Re: [DIYbio] Amazon unintentionally solves "low cost lab automation device" challenges

Keep in mind that any device which emits radio signals (wifi, bluetooth)
has to pass some regulatory hurdles ($$$) if sold as an end product.
Developer build-it-yourself kits get around these restrictions but that
is not an option for an end-user product. There are some bluetooth
vendor chipsets where simple regulatory waivers are available directly
from the vendor if new designs use their hardware reference design. I
haven't heard of this for wifi chipsets but it may be out there.

CHIP has digital I/O (at 3.3V only) but does not have A/D (other than
microphone-in and one 6-bit, 250 Hz, 2-volt-maximum A/D that is not
buffered) or D/A (other than stereo headphone-out and 1 simple PWM).
This means adding on shield(s) for basic tasks, reminiscent of Arduino's
hardware limitations. That's a pretty serious design limitation in the
Internet of Things era, where interfacing to the real world (analog
signals) is a basic functional requirement. Analog requirements and
real-time clocks are a common oversight in computer science circles.
Look at their libsoc readme: "Future ideas are: - A/D Converters"
That's not a future idea, it's a 1970's idea. (It is also ridiculous
that they named it CHIP. Try googling that. They should have picked a
unique name.) 1-wire not net implemented. I notice on their schematic
that their I2C SDA pin does not include an on-board pullup resistor so
connecting a simple sensor (such as TMP102 temp sensor) needs a few
external components as well - similar to interfacing to Raspberry Pi -
and yet strangely includes composite video output. The touchscreen pins
could be hijacked for analog input but that might not work well and
still, signals would need external hardware for buffering. CHIP would
likely be a great tool for Mhz intensive embedded image processing if
using an external camera module. Reference: Datasheet
https://linux-sunxi.org/images/e/eb/A13_Datasheet.pdf and CHIP
Schematic CHIP_ALPHA_V_021.pdf . Small embedded unix computers have
been made previously. If the device is network-capable, the data
processing is best offloaded to the cloud, where development is easy,
and both Mhz and storage space are unlimited. The web server or
database for that data is also best offloaded to the cloud. So in terms
of looking at cost tradeoffs, it's far better to place the simplest
analog data acquisition/control, basic user interface, and networking
hardware at the point-of-use, and the computer science tasks in the
server farm. The antithesis is the NEST thermostat, a simple
temperature acquisition and relay controller device, running linux, for
$200 (down from $250). "But it's cute," I hear the mass market saying -
oh, okay then. It also has had segmentation faults, the full software
code base is too large to audit, and yet it controls the environment of
a user's home. (That product also exists in one of those funny market
segments where installation costs significantly more than the devices
themselves.)

Hypothetical convergence graph of the internet of things;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things#/media/File:Internet_of_Things.svg

## Jonathan Cline
## jcline@ieee.org
## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
########################

On 12/21/15 12:25 PM, Cathal Garvey wrote:
> I suppose on-subject; I recently came into possession of a CHIP (the
> open source 1Gz ARM board for $9), and I'm really impressed even though
> I've done next to nothing so far with it. The *details* are what impress
> me:
>
> * The USB power socket also handles data, so you can plug it into your
> laptop and then send/receive serial data over the same wire. Apparently
> you can also multiplex somehow to do OTG through the same wire, perhaps
> when a battery is attached (see below).
> * It also has a single USB A socket on board, don't know much about
> current draw so far but I expect they learned RasPi's lesson about
> delivering insufficient current.
> * Wifi/BLE
> * A socket for a LiPo battery, and an integrated charging circuit wired
> from the USB power supply, with automatic power switching so a cheap
> LiPo gives you a UPS or on-the-go power supply
> * Compatible with Debian, mine came pre-flashed
> * 4 GB storage onboard
>
> So that's a $9 computer that can easily connect via bluetooth or wifi to
> controlling devices, with enough beef onboard to handle moderate data
> processing, and enough storage onboard for pretty generous logging.
> Coupled with a cheap or free service to expose local servers on
> convenient domain names (such as ngrok.com or pagekite), you could very
> easily set up "garveylab-pcrblock.ngrok.com" or similar and have a rich
> webapp for setting up, logging from, and tearing down experiments.
>
> Anyways, sorry to gush. I'm excited about uses for this thing, wish I
> had five more so I could more easily commit to at least one idea without
> feeling I'm wasting it. :)
>
> On Mon, 2015-12-21 at 11:19 -0800, Jonathan Cline wrote:
>> The low end Fire supports USB On The Go, therefore connecting custom
>> external peripherals is possible via USB. This is from the xda dev
>> pages:
>>
>> Working
>> Full size Qwerty Keyboard
>> USB Mouse
>> USB to SD card converter
>> USB Ethernet
>> USB to Serial (FTDI)
>> USB Webcam
>> Not Working
>> USB to Serial converter (?)
>> Parani-UD100a USB Bluetooth Adapter
>> Parani & TP-Link did not show in Network Info II app
>> " It does not appear to support OTG + charging."
>> Reference:
>> http://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/otg-2015-fire-kffowi-ford-t3245644
>>
>> Overall this is pretty good convergence to tactile electronic paper.
>>

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