{"id":940,"date":"2012-10-14T22:14:56","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T02:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hackaweek.com\/hacks\/?p=940"},"modified":"2012-10-15T22:32:01","modified_gmt":"2012-10-16T02:32:01","slug":"getting-started-with-the-parallax-propeller-board-of-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hackaweek.com\/hacks\/getting-started-with-the-parallax-propeller-board-of-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started With The Parallax Propeller Board Of Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

The folks at Parallax Electronics<\/a> have given me the opportunity to do some projects using their line of products. I’ve decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to not only try out some cool gear but to also share the whole process in a series of how-to videos here on Hack A Week!<\/p>\n

In this first installment about working with the Parallax Electronics Board Of Education or (BOE) we’ll get familiar with the the BOE’s I\/O pins and on board devices and ports. Next we’ll download and install the software and USB drivers, configure the software, download some code and learn some SPIN programming language by making LED’s blink at different rates, and in different ways. When you’re finished you’ll be familiar with the Propeller chip, the BOE and SPIN programming language. This will allow you to then move on to higher learning with the Propeller as I post more tutorials.<\/p>\n

First off, here a few links you’ll need for hardware\/software and learning resources:<\/strong>
\nParallax homepage<\/strong><\/a>
\nParallax Board Of Education learning page<\/strong><\/a>
\nDownload Propeller Tool V 1.3<\/strong><\/a>
\nBuy a Board Of Education here<\/strong><\/a>
\nParallax Forums<\/strong><\/a>
\nParallax Object Ecxchange<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Pictured below is one of the first projects you create with the BOE. It’s a simple demonstration using some code to blink a row of LEDs alternately.<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I find the learning curve to be fairly easy with the BOE and the amount of available community knowledge is growing every day. The Parallax Object Exchange<\/a> is a repository of tons of useful methods to get things done with the Parallax Propeller micro controller.<\/p>\n

I would strongly encourage anyone new to programming that wants to get past a single core Arduino and move on to a more powerful processor to buy a BOE and start doing some serious inventing! <\/p>\n

Enjoy the how-to video below and stay tuned for more in this series. I’ll be connecting some other modules and sensors to the BOE and all along the way you’ll get to learn as well.<\/p>\n

Keep on hackin!<\/p>\n