A new firmware release 1.1.1 is available for Frankfurt RS-232. This is a bug fix release and it fixes a problem that occurs sometimes when sending frames with maximum length. Typically this happens when bootloading a device over the VSCP daemon.
The new firmware is available here.
Manual and instructions on how to update the firmware is here.
As a general note please enable hardware handshake whenever possible using the Frankfurt RS-232 module for bootloading.
Cheers
/Ake
Hi,
after the recent release of the new version of VSCP & Friends we finally have time to do some hardware development again. Two new modules are available.
CAN4VSCP Power Injector
This module is makes it possible to power 16 x CAN4VSCP modules using the daisy chain connector. It also have two RJ-35 connectors and terminators for the bus on board. Usage is typically to connect several CAN4VSCP boards together in a cabinet, either as a self contained unit or connected to other groups of modules. DIN or wall mount options are available.
Price is EUR 28 and it is available in the FrogShop for immediate delivery.
CAN4VSCP Accra
Accra is a counter board that can count pulses on four channels. In addition to counting pulses it can also measure frequency. The main intended use is for power/water/other meter interfacing using S0 pulses or other means. But there are numerous other usages for this powerful module for sure. The Accra module is capable of outputting an appropriate measurement unit from a pulsed channel and can thus output kWh from a power meter for example or liters of used water from a water meter. This of course make it very easy to handle the data sent from the module, graphing or just collecting it. DIN or wall mount options are available.
The product page for Accra is here.
Price is EUR 28 and it is available from the FrogShop for immediate delivery.
More modules are on the way. A lot of them in fact. We move against Ethernet and wireless domains from here. Connecting the different domains of devices together.
Remember to follow our blog for the latest news
Cheers
/Ake
The Accra counter module is up and running now and we are doing the last debugging of it. Available in the FrogShop next week I hope. It is just lovely I can tell you AND useful.
Also got boards for Moscow, the Power Injector and Frankfurt USB today.
Moscow is a wifi board that connect CAN4VSCP to wifi, typically connects to a VSCP daemon or something like that.
The Power Injector is a board that can be used to connect CAN4VSCP boards together without the RJ-45 cabling by using the expansion (daisy chain) connector of the modules. Will be available in the FrogShop next week.
The Frankfurt USB is the Frankfurt RS-232 with built in USB. That is it is powered from the host. It will be available in two versions. One for DIN mount and one in a boxed version. The boxed version will be the first that will be available. This “thingi” has big buffers in addition to all the features of the Frankfurt RS-232.
Below some live data from the vscp-ux components.
Got a great tip from a customer (Maarten Zanders in Belgium) for the Beijing module. His words below.
Here’s a tip for if you use Beijing to process buttons. If you want to add stronger pull-ups (the PIC’s internal pullups are too weak to be used on physical -long- wire), there’s a component from “the old days” that can help you out: SIL resistor arrays.
The manual for the CAN4VSCP Paris module is now web based. You can find it here
A problem I have faced during all the years I have been developing open source software and hardware (3/4 of my life now) and which most open source/hardware developers face, is that most people does not care to give back. Most people just take and take and take as they where put on earth just for doing that. They never care who they take from and what. “It’s free, it’s available, I just care about me, Me, ME and my close ones…”. No it’s not spoken out. It’s all in there actions. It’s not hard to see.
YES as an open source developer you get fed-up with this from time to time. We all have bills to pay. Open source/hardware developers have to. Surprisingly ey? So we sometimes close our source to protect our intellectual capital. Become people we don’t want to be. Protective of our work in a way that is against all we believe in.
Oh yes I know companies that use my work and get good money from it and even don’t bother to give a simple link back to any of my sites and it’s even a lesser chance they buy something from the FrogShop to support my work. “Why should they” they seem to think. If someone is foolish enough to leave something unprotected, of course we take it, use it, make it ours. “If I see a new TV or a car with the keys left in it on a parking lot I of course take it to. If someone left it there is must me mine. Right!?”
So when you are into this you often wounder what type of man you want to be. Like them? Or different? Different because you have other values in life.
No need to think about that for a long time. I decide on different.
So from now on all modules made by Grodans Paradis AB/Paradise of the Frog will be open source and open hardware. This means eagle files and all design documents, including source code for firmware will be available for all of them. License will be MIT. This info is not in all files yet but will be. I will add designmaterial and files as we go.
