I was almost hoping they'd be upgrading to a 32-bit ARM chip vs. the 8-bit Atmel.
Can anyone recommend ARM boards with similar I/O capabilities to the Arduino? I'm interested in something that you could use for embedded robotics but powerful enough to run a real OS so that you could do real-time image processing.
I think the branded web store might overshadow a lot of the work that other suppliers are doing. They have a competitive advantage. If someone is browsing the site they will most likely buy directly from them.
Also, sparkfun has much more compelling hardware offerings that have much smaller and useful form-factors that are pin-compatable with the arduino hardware (just not form-compatable).
Amazon carries some Arduino boards and kits, that's where I got mine. Also, though I have seen places to order clones, there is a question about their compatibility, at least of the couple I have seen - which their sites and order forms don't adequately address.
Their name is well-established, it is true. However, I gather the hope is that an actual brand image (e.g. "Pepsi") rather than a household word (such as 'a coke' referring to many different sodas, or "Kleenex" referring to all things facial tissue) will help combat the clones and rip-offs. Perhaps if only because customers will expect to see the company logo stamped on 'quality' hardware.
The whole point of Arduino is that anybody can make clones and derivatives. The only distinction is that the clones cannot be called arduino, which is why you see freeduino, seeeduino, etc.
Is there any boards out there that let you program in higher level languages such as Python? It'd be fun to hack on one of these but I'd rather use languages and techniques I'm used to.
I think it's worth having a bash in a lower-level language too, though. You'll notice the Netduino is a 48MHz ARM7 with 60K of RAM and 128K of Flash. By contrast, the Arduino Duemilanove is a 16MHz processor with 16K of Flash and 1K of RAM -- a far lower-specced chip, and very cheap (couple of dollars). Writing code in C (or Wiring, or whatever) for such tight constraints is part of the fun in my opinion.
Haven't used it, so I have no idea if it's been implemented in hardware beyond the concept, but there's always python-on-a-chip:
http://code.google.com/p/python-on-a-chip/
That being said, programing on an Arduino is very simple and non-intimidating to the point of it being a running ironic joke on many hacking boards whenever a project doesn't involve an Arduino. (eg "Oh, nice logic analyzer you made from scratch with $3 worth of parts, too bad it doesn't involve an Arduino though...")
> I'd rather use languages and techniques I'm used to
This makes you sound incredibly unmotivated and lazy. FYI.
Running a scripting language VM is massive overhead on little devices like these. Consider that the Arduino, last I checked, has 16k of code space, and most microcontrollers are in the same range. The Python VM itself is already measured in megabytes. You're going to have to take several steps up the ladder in terms of hardware.
Arduinos are pretty simple to program, and with data logging or ethernet shields, you can "control" the device over the network or perform data analysis off-device with a higher level language.
Can anyone recommend ARM boards with similar I/O capabilities to the Arduino? I'm interested in something that you could use for embedded robotics but powerful enough to run a real OS so that you could do real-time image processing.