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Have a good idea for a new product for SFE or Olimex? Let us know!
By WanaGo
#104798
It would be awesome if Sparkfun could produce a couple more shields for the Arduino.

Relay Sheild - have something like 4 little relays connected to 4 of the Digital's, to switch larger items such as fans, lights, or maybe even AC (with care)...

Opto Sheild - have an opto isolated chip with say 4 channels going to 4 of the digitals, so noisey or potentially spikey inputs can trigger the Arduino inputs.

Mega Sheilds - Not only are Mega's expensive, but they lack sheilds in a big way. I know personally this is what is stopping me buying my first Mega. If Sparkfun could start the ball rolling, and potentally make a mega sheild or two, that would be awesome. I know some sheilds do work on the mega, but a number dont. And the ones that do, some need pins bent out in order to get them to work. A proper mega shield would be a winner I think.

Development Boards - I know there are a few Olimex boards for AVR's, however they are a little dated in my opinion. I really like the Mega16 board with the relays and opto isolated inputs - however what puts me off is that its a Mega16 and not something else. If a development board could be made with say the AtMega644P, that would be totally awesome. It could then have a serial port, and a FDTI port, so effectively it could be uploaded with a Sanguino bootloader or another variation of the bootloader and used with Arduino IDE. Also feature the 10 pin standard AVR programming header. I think these would sell really well. The ATMega644P is a great chip, and now that its been ported to Arduino its even more appealing.

Just my 2c :)

J
By I2CMASTER
#108827
[quote="WanaGo"]It would be awesome if Sparkfun could produce a couple more shields for the Arduino.

Relay Sheild - have something like 4 little relays connected to 4 of the Digital's, to switch larger items such as fans, lights, or maybe even AC (with care)...

Opto Sheild - have an opto isolated chip with say 4 channels going to 4 of the digitals, so noisey or potentially spikey inputs can trigger the Arduino inputs.

Mega Sheilds - Not only are Mega's expensive, but they lack sheilds in a big way. I know personally this is what is stopping me buying my first Mega. If Sparkfun could start the ball rolling, and potentally make a mega sheild or two, that would be awesome. I know some sheilds do work on the mega, but a number dont. And the ones that do, some need pins bent out in order to get them to work. A proper mega shield would be a winner I think.

I agree!!!!!!
Last edited by I2CMASTER on Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
By WanaGo
#108828
Thanks for the Olimex.cl link of the relay shield.
Pity the board isnt shaped like an arduino board, but those are just details I suppose.

I made a prototype relay shield with 4 relays and it works great, having a professional option is always good though.

Cheers