BASIC Stamp 2pe Motherboard

Parallax's BASIC Stamp 2pe Motherboard provides a compact, professional-grade platform for BASIC Stamp applications. With the MoBoStamp-pe and an assortment of plug-in daughterboards, users can easily develop systems requiring more processing power than a BS2 alone can provide.

The MoBoStamp-pe includes a USB interface for programming and debugging on an attached PC. The motherboard can either be powered by the USB connection or for portable applications, the motherboard can be powered through an attached daughterboard and external power source.

Interfacing to the outside world is possible using the two daughterboard sockets. Compatible plug-in daughterboards perform a variety of functions for data acquisition, light sensing, and display output. The PWR-I/O-DB card, for example, provides an interface for up to six Parallax serial (three-pin) devices and/or servos and provides separate voltage regulation and filtering on the daughterboard.

The MoBoStamp-pe motherboard includes two Atmel AVR microcontrollers (ATtiny13); one for each daughterboard socket. These microcontrollers act as coprocessors used to offload computationally intensive tasks from the BASIC Stamp. This allows a higher level of performance while retaining the BASIC Stamp's legendary ease of use. Best of all, it is not necessary to write additional code for the coprocessors. Parallax already offers a library of upload-able AVR code to handle the specific needs of each daughterboard, allowing the user to concentrate more on PBASIC programming. Right out of the box, both AVRs come preloaded with firmware for digital I/O, pulse-width modulated (PWM) output, analog input, and frequency measurement. And changing the firmware is easy with the LoadAVR.exe PC program, available for download below. Advanced users can create custom AVR code with Atmel's free AVR Studio development environment.