Will there be a Spark Core II

Hardware
41

Hey what about a core that will run a full lamp server? :wink: ideal little web server when you link it with the sd card shield. Would maybe need faster wifi? Able to cope with high upload speeds, a database server would be awesome. I can just imagine 3 spark cores working together. One a database server, one a webserver, and the other a file server. 6 cores for full redundancy even just to mess about with.

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42

Hi5! I love how people have the same idea about those stuff I dream all day :slight_smile:

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43

Running a full LAMP stack - how would that be different from a raspberry pi? (Other than wifi-enabled by default.)

44

Becauseā€¦ spark :slight_smile:

45

nah, the whole point of the spark to me is that its tiny and includes wifi. iā€™ve got beaglebones and raspberryā€™s but i wouldnā€™t use them in final products as theyā€™re too large and have too high a power requirement. for anything final iā€™d use an atmega chip (not an arduino board) or a spark. who wants to run a lamp stack on a microcontroller?

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46

Hey guys,

Just wanna say throw in your ideas here cos we are gathering them and Iron Man might hook up a Spark Core II soon? :smiley:

47

hmmm, now im not so sure i want to order some more sparks, if there may be a second out soon :frowning:

48

I donā€™t know how ā€œsoonā€ it might be. I know there is a natural progression to releasing a next-generation Spark, but I donā€™t think anyone can put any sort of estimate on it yet. New components need to be researched, sourced, tested, etc. thoroughly to find all the right fits. I think we can safely assume the timeframe is several months, at the very least.

In the meantime, I will still continue to get more Spark Cores as I need them. The Spark Team is still very hard at work refining the existing Core, and that is their primary focus. There is still so much potential in the current Spark Core to just let it sit until the ā€œnext big thingā€ hits the virtual shelves!

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49

Those of you who essentially want an entire OS in thereā€¦ Why donā€™t you just get a Raspberry Pi or whateverā€¦? I mean youā€™re asking for something thatā€™s already been done very well. Itā€™d be a waste for Spark to just replicate the efforts (and existing products) of others.

Personally, Iā€™d just want a little more flash memory & mHz, with as little sacrifice to the form factor as possible. Thumbs up for real FPU. :blush:

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50

Hear you loud and clear @noora :smile:

The Elites are always talking about running RTOS on future cores :smile:

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51

It would be great to have one that could do https and have a bit more ram.

With a battery/solar shield and an SD/fram shield as optional extrasā€¦

And if someone could build a GSM/GPRS shield the size of a core and as easy to useā€¦i would take 3 straight upā€¦ for when the net is down you knowā€¦ and direct SMSing too

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52

@Hootie81,

@kennethlimcp has created a MicroSD/Fram card (see this post) being produced at this time pending parts acquision by factory.

The Battery Charge II is in the works by @timb (I believe) @peekay123 is working on a Battery Monitoring Shield and hopefully the GMS / GPS shield is being designed as well; not sure at this time.

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53

Iā€™ve been keeping my eye on those projects, as soon as they are available to order ill get both.

I dont think a GPS shield is necessary as GPS modules interface easily without the need for a shieldā€¦ they are smaller than the core already and you wouldnā€™t really want it near the cc3000

Its the GPRS that i would likeā€¦ basically the internet part of a mobile phone connection. for when the wifi drops out or the home internet goes offline. I have a UPS on my cable modem for when the power goes out, it lasts about 5hrs or soā€¦ but the cable provider goes down when the power goes out as I found out last month when the power was out for a whole day! one of my future projects will be an alarm/automation system that sends emails and has remote monitoring/lighting control/arming/disarming/opening doors/listening/AC control/full home awesomation spec. i would really like it to still be able to alert if the power goes out.

54

Have you seen the next versions of the CC3000 from TI?

The CC3100 allows for enterprise WPA, and the CC3200 contains an 80MHz ARM Cortex M4, meaning it could also function as the core microprocessor.

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55

Yes, weā€™ve seen themā€¦ :wink:

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56

The neatly packaged CC3200 is a Smart move by TI :slight_smile: Wonder what would be the chip cost in quantities?

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57

Was thinking that if these new chips offered more SPI lines you could put an SRAM chip in the board space youā€™ve saved, use the onboard memory for enriching the core code and offload all non time-critical user code to the off-chip SRAM :smile:

58

According to TI:

This makes me look forward to a Spark II :wink:

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59

Letā€™s please get some definite software updates beforehand though:

1 - User programs have absolute control over the wifi module, including searching for and setting up networks. All wifi status data is available to the user to put out over an LCD or other method so a user could choose the most appropriate connection from a list.
2 - User programs start up before/independent of wifi connectivity, so that we can tell our users ā€˜connecting to wifi blah blahā€™ via LCD or other method.
3 - Deep sleeps to save power, but with a wake-on-interrupt function.
4 - Users control and own all data to and from their cores and their own servers when using the local cloud.

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60

Working on it! :slight_smile:

(extra characters here)

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