Gertboard is the ideal add-on for Raspberry Pi. Designed by Gert van Loo, it is a flexible experimenter board that plugs directly into your Raspberry Pi, and out into the physical world, allowing you to detect and respond to external physical events. Detect and output analogue voltages. Drive powerful motors. Detect switch presses. Illuminate LEDs and drive relays. Jumper cables allow you to hook up different parts of the circuit in many different ways, allowing total flexibility. All controlled by your own Raspberry Pi.
Features:
Plugs directly onto Raspberry Pi GPIO socket
Motor controller, capable controlling a motor bi-directionally, delivering 18V and 2A maximum
Dual-channel D-to-A converter, 8-bit
Dual-channel A-to-D converter, 10-bit
Onboard AtmelATmega328ATmega328 MCU for running off-board programmes which are written, compiled and uploaded to Gertboard from Raspberry Pi
6 x open collector outputs
12 x LED indicators
3 x momentary push switches
10 x strap cables included
18 x jumpers included
Software and manuals available to operate and learn how to use Gertboard
Am a bit confused. I have downloaded the main software and extracted it. Having set up 'buttons' to run as a test, I can't get the programme to start from Terminal. I give up, how do I start the 'buttons' programme?
I had to de-solder the header from the underside of the Gertboard and replace it with this. The Gerboard can now either be plugged in to the top of the Pi or can be connected using a ribbon cable.
I did try to de-solder the whole 26 way connector from the Gertboard but it wouldn't budge.
I had to use a hacksaw to saw through the original header at about 2mm away from the board (on the joint between the two plastic types) and then de-solder each pin individually. Be warned, there is considerable risk with this so do this at your own risk.
I have an issue that I am looking for help with. I received a Gert Board and working with the demo software and everything was working great until I tried the Motor demo. I connected a 10v 2 amp power supply across the Power contacts, checked for correct connection. Connected a servo motor to MotA and MotB. Tried running the motor directly, the motor actually draws about 1.8 amps @ 10 v.
I ran the Motor demo, as soon as I pressed return, the PI went dead. The pwr led is lit but the PI shows no activity, I can not reboot, the unit is completely unresponsive, even when the GertBoard is detached. The 2 amp fuse did not blow.
One of the reasons I wanted the Gertboard was not only the variety of IO but protecting the PI unit.
Has anybody seen similar problems? Can not explain any problems on my set up, but having the motor controller capable of killing the processor is a problem.
