Dallas .NET Micro User Group

This month we'll have a hack night focusing on wireless communications. If you don't have any ideas of what to work on, I have many for you to choose from. I'll have a few spare microcontrollers to test your code with if you don't have your own NETMF microcontroller.  I'll also have some wireless modules (wifi, bluetooth, XBee low power and XBee high power).

This meeting is specifically targeted for those with zero hardware experience (no breadboarding or soldering required) and for the more advanced user we will be happy to provide some more in-depth details.

We encourage you to bring your own NETMF device and a laptop.

Please RSVP

Agenda:

• NETMF System Setup
• Wireless Hack night

Our meeting format will follow the following format:

6:00 - 6:30 Food and Drinks, Socialize
6:30 - 6:35 Meeting announcements
6:35 - 6:50 Flash talks, show and tell, approximately 5 minutes per person
6:50 - 8:30 Hands-on coding time.
8:30 - 9:00 Show what you created tonight, door prize giveaways if available, pick presenters for next meeting.

Sponsors:

We will have FREE food, drinks and a meeting room, courtesy of Improving Enterprises. The food will arrive by about 6PM which offers plenty of time to socialize before the event start time at 6:30PM.

Be sure to thank our sponsor, Improving Enterprises, a premier, Dallas-based training and consulting firm and please keep them in mind for your company’s training and consulting needs.

 

<a href="http://dfwcsug1205.eventbrite.com/controlpanel/blogs/www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/" data-bitly-type="bitly_hover_card">Pluralsight On-Demand! .NET Training - Pluralsight is a premier Microsoft .NET training provider. Pluralsight delivers classroom and On-Demand! training around the world. The reputation of the Pluralsight technical team, the in-depth course content, along with the variety of training delivery methods, guarantees you access to the highest quality learning experience that makes the most sense for you and your business. Pluralsight is offering a 1 month free subscription to their Pluralsight On-Demand! training for unemployed user group members. We will also raffle two certificates for one month free (Value: $29 each). All other members can receive a free trial into the Pluralsight On-Demand! library by requesting it directly from <a href="https://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/OLT/subscribe/Subscribe1.aspx?freetrial=true&planHint=Monthly" data-bitly-type="bitly_hover_card">here.

Meeting Details

• Meeting: Wireless Hack Night
  
• Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
• Time: 6:00PM
• Where: Improving Enterprises, Dallas (One Hanover Park, 16633 Dallas Parkway, Suite 100, Addison, TX 75001)
• Maps: Bing, Google
• Cost: It's free thanks to our sponsors!

Another two day .NET Gadgeteer workshop took place on the 12th and 13th February, this time at Northumbria University.  Attendees included a diverse mix of 3rd year students from 3D, Design for Industry (DFI) and Media Design courses.

 

The result was an entertaining mix of craft, design and technology.  The tutorials included the coding and building of a digital camera, complete with a specially designed cardboard case that you fold and slot the Gadgeteer modules into.

 

To read the full blog please go to;

http://tommydykes.com/archives/970

The simplicity of programming the FEZ Cerbot using Microsoft Visual Studio's .NETMF makes it ideal for young adults and schools. The expandability of the FEZ Cerbot, through .NET Gadgeteer sockets, makes it ideal for advanced users and universities.

Out of the box, FEZ Cerbot includes a speaker to generate tones, 16 front LEDs, two gear motors with wheels and a four AA battery holder. It also includes two reflective sensors allowing developers to create a line-follower, a maze-solver or to prevent it from falling off desks and tables.

Thanks to .NET Gadgeteer, the six compatible sockets allow FEZ Cerbot to be extended in many ways. Add a WiFi RN171 module to control the robot from a mobile phone or add a Serial Camera module to take snapshots along the way and save using a SD or Micro SD module. By adding a Distance U3 module FEZ Cerbot can detect objects, with information showing on the Character Display or the N18 Display. Let’s not forget about the numerous available sensors, like Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass and Temperature, just to name a few.

The design is completely open-source (OSHW) allowing developers to make changes and utilize the system to its fullest. The complete .NETMF runtime sources are provided, including GHI’s extended OSHW library. On the hardware side, the complete schematics and design files are provided in EAGLE format.

While FEZ Cerbot ships with .NETMF and .NET Gadgeteer, a standard JTAG connection is included for direct access to the STM32F4 Cortex-M4 processor. With the design being open source, FEZ Cerbot can be programmed using a developer’s favorite tools.

There are two options, FEZ Cerbot - Assembled and FEZ Cerbot - Unassembled . They are both identical but the assembled version makes it simpler for those with no soldering experience.

