I'm about to start my first project and place my first order! I'm excited but also a little fearful of overlooking something. :-)
The specifics of peoples' applications aside, is there any reason I'd want the flash chip on a Moteino USB? I get that the flash memory is useful for receiving the code that I want to burn to the EEPROMs of non-USB units in the field, but a Moteino USB is typically not programmed wirelessly, no?
Hi Zapitron,
Quote from: Zapitron on February 26, 2015, 12:38:18 PM
I get that the flash memory is useful for receiving the code that I want to burn to the EEPROMs of non-USB units in the field, but a Moteino USB is typically not programmed wirelessly, no?
Not sure where you picked that information, but the main reason Moteinos have the FLASH option is for wireless programming of the atmega. Otherwise it's a general purpose memory that can be used for anything, logging, storing data on the node itself for whatever purpose. That's it.
You can get the default standard 4mbit FLASH chip, soldered and tested at LowPowerLab, or you can solder your own as long as the pinout matches. See more info at https://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/#flash
(Aha, I think I see the problem: the atmega chip itself uses internal flash to store the code we write, not EEPROM. So as soon as I spouted off about EEPROM, nothing good could happen.)
I think I found my answer in the comments at the top of WirelessProgramming.py: it looks like even if I would be programming a Moteino USB gateway not wirelessly (since it's always going to be hooked up by USB cable to a big-boy computer most of the time anyway, in order to forward sensor data), I'm going to want a flash chip on it, to store the image that it will be sending to the truly-wireless Moteinos out in the field, when wirelessly programming them.
Yes you got it. Wireless programming is cool but more complex. To truly use it effectively you will need to understand exactly how it works and what are the assumptions for it to work right. There are several threads in the forum discussing various aspects of WP and also the blog has a bunch of articles. I hope to one day put the definitive tutorial on WP and maybe a video and maybe even make an app to make it easy to start a WP upload to a listening mote.
If you can handle some light SMD soldering you can always add it later if it's not something you want to try right away.