New Product Post
After taking a couple of months off, we are back with a new product post. This week’s theme centers on prototyping and the boards that make it possible. We will kick things off with the Grove Physics Kit, a Kickstarter funded project from ManyLabs which was developed to bring physics experiments to middle and high school students. There are six items included in the kit: a force sensor, a pulley rotation sensor, a laser gate, a sonar sensor, an accelerometer, and a compass. Each sensor comes with a lesson plan and project ideas. If you don’t have an Arduino board or a Grove Base Shield, you’ll need to order those too. The kit not only helps to illustrate physics concepts, but it is also a great stepping stone to building circuits and prototyping.
When we think of convenient, affordable prototyping, Raspberry Pi is one of the go-to boards at the top of the list. Rapsberry Pi will be in stock in a few days, stay tuned!
If you like Raspberry Pi but you crave a beefier alternative, check out the Cubieboard. Like the Pi, the Cubieboard has an ARM processor, but it has a faster processor speed and twice the amount of RAM. It supports Android, Ubuntu, and other Linux operating systems. It has a 96-pin extended interface for low level access to the SOC. Plus it has a SATA port, so you can easily connect an external hard drive. Coupled with the 2.4 GHz wireless mouse and keyboard support, it is a perfect platform for building your own computer or an Android TV box. For an extra $10, you can get the Cubieboard A20, an upgraded version which includes a dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor and 1GB memory with a faster clock speed.
However, if you have moved beyond hacking and are looking to build a viable product, you’ll need to get the Cubietruck Kit – Dual Core Single-board Computer. This is the third generation Cubieboard, and it is a little bit bigger than the previous two models. It needs to be because it is packed with more features: 2 GB of RAM, HDMI and VGA 1080P on-board display output, 10M/100M/1G Ethernet, WiFi+BT wireless connection with on-board antenna, SPDIF audio interface, 54 extended pins, and Li-battery and RTC battery support. This product recently went through a trial production run at their manufacturing facility, and they expect the the Cubietruck to be ready any day now. Add it to your Wish List, so that you can be notified when it comes in stock.
Until next time, keep on making.
Written by Erin Linke
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