all very interesting.

My interest is because I've just finished the design of a new Mega clone and it has 40 GVS headers. My board is not really for beginners but it would still be nice to be able to plug in modules for prototyping.

Have you heard about the Tinkerkit modules?

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,1464.0.html

They do apparently exist (I've even seen high quality promo photos) but I've been trying to get information about them for months. I've given up now totally not understanding why it's impossible to get information about an existing product.

Massimo even said they were going to be on sale on the 18th of Oct last year, and nothing happened, then Davide said on sale by christmas...nothing. Go figure.


Rob

Hi Rob,

Yes, standardization of the "modular I/O Stuff for Arduino" really needs to be done. Even if the Documentation of them was in the same format that would be a big help.

Maybe we need an effort like Jon Oxer has done for Shields: http://shieldlist.org/ ?? What is your opinion?? I'd be interested in collaborating on that.

I have not seen anything REAL about the Arduino modules..

And then there's these guys: http://www.robotgroup.com.ar/web/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=3&Itemid=2&lang=en

I'm glad it's an idea whose time has come.. but it's pretty fragmented.

I'd like to communicate about your future products; maybe we can help each other... I like the idea of "built-in GVS sensor-shield-like" connectors on an "Arduino" compatible. The "Romeo" etc. are examples.

I can get any kind of cables made fast in China at low cost. I got these in 5 days: http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=149

The 4-wire connections like on Xiao's "Sensor Shield V5.0" for SPI/I2C/Serial are a good idea also I think.. (?? Can I put an image in??)

Hopefully...

Anyway, WhatIf we start a thread on this subject??? Opinions??

Maybe we need an effort like Jon Oxer has done for Shields: http://shieldlist.org/ ?? What is your opinion??

I can't help but agree, given that it was my thread and Excel spread sheet that started that off. Jon took it from there and did all the hard work though.

I see a lot of this stuff around but as you say it's all over the place. I'm not sure how the robotgroup guys are going, the "English" flag on their site doesn't seem to work and my Spanish ain't what it used to be.

I like the idea of "built-in GVS sensor-shield-like" connectors on an "Arduino" compatible.

It seemed logical to have something that you could plug straight into, and I realised that the GVS format was something of a standard so I went with that.

4 and 5-wire is a different story though I think. My board also has 4-wire connector for the serial ports, I've no idea if there is a standard for that.

Anyway, WhatIf we start a thread on this subject???

Yep do it, we'll see how it flies, we've probably highjacked this thread too much already.

The "Romeo" etc.

Don't know about that one.


Rob

The "Romeo" is here: http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=35_38&product_id=56

This also has a small h-bridge onboard.

I'm trying to get a deal with those guys to stock their products, but ???

I LIKE the idea of a highly-capable 1280/2560 based board. For "highly-capable" projects why not just go there?

OK, I will start a thread. Congratulations on starting the shield-list idea.. Maybe Jon would be interested in helping with another "Arduino add-on" compilation. Very related as I see it...

The "Romeo" is here:

That looks pretty nice.

LIKE the idea of a highly-capable 1280/2560 based board.

Yes I thought there may be a niche for one, basically it's what I want myself with a few things that I thought would make it appeal more to others.

Attached is a pic of the PCB layout.

Note the two rows of GVS headers at each end, these are on snap-off "wings" that allow mounting of the IO on the back of the board (to reduce the footprint) or remotely.

I've just started laying out the tracks, it will be a big job and I sometimes wonder if I'm wasting my time because although I can make 1 or 2 prototypes I don't have the facilities (or indeed the will) to manufacture them. No matter, if it's just for me I only need 1 or 2 eh :slight_smile:


Rob

Wow that looks cool!!

What are the 3-terminal components at both ends near the I/O????

Maybe we can find a low-cost factory in... China??

What are the 3-terminal components at both ends near the I/O????

Dual schottky diodes. All the IO is (hopefully) hardened against reasonable abuse.

Maybe we can find a low-cost factory in... China??

Probably the only way to do it I suppose, especially at a reasonable price. I currently get my PCBs made in China, it's just another step.


Rob