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About

Published by AlexGorn on Monday, August 24, 2015

Hello!

My name is Alexey (Alex) Gornostayev. I am software engineer with specialization in microcontrollers and embedded systems. I design and implement systems and devices for road traffic management and yes, speed cameras as well…
It is strange, but my work (all this small MCU gizmos) is one of my hobbies. I also like sailing, building stuff, 3D printing and so on. Anyway, I do many fun hobby MCU based projects outside of my work in office. This includes weather stations, smart home and smart sailboat, 3D printer controllers, interfacing with big professional video cameras etc.

I always wanted to have a controller, which has most commonly used bells and whistles, fits most of my projects, can be programmed and debugged with JTAG or via Arduino environment, and reusable. Yes, there are plenty of -DUINOS around, however sometimes I really want to have power of JTAG debugger. Also, if I want to have a display or SD-Card or RF in my project than I have to buy Arduino Shields. Besides, what about reusability? Are you tired of rebuilding everything when you want switch to another project and you have only one Arduino on hand?

Therefore, my requirements to my perfect controller were:

  1. Miniature with standard connectors for simple plug-in/plug-out – implemented throw DIP “dual in-line package” form-factor.
  2. A visual display capabilities (It is always useful) – more than fulfilled with onboard 128×32 OLED display and two onboard LEDs.
  3. Tons of memory – this is why DIPs have on-board micro SD cards.
  4. Many GPIOs – 19 must be enough.
  5. JTAGICE3 debugger interface – present.
  6. More than one UART, because I like to have debug port and interface with other devices at the same time. In addition, it is convenient to have FTDI USB included into the devices, and it must support Arduino bootloader – DIP has all this.
  7. RF capability often required – the answers is integrated ZigBee.
  8. Power from USB on to pins – yes (4V…5.5V DC).
  9. Simple and reliable – yes, it is.

…I also wanted to have couple of buttons and RTC, but had to sacrifice something because of because of space constrains.

Now DIP-CORE is real, and ready to drive various devices from quadcopters two 3D printers. I have created this web site to stay in touch with owners of DIP-CORE, share related news, source code, schematics etc.
If you want to get your DIP, please contact me through the contact form on my website and tell me why you need it.

Stay connected!

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Best Regards,
Alex.

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DIP-CORE
Pure Atmel AVR core with all peripheral hardware (OLED display, SD card, ZigBee etc.) ready to take control over your hardware. It must be programmed with JTAG (JATGICE3 recommended). I am using Atmel Studio for development, and IMHO this the best option. There is no bootloader in DIP-CORE.
It is available right now. Do you want to have one? Please contact me through contact page on this website.

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DIP-DUINO
This is DIP-CORE with Arduino bootloader. You can write your programs in Arduino IDE.
I am working hard evenings and weekends to make it happen soon. If you have your own DIP-Core than you can help me.

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DIP-BOOT
You can develop your code in Atmel Studio or any other IDE of your choice, write it on SD card and DIP-BOOT will execute it. The code must be compiled and converted to BIN format. You do not need any debuggers or cables. Really easy to use on the go. There is no limit on complexity of your code. In addition, there is no need to keep SD card inserted into the controller. DIP-BOOT will write your firmware to EEPROM and next time, if SD card is not present, your program will be executed directly from memory.
This device can be available quite soon. You can help me with this.

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DIP-BASIC
As easy as it can be – open notepad, write your firmware in BASIC, save it to SD card, insert into DIP, have fun! No need to have programmers, debuggers, cables, compilers, IDE software. BASIC code can be written with any text editor including one on your smartphone.