Yes the greedy ones will get more to “take” and make there own. But some will give back and contribute. I decide to focus on them. Because that make the world look a little better to me. It’s a fortune in that. At least I do believe it is.
Below the first two freed modules
https://github.com/grodansparadis/can4vscp_frankfurt_rs232 https://github.com/grodansparadis/can4vscp_beijing
More will follow .
Cheers
/Ake
Time to test Accra and to finish the code in this new module. The manual and the MDF is done (probably not final though) but if you are curious they are possible to check out now.
Kilafors will be a companion module to Accra for meter interfacing such as an electric meter that have an IR-led. With this module it is possible to get KWh measurement VSCP events just with some simple configuration of the Accra. No other coding needed.
Hardware work take much longer than one expect. We did know that when we started. Support and software takes time also. So at the moment we are quite a bit behind schedule. Some more modules are ready and designed and is just waiting to be tested and get code. Listed here for reference so you know what is coming this fall.
Vilnius is a general A/D module. Hopefully we see this in August together with Accra.
Kelvin 1-Wire is a temperature module that can use the popular DS18B20 sensor instead of a NTC sensor but otherwise have the same functionality as the Kelvin NTC module.
San Fransisco is a Barometer module.
Frankfurt Bluetooth is a BLE 4.0 interface that can be used to connect a cell phone or other Bluetooth device to a CAN4VSCP bus. This can be useful for diagnostics and configuration of a setup that is otherwise self contained, possibly for security reasons.
Roma 802.15.4 is a module that have 802.15.4 and can connect CAN4VSCP segments with each other and connect some upcoming modules.
Roma 433 is a 433 MHz received/transmitter and can interface low cost 433 MHz equipment such as popular wall switches and temperature sensors.
Blitz which is a wifi interface to CAN4VSCP. This module also have a 433 transmitter and some more goodies.
That is what we have in the pipe. What we currently have components and boards for. But expect a lot of other things this fall from the Paradise of the Frog.
Other planed modules.
A gprs module that can be used for alarm and status and control sms is already available in our lab. This module can also be used to send and receive emails to get status from and control VSCP modules. Hopefully we will see this module in the Frogshop this fall.
A module we have had on the bench for several years now is Zeus. This is a module same as Odessa and with the same expansion interface but with Ethernet instead of a CAN4VSCP bus.
A simple low cost CAN4VSCP <-> wifi module is also in the pipe.
When we have the infrastructure in place with CAN4VSCP based, wifi-based i/f , ethernet i/f we will put all our efforts on our VSCP based Bumblebeez modules which are wireless low cost modules with a lot of exciting functionality. This means that we have VSCP connectivity over the most common transport mediums available and that they are possible to connect in a plug and play way.
We have today started work on our next module, the Accra counter module. The hardware is already done. This unit will be able to count pulses on four channels and also measure frequency on each channel. It can have alarms set for going over a counter level or when counting down to zero and for a frequency that is outside of a specified frequency range.
It has a built-in linear calculation algorithm that can translate pulse to real world measurement units. This can for example be used for utility meter measurements and gives the correct measurement value sent out on the VSCP bus.
Kilafors will be supplied later as an add on modules to detect S0 (IR) pulses so that Accra can be hooked on to an electrical meter and output power usage data.
This will be the seventh module in the CAN4VSCP series and will be followed by Vilnius for 12-bit A/D measurements.
The Beijing I/O VSCP control module is now available in the FrogShop.
The module has ten 5V channels that individually can be set to either an input or an output.
Each output can have a pulse automatically generated.
Each channel can have a protection timer associated with it which turns it off after a specified time. This can be used as a security feature so that a critical controlled resource is not kept on when a communication line has been lost but can be used to keep an output on for a specific time for other uses.
TurnOn/TurnOff or On/Off events can be generated when signals go high/low. This is valid both for inputs and outputs. Perfect for monitoring systems or for autonomous control of other VSCP modules.
Alarm events can be generated when a pin change state. Perfect for alarm setups.
State of inputs/outputs can be streamed with configurable time interval.
Inputs can be used as button inputs with repeat.
The Beijing module have a decision matrix with eight entries that can set a pin high or low, toggle a pin, send status for a pin or all pins, or turn on/off pulse on a pin. This makes it easy to construct autonomous systems.
The module can be wall mounted or attached to a DIN rail as all modules in the CAN4VSCP series from Paradise of the Frog.