Build a Quadrocopter using .NET Micro Framework and win a VS2010 + MSDN Subscription
For those of you are interested or working on a Quadrocopter controlled by the .NET Micro Framework, there is a contest where the winner of a flying Quadrocopter will get a free VS2010 license including 1 year MSDN subscription.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Moving .NET Micro Framework Stuff to a New Blog
As this blog is more about ASP.NET and AJAX development I’m moving the .NET Micro Framework related stuff to a new blog. If you want to continue reading update your RSS reader to http://netmicroframework.blogspot.com/ [1].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, February 23, 2009
How to bridge 40 km (or more) with two XBee-PRO 868 modules?
Since I first used the XBee modules from Digi International I got questions from developers how to get higher ranges. Well, the XBee 802.15.4 modules I’m currently using have a maximum range of nearly 100 m. The XBee-PRO modules that are using 63 mW (+18dBm) power output could reach up to 1 mile (~1.6 km). In Germany you have to limit the XBee-PRO modules to +10dBm because of some restrictions in the 2.4 GHz band, so you loose some meters.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Thursday, December 11, 2008
DNS, Zigbee, XBee, Web, SMTP and POP classes in my MSchwarz Toolkit for .NET Micro Framework
As I wrote [1] already some days ago I'm currently working on a library that will offer networking features that I'm missing in .NET Micro Framework. All features are first implemented in desktop .NET Framework 3.0 and then modified to fit the smaller .NET Micro Framework [2]. The Zigbee/XBee C# implementation [3] is already 60% finished, DNS resolver is finished for most common DNS queries.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, November 10, 2008
Microsoft .NET Framework ZigBee Library
I'm currently working on a ZigBee [1] (XBee) library written in C# for the Microsoft .NET Framework. I published a first demo project that will support already some of the most important API modes. You can download [2] this demo project, any feedback is welcome.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, October 28, 2008
.NET Micro Framework SDK Release Candidate Available
The .NET Micro Framework team [1] has announced [2] the release candidate of .NET Micro Framework SDK on Connect [3]. Here are the most important new changes:
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tahoe Board Running .NET MF 3.0
Device Solution [1] has published their first beta firmware and SDK for .NET Micro Framework 3.0 [2] beta. The firmware version includes basic support for everything on the Tahoe [3] board excluding Ethernet and PWM.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Application and Firmware Signatures in the .NET Micro Framework
Device Solutions have decided to change the way they deal with firmware signatures on the Meridian/Tahoe board.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
GHI Electronics First .NET MF 3 Beta Firmware Update
GHI Electronics [1] has published first beta firmware update for the new .NET Micro Framework 3 [2] which is currently in beta. You can download the files and a user guide at their beta info page [3].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, August 4, 2008
EntryPoint not specified for manifest – VS 2008 SP1 (beta)
Just for your information if you have tried the .NET MF 3.0 beta 2 [1] with Visual Studio 2008 and installed SP1 beta: when trying to compile a console or window application (library projects are ok) you’ll get an error message after compiling:
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Wednesday, July 30, 2008
.NET Micro Framework 3.0 Multi Targeting
The .NET Micro Framework 3.0 beta now enables developers to use Visual Studio 2008 for the current version 2.5 and the upcoming version 3.0. This was introduced for other .NET frameworks with Visual Studio 2008. Wow, now I don’t need to install Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 on one machine:
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, July 28, 2008
Microsoft .NET Micro Framework 3.0 Beta Open
The Microsoft .NET MF team [1] has opened [2] the beta of .NET Micro Framework 3.0 [3] right now. This beta includes following features (all planned features are available here: Opening the .NET MF 3.0 kimono [4]):
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, July 28, 2008
Internet Explorer 8 and Maximum Concurrent Connections
As defined in 1999 (RFC 2616 [1]) "clients that use persistent connections should limit the number of simultaneous connections that they maintain to a given server. A single-user client SHOULD NOT maintain more than 2 connections with any server or proxy. A proxy SHOULD use up to 2N connections to another server or proxy, where N is the number of simultaneously active users. These guidelines are intended to improve HTTP response times and avoid congestion."* Since developers are using AJAX or AJAX-like requests to update a Web page the http limits are discussed [2] more [3] and more [4].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, July 21, 2008
XBee and Converter Boards from Droids
Last weekend I have started to look at wireless communication for .NET Micro Framework devices. At Droids [1] I found really cool boards for USB and serial connection, simple put the XBee module on the board and use it from your device.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, July 21, 2008
Jan's Microsoft .NET Micro Framework Web Site Updated
Jan Kučera [1] has updated his great Web site about Microsoft .NET Micro Framework www.microframework.eu [1]. If you want to know how to start you will find tutorials and further examples. Events and FAQ will help to stay informed using the .NET Micro Framework. Jan is a active user at the .NET Micro Framework newsgroup [2].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Saturday, July 19, 2008
Using a Touch Screen with .NET Micro Framework 2.5
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Connecting XBee module to Tahoe
Pavel Bánský [1] explains how he did connect the Digi XBee module [2] to the Tahoe development board [3]:
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Low Cost Hardware Platform for .NET Micro Framework - USBizi
GHI Electronics [1] (known from the great Embedded Master™ module) have announced the USBizi module for the .NET Micro Framework [2]. The module is really small and costs only $99 for a single unit. As it is the smallest .NET Micro Framework system it keeps all the unique features Embedded Master [3] has, like USB host and FAT file system.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Accelerometer based Remote Control for Container Terminal using the .NET Micro Framework
Another great article on remote control using the .NET Micro Framework and the Tahoe 3D accelerometer [1] I found on Jens blog [2].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Saturday, July 12, 2008
.NET Micro Framework and Robotic Vehicle
Pavel [1] has some great posts on his blog about robotic vehicles using the .NET Micro Framework [2].
