After a year of waiting it has arrived: the $9 computer from Next Thing Co. When it launched on Kickstarter, there was no reason to skip backing this one to at least see what it was all about. Now that it has arrived I am quite happy that I did. For such a large project it would hardly be worth calling it late. My reward was due May 2016 and I received it June 2016. Very good compared to most crowd sourcing campaigns. I selected the C.H.I.P. plus battery reward, but before it shipped you could add accessories. I added the VGA adapter and an extra C.H.I.P. That way I can use it on my desk attached to my monitor …
Kickstarter: ArduRF
Today I received a few packages but one of them contained the ArduRF from Kickstarter. This campaign was short and sweet. I received the reward thirty-three days after it ended. You can read about the details from their Kickstarter but it’s an Atmega328p (Arduino Uno) with the RFM69 embedded. One has a USB A connector that can plug directly into your PC. This can act like a base station/receiver. This will replace my node connected to an FTDI cable to my Ubuntu VM. Using the JeeNode library in compatibility mode, the RFM69 should work with the RFM12B radios until I completely transition over. The other is similar to an Arduino Pro Mini but longer with the addition of a JST …
DigiSpark Pro
Digistump is the company behind the Digispark and DigiX and now their latest Kickstarter the Digispark Pro! They are a family owned company based in Portland, Oregon. I backed the Digispark Pro with the Beta Edition as the reward. This has to be one of the fastest Kickstarters I have backed as it was funded May 11th, 2014 and I received the Beta Edition June 22nd, 2014. Here are some pictures of the Beta Edition. Bottom center Digispark Pro The Digispark Pro Beta Edition comes with an extra “shield”. This shield has an 8×8 LED Matrix, joystick, LDR(Light Sensor), MAX7219 with socket to drive the LED Matrix, and all of the needed passives. All you have to do is solder …