We are excited to present Cerb40 II, which replaces the original Cerb40. The new revision includes a 3.3 V regulator and the 32 kHz RTC crystal on-board. This allows developers to plug a USB cable in and begin programming without adding any additional circuitry!

Need more excitement? Check out our new WiFi RN171 Module. This is not your typical WiFi module. It broadcasts its own standard access point, allowing for WiFi devices to connect to it (such as smart phones, Android tablets and Microsoft's Surface, among others). Things get even better because it's not AdHoc, which can be problematic on mobile platforms. Possible applications include controlling a robot from a phone or reading sensor data on a tablet. Module driver already includes a HTTP server to aid developers in hosting webpages right on the device.

We've also added other modules, such as the Radio FM1 Module, Accel G248, Power Extender Module, and many more. Our new Latest Products RSS feed is an excellent resource to help you keep track of new releases. They are also listed on the catalog's home page.

As for File System related products, ALFAT USB is now available to extend ALFAT's family and replace uALFAT-USB. This brings USB storage with a Microsoft-licensed Long File Name support to any product with SPI, UART or I2C bus.

To end excitement at an all time high, the Spring Sale is going on. The sale won't last very long, so get your order in before it's too late!

Our latest SDK package now supports Microsoft's Visual Studio (VS) 2012. Developers can choose between the express version (free) or the professional version. Since VS2012 only runs on Windows 7 and Windows 8, we will continue to support our SDK package on VS2010 into the near future.

For a list of changes, additions and known issues, visit our NETMF 4.2 Developer page.

Click here for installation steps.
IMPORTANT: Windows 8 will not let you install until you click "More info" and then click "Run anyway" button. See attached images please.

Note about 4.3 Firmware

This SDK is still a 4.2 firmware but the new .NET MF 4.3 (RTM) accepts devices using 4.2 firmware. Remember to change the target framework to .NET Micro Framework 4.2 in the project properties. As for 4.3 firmware, we will hold off a while for a few reasons. First, it doesn't add any major functionality over .NET MF 4.2 (RTM QFE2). Second, once we switch to 4.3 firmware, you will no longer be able to use Windows XP or Vista. Third, while the current SDK is nearly perfect, we'd like to spend a little time making it even better. This information can also be found on the NETMF 4.3 Developer page.

As for the firmware updater applications, they were removed from the SDK. Instead, we will be improving on our new configuration and update tool. We previewed the application before at http://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=10954

The old updater applications are found at http://www.ghielectronics.com/downloads/NETMF/GHI%20NETMF%20Firmware%20Updaters.zip

Tip: This SDK is not the same one posted few days ago on the beta forum. Couple small updates were added.

We are really happy to announce that .NET Gadgeteer Core 2.42.700 was released today! 

https://gadgeteer.codeplex.com/releases/view/105366

This contains a few new features:

Visual Studio 2012 support

This release supports Visual Studio 2012 (all editions including Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop) and as well as retaining support for Visual Studio 2010 (and express editions).

To use Visual Studio 2012, you need to use the latest .NET Micro Framework release, v4.3.  To use Visual Studio 2010, you need to use .NET Micro Framework 4.2 QFE2.

Application Wizard

Since the matrix of Visual Studio versions, .NET Micro Framework versions and .NET Gadgeteer mainboards is getting complex, we added an “application wizard” to simplify things:

This wizard will help you choose the right version of .NET Micro Framework for your mainboard, and also help with installation errors such as having the wrong version of .NET Micro Framework installed.

.NET Micro Framework 4.3 support (alpha)

This release includes Gadgeteer libraries compatible with .NET Micro Framework 4.3, enabling mainboard and module manufacturers to “forward port” their designs.  We designate this as “alpha” support because, unlike for the “stable” 4.2 and 4.1 libraries, the Gadgeteer API for 4.3 may still change, in response to feedback from the community or manufacturers.  As such, we have not released source code for the 4.3 libraries at this stage, though we will do so as soon as the API is “stable”.

Power estimates

We now provide a means for manufacturers to specify the “typical” and “max” power consumption of each mainboard/module, and show this data in the Visual Studio designer – right click on the design surface and choose “Power estimate” to see it.  We considered including details of how much power is provided by red modules, but this proves hard – e.g. it might depend on what USB supply is used.  Nonetheless, we hope this will help users with understanding and fixing “power bugs”.

Roadmap

We are working on a few advances for .NET Gadgeteer’s 4.3 API – first, the ability to “indirect” any socket type so that modules can provide sockets as well as consume them, and second, a refactor of the LCD configuration interface to address compatibility issues.  We are aiming for a quick turnaround (as soon as May!) for this, depending on manufacturers’ feedback.  The next release is planned to be the “stable” 4.3 release.