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Data Acquisition in .NET Micro Framework 2.0 using SPI
Carlo Mendoza is modifying the i.MXS board for SPI:
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Saturday, July 12, 2008
GHI Electronics with Touch Screen Support
[1]
Embedded Master Module [2] is adding support for TFT LCDs on their .NET Micro Framework device. The new version is based on LPC2478 processor [3] with built in LCD controller.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Saturday, July 12, 2008
.NET Micro Framework Library FusionWare.SPOT
Library of classes and tools useful for development with the Microsoft .NET Micro Framework. This library originally shipped as part of the SDK for the EmbeddedFusion Tahoe Development kit [1]. All of the code was covered by a BSD like license, however since it was only included in the Tahoe kit that fact was lost and most users didn't realize that. So the plan came to place the code up on CodePlex [2] so there as no confusion about what is covered under the BSD license.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Monday, April 28, 2008
MFDeploy and MAC Address / DHCP
Today I got a Embedded Master [1] development kit from GHI Electronics [2]. First I tried the examples that are already on the board, wow, working great. To get a network application working I had to change the IP address (or change it to use DHCP). I downloaded MFDeploy [3] (MSDN Library [4]) from the Microsoft Download site. The manual says that you have to enter 00-21-03-80-00-00 and for the last two numbers you have to use the hex value of the serial number of the board. I tried this but MFDeply didn't accept my value until I have noticed that I have to use the colon instead of the dash as separator.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Friday, April 18, 2008
TFT LCD Support for Embedded Master Module
Embedded Master Module is adding support to TFT LCDs [1]. The new version is based on LPC2478 processor with built in LCD controller. The module includes a 0.5mm 40 pin connector for LQ043T3DX02 or LQ043T1DG01 TFT displays from Sharp. These color TFT LCDs are 480x272 and are compatible with LCDs used in PSP from Sony. Using any other TFT LCD is possible, as well.. The new board will have 70 pins instead of 60 with more Analog inputs and PWM pins. New board is backward compatible as far as the old pins. All new pins are on the extra added space, total size 1.55x1.8 inches.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Thursday, April 17, 2008
Microsoft TCP/IP Stack on .NET Micro Framework Devices
More an more devices are ready for the Microsoft TCP/IP stack that is available with the .NET Micro Framework version 2.5 introduced at the EmbeddedWorld2008 in Nuremberg.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tahoe .NET Micro Framework Development Platform
For those of you didn't noticed the lower price of the Tahoe .NET Micro Framework development platform [1]: it is now USD $299 (USD $399 ). The Tahoe development platform provides an ideal development system for the Meridian CPU and the .NET Micro Framework. The platform includes: 
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Thursday, April 10, 2008
GHI Electronics Embedded Master Module
Embedded Master™ [1] implements Microsoft's .NET Micro Framework [2]. This allows users to run C# managed code right inside Embedded Master. Users will use Visual Studio to develop and debug programs.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Wake-on-LAN from a .NET Micro Framework Device
Well, I love the easy development of embedded devices with the .NET Micro Framework. As the device I'm currently using is really small I tried to build a small Web site on it to start my private servers at home using Wake-on-LAN [1]. You'll find a lot of helper methods samples on the Internet but I couldn't find on source code that was working on the .NET Micro Framework. The problem is that there are too many missing methods or enum values.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Sunday, March 9, 2008
Wrong DateTime on .NET Micro Framework Devices
Since embeddedworld2008 in Nuremberg I'm playing in my free time with the .NET Micro Framework [1] and the Digi Connect ME network device [2]. I've created a small Web server and ported the Ajax.NET Professional library to the really cool and small .NET framework.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Sunday, March 9, 2008
Silverlight 2, Images,... running on .NET Micro Framework Web Server
The next beta of Silverlight 2 [1] is available online since yesterday. Another announcement appeared in the news [2] is that Silverlight (maybe only version 1.0 for now) will be available on Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia S60 and S40.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Thursday, March 6, 2008
My own small .NET Micro Framework Web Server
While developing my small Ajax.NET M! library [1] for creating Web applications that run on the .NET Micro Framework [2] I have started to write my own Web server. Some years ago I wrote a simple SMTP/POP server [3] and using some code from there was a great help. The first version will only return static HTML pages e.g. for documentation or help files. As there is no file system on those devices I use the embedded resource strings to return the content.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Thursday, March 6, 2008
Ajax.NET M! - The .NET Micro Framework AJAX Library
The embeddedworld2008 [1] is over and I had some time to play around with Microsoft .NET Micro Framework [2] devices. I can remember that I had a look on it during the first available betas on Microsoft Connect, but then stopped watching it because of the missing TCP/IP stack. The now available version 2.5 of the .NET Micro Framework [3] adds this directly in the framework. Other device manufactures have implemented their own TCP/IP stack, and such a device I have bought at the embeddedworld2008.
Posted by Michael Schwarz on Wednesday, March 5, 2008