More information is available from: The Maximite Computer Blog.
Product: 16972
All Dontronics Maximite Computer products are located at: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/the-maximite-computer.html
Prices
The Maximite Computer has more information on The DonDuino Cross
http://www.themaximitecomputer.com/the-donduino-cross/
NOTE **** Shield Adapter Boards:
Dontronics DonDuino Cross was designed for the Maximite, however it will also work on the DuinoMite.
DuinoMite-Shield Board was designed for the for the DuinoMite range from Olimex, however it will also work on the MaxiMite.
The DonDuino Cross has the advantage of being able to be plugged into the MaxiMite or DuinoMite in a variety of ways, as it has multiple bus connections. It also has the advantage of being able to have parallel shield stacks, so that a grid of shields can be made, by simply plugging these units together. This could be used in development where you have two shields that will only work as a top board , meaning there are no more female pins going up. It allows easy access to multiple boards for testing and development.
The DonDuino Cross
We can post off the DonDuino Cross bare printed circuit board in a letter, world wide at a very cheap rate. In fact, we will do it for an extra $2. See this Page for details: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/donduino-cross-letter.html
This is a Maximite 26 pin IDC I/O connector to Arduino Shield Converter Board.
This is an all through hole design, so the user can build it easily themselves. Anyone who has done a little electronics work, should have very little trouble soldering this kit together.
The board measures 67mm x 68.6mm, 1.6mm thickness.
Hardware and software will be the full responsibility of the user, as there are no guarantees on compatibility, or support of the Arduino Shields, so you are on your own.
Rather than explain in detail on this page, the possible hardware combinations and uses, that The DonDuino Cross can be put to, it will be easier to tell the story with pictures. When I get the boards, and have them assembled, we will add the pictures. In the meantime, you can check for additional information at:
http://www.themaximitecomputer.com/the-donduino-cross/
Prices: I have set up prices starting at $5.95 for a PCB only, to $17.45 for a full kit:
Bare DonDuino Cross PCB: $5.95AUD
Bare DonDuino Cross PCB
Bundle A: $9.95AUD
Bare DonDuino Cross Printed Circuit Board, plus a 26 pin 10cm IDC Female to Female header cable.
Bundle B: $11.45AUD
Includes Bundle A plus the set of four Female Header Pins. 2 x 8 pin, 2 x 6 pin.
Note *** These are not Shield Stacker pins, they are Female Header Pins.
Bundle C: $17.45AUD
Includes Bundles B, plus two 26 pin R/A Female Headers, and two 26 pin R/A Male Headers.
The Bundled kits do not include the three LEDs, the three Resistors, the diode D1, or the 2 pin R/A header for VIN.
If you require additional headers, there are plenty to select from at:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/the-maximite-computer.html
Assembly Hints:
These instructions are aimed at experienced electronics kit builders. The level isn't high for this board, but you do need the basic skills.
1) The LEDs shown in the pictures are 5mm bent over at right angles. Initially we felt that they may foul with stacked boards, but the chances are they will be clear, however after bending them over at right angles, we found minor problems when we tried to plug two Cross boards together in various arrangements. The simple answer is to install 3mm LEDs straight into the board.
The three LEDs, the three Resistors, the diode D1, and the 2 pin R/A header for VIN. These do not need to be fitted, and are optional. They are not supplied in any of the bundles. It would be expected that the average kit builder would have these, or chase them up if they are required.
Use 3mm Leds. Diode is 1N4004, or similar.
R1 330 Ohms for Red LED +5V
R2 120 Ohms for Green LED +3.3V
R3 680 Ohms for Yellow LED +9V
2) Lift the female R/A 26 pin connectors as high as you can from the cross board, when you solder them in. The helps to align the two printed circuit boards closer to being level with each other.
3) Under most conditions, you will have to snip off the legs of the stacker pins, once you solder them into the board. This seems a real shame. As we don't yet have cheap female single row headers in the correct length, using the stacker pins is possibly the quickest and cheapest solution. You could get a couple of 30 pin female single row header pins from: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/simmstick-female-header-pins.html and cut these into 6 and 8 pin headers, but as these will cost you $4, there isn't much of an advantage, but it would allow you to save your stacker pins for another project.
Pictures Below:
Picture One:
DonDuino Cross plugged straight into a Maximite main board using one of the female headers of the cross. This works fine, but doesn't allow you to plug a standard USB plug into the Maximite.
Picture Two:
DonDuino Cross plugged in via a standard 10cm female to female cable. As you can see, you need to twist the cable over by 180 degrees to do this. With sharp twists as shown in the picture, this reduces the length of the cable to about 5cm. I am told, if you split the cable down the centre with a sharp knife, you can twist the cable, and use a cable tie to make a very neat job out of it.
Picture Three:
This is a mock up of a Maximite EV board with a DonDuino Cross mounted on top, and an Ebay $16 LCD (including postage) Arduino shield sitting on top. You must solder a female connector on the underside of one of the male positions of the DonDuino Cross board to do this.
Picture Four:
A female to female standard 10cm cable coming out of the back of your Maximite case. You sit your DonDuino Cross board on top of your case. We feel this could be the most commonly used location for the Cross. Picture is shown with an LCD Arduino shield fitted to the cross.
Picture Five:
Almost a fun picture, but if you get two identical shields with no pins to support an above shield, this will get you out of trouble. This should have many uses that we haven't even thought about yet, but I know users will be able to make very good use of a system that is so flexible.
All feed back welcome.
The Maximite Computer, and its features can be seen at: http://geoffg.net/maximite.html
Software Download:
All software can be downloaded from: http://geoffg.net/maximite.html
Schematics and all other relevant files are available from:
http://www.themaximitecomputer.com/max/Programs/
Then Select Hardware, then Dontronics, then DonDuino Cross.
Support:
If you need additional support on the above product, and you can't find the information you need in the documentation, then please contact support at the address below:
Support Forum:
http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=16&PN=1
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