Imp002 module evaluation kit + special exclusive

Hardware
1

Hi everybody,

as we are the only to propose the breakout board for the imp module (solder down) we have faced the problem apparently common to many: after you got the imp module and the breakout, then you need additional components to be able to enjoy the extended capabilities of the solder down imp, first of all the doubled GPIOs.

To make it easier we decided to put together an evaluation kit that includes anything you would use to bring online the 12 GPIOs of the imp module.

The kit includes of course the module and the breakout board, that can come separated or soldered by our staff for free (!!!), a breadboard, a power supply specific for the breadboard, jumper wires, phototransistors, dual color LEDs, resistors, a snap connector that allows to easily power up everything with a standard 9V battery to make the whole thing totally wireless.

If interested the kit costs $35 (including the imp002 of course) and you can find it here:

imp002 evaluation kit standard

imp002 evaluation kit soldered

PLUS… an exclusive surprise only for the friends of the forum :slight_smile:

The Logic Analyzer is an incredible cool tool that I love to use together with the imp:

24MHz 8ch Logic Analyzer

A $10 additional discount is available for the members of the forum on the Logic Analyzer ordered together with the imp002 evaluation kit!

The discount code for this offer is: LOGICIMP

It will be necessary to add to the cart at least one of the imp002 evaluation kit and a Logic Analyzer, then apply the discount code to get this tool at half of the original price (that’s $37 but the product is already discounted to $29 and the additional discount will bring the final price to $19).

Hope you guys will enjoy the idea of play with the advanced imp module at a lower cost than a imp001 + breakout.

Dimitri

2

I’m sure you answered this before, sorry to repeat. How much effort, and which parts, are needed to complete this? Maybe a phototransistor and LED kit only? I have all the other components. I’m still waiting for the remainder of my order from April 2013.

http://smartmaker.com/en/home/602-electric-imp-002.html

3

Steve,

the minimum parts are listed in the official specs:

It requires a phototransistor with pulldown and at least a couple of LEDs or a bi-color one, if you want to know what’s going on.

I didn’t get actually what you means with the “remainder”. Did I miss something? You can PM me.

Dimitri

4

@Dimitri

Good stuff! I’ve already got plans for both of my imp002’s. Do you have plans for any other imp002 solder down breakout boards? I’m completely new to board design, but I have a few ideas around projects that I am working on.

5

@jwehr,

we have available the design of Amber, that’s a kind of advanced breakout designed by electric imp that includes the pads for the regulator, the opto-electronics etc. Thinking about produce it.

Just this morning I woke up with the idea of design a version of the Hannah for the imp002 and I was thinking how this could work. Basically I don’t know if could be better to breakout free the additional GPIOs or if maybe add some function. My idea it was to actually make possible to use it to put together a basic 2WD WiFi robot without additional components.

Dimitri

6

Are the Amber files available for Eagle? Does it use the 001 or 002? I’ve been trying to think of a board design that could accommodate multiple projects. One of my projects is converting my home security system. I’ve seen a few other people do the same thing, so I wonder if it would sell. For mine, I would want: imp002, opto, regulator, 8 screw down connections back to pins for sensors, 1 transistor-relay circuit to drive an alarm with a screw down connection. The remaining pins would be one of the SPI/I2C/UART sets, for lcd or maybe keypad input. That would also work for a garage door opener, or anything that needed a transistor relay circuit.

If anyone has eagle files with imp002, opto and regulator, please let me know. I’m learning to use Eagle, and working on a few board designs.

7

@jwehr,

all the designs from electric imp are made with Altium Designer, not Eagle. So the sources are available only for AD.

Note that with the library for Eagle that I’ve designed and made available open source:

http://smartmaker.org/wiki/Projects:Eagle_Libraries:imp002

is a piece of cake to put together a design .

I am planning to design a multi-purpose board for imp002 and any input is welcome. Maybe we can start a new discussion for this, to collect the different requirements, then I can design it.

Dimitri

8

Well, if you feel like doing any tutoring, maybe have a Google hangout one of these days and show us the ropes. I have been watching the Eagle tutorials by Jeremy Blum, which are pretty good. My issue so far has been finding the right parts.

Definitely start another thread for a multipurpose board.

9

Heh, already bought the logic analyzer when I got my Hannah from you guys - happy to buy another one though :slight_smile:

I’m having some trouble with the “LOGICIMP” code - I’m getting “This voucher has already been used” when trying to apply it. Expired?

10

@aleksandyr,

sorry my fault!

I’ve set the code in a wrong way :frowning:

Solved

11

@aleksandyr - the pricing comes good when as @jwehr says you select your location my came down to 13$ which is fine. But the default 60$ will result in lost sales for SM & I for one want them to keep supplying the imp002

12

The actual problem is from the automatic procedure of shipping cost’s estimate.

To get the correct price need to go trough the checkout or to select the proper shipping information in the cart’s page and update the shipping info.

This e-commerce software is far away to be the best but we are unfortunately too busy to work on a new, better solution :frowning:

If anyone needs help, just PM me.

Dimitri

13

@smartmaker - Dimitri

I was just about to place an order but …

  1. The SSL certificate on smartmaker has expired
  2. Everything priced in USD & your based in Europe no EUR?
  3. Why does it cost 60 USD to ship the IMP002 MODULE EVALUATION KIT? that’s twice the cost of the kit!

I really like what your doing but won’t be moving to the imp002.

Lawrence

14

I think there is a misleading (or gets changed) value in the shipping part. If you are in the US, it ships from a US warehouse, and the shipping is only a few dollars for standard service. If you work through the checkout process, you end up with the correct shipping amount. I’ve ordered two imp002 through smartmaker and paid little for shipping.

15

@jwehr thanks for this, will try and hope to get the same outcome as you

16

I noticed that adding a second item to my cart (in this case, the logic analyzer) caused the cheap shipping option to appear. Trying to ship a single item shows the $60-only option. Didn’t spend a lot of time trying to confirm if it’s price vs quantity though. :slight_smile:

17

I got two imp2 with the breakout boards and soldered them down. I am now a bit disappointed, as - as many already mentioned - additional stuff is required to get started. It was mentioned that a phototransistor and a bi-color LED is required. I guess the bi-color LED is simple to get, but there are a few phototransistors out there.

Could someone please check the phototransistor I could easily get via ebay here in germany? http://www.ebay.de/itm/Phototransistor-BPY62-5-Stuck-/221282163887?pt=Bauteile&hash=item338571dcaf

Also, as I am really just getting up to speed, a super-detailed step-by-step intro would be really nice. Let’s say I put pin headers on the breakout and now want to move towards adding the missing components (photo transistor, LEDs) - what are the exact resistors required, how are these connected to the transistor, LED, etc.

I know there is the imp2 spec, but it’s really written for the already tech-savvy guys and not for people who - just like me - just are past the Arduino basics stuff.

Thx!
Sven

18

@Sven I have two imp002’s. I did buy the recommended parts from mouser and Digikey, so I won’t be able to give you great advice for buying in Germany. Dimitri posted a video on how to set everything up…just do a quick search in the forum. All I would add to it is, make sure your photodiodes are in the right way around, and make sure you tie VREF to 3.3V. I didn’t and couldn’t get blink up. Also, using a 68K ohm photodiode bias resistor should work just fine. Let me see if I can find that thread…

19

Here is a thread with Dimitri’s video
http://forums.electricimp.com/discussion/comment/6877#Comment_6877

It isn’t a difficult circuit. If I had tied VREF to 3.3V the first time, I would have had few difficulties.

20

The BPY62 looks like it could well work, but we’ve not tested it. Start with maybe 100k as the series resistor.