Take a look at this:
http://cubloc.com/product/01_01cb210.php
It LOOKS like an Arduino (but its not). Same basic Arduino feature set. (add a power switch and a little more neat stuff)
It runs ,,,,,, tada ,,,,,, BASIC! (Don't run, shake or shiver!)
(It looks one HECK of a lot like P-BASIC (STAMP 2) but has more commands and floating point.)
The editor can be downloaded and looks nice, but nothing special.
The manual looks nice and well organized and is BIG, but again is nothing special.
7/21 DON'T BUY ONE!!!!! It just "died" on me for no reason at all !!!! No warranty,,,, $29 chunk of trash!!!
More technical details…
The board IS similar to an Arduino:
It uses a: Atmega128 @ 18.432Mhz (not bad)
It has 80k for your BASIC programs. (Depending on how smsll the BASIC is, determines program size) The BASIC does a one way trip to the board and is scrambled (obfuscated?) for some security on the way.
The I/O is a real 5V (I dislike the new 3.3V systems.)
3 - 16 bit PWMs (can function as DACs)
1 timer but no external interrupts (could cause problems for some applications)
It doesn’t say it is Arduino Shield compatible (but the connectors seem to be in the same basic layout)
It has as extras, a power switch and a 5V level RS-232 connector
It has a seperate CLCD connector (Compact LCD)
It does ~36000 instructions/sec. Fairly fast.
The board can be “locked” for better noise stability, but it can be re-opened by reloading the firmware. (Which means the firmware could be updated someday.)
I have one on order and look forward to trying it. (It sounds like fun!!!)
Just got the CB210…
This is one sweet little board! It was moderatly easy to set up (another USB driver) and it runs fine! (Its blinking an LED right now!)
I pretty much described the board earlier (and it looks like it is VERY WELL built.)
The editor is very nice! (for not being a MS product) and has pop-up key word assistance as well as other nice features.
The firmware download to the board went very well (something I tend to get nervous about, a screw up can “brick” the board.)
I am looking at the GHLCD display: http://cubloc.com/product/02_02ghb3224c.php in the future. This beautiful little display is not cheap at $199 (The CB10 controller board, again is only $29) The LCD has a library with a ton of nice features. Now if it could only come down in price…
It all would make for a great robot controller, especially for those just getting started (the BASIC is easy!) They spent some serious time on the manual (PDF) as it is nicely indexed and has lots of explanation of program snippets (complete programs too.)
At $29 you might want to try it, you haven’t got much to lose…
