Always Innovating

[Al Johnson]

On Wednesday 03 November 2010, Thomas HOCEDEZ wrote:
> On 02/11/2010 16:44, Al Johnson wrote:
> > On Tuesday 02 November 2010, Thomas HOCEDEZ wrote:
> >> Le 01/11/2010 12:40, Al Johnson a écrit :
> >>> On Monday 01 November 2010, Chuck Norris wrote:
> >>>> 01.11.2010 16:41, Ed Kapitein пишет:
> >>>>> Hi All,
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> A while ago there was intrest in the MID of always inovating.
> >>>>> They seem to be shipping the devices as of today. [1]
> >>>>> So get them while they'r fresh ;-)
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Kind regards,
> >>>>> Ed
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> [1] https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/store/home.php
> >>>> 
> >>>> Did they add GSM/3G ? or something other features?
> >>> 
> >>> In that timeframe? You've got to be joking!
> >> 
> >> You're not kidding so much : the founder of A.I. just asked me today if
> >> I had finished the design of the plugin I want to build for the Minibook
> >> ! I have to work hard tonight !
> > 
> > It's good to know they're interested. What are you putting in the module?
> > Are you using the public info about the 40pin connector, or do you have
> > more to go on?
> 
> The main idea I had was to plug everything through the 40pin connector.
> All the stuff will be contained in a case in parallel of the MiniMoko
> one. (a kind of 'slice' if you want).
> They wanted us to design the schema of what should be included & the
> connections.
> 
> For my part, I started with
> - 1 usb hub
> 
>      |---->  free miniusb connector (to connect the outside world)
>      |---->  3G usb key (some of them are working out of the box, got to
> find which)

Also check they're capable of voice calls - not all of them are. Aren't they 
going to be too big and power hungry though? It wasn't clear to me whether the 
minibook had mic and earpiece suitable for phone use either. 3G modules would 
be smaller - check out telit and the one identified for gta04. I don't know 
how they connect though.

>      |---->  GPS USB dongle (no idea of which one for now)

The ones I've seen are probably too big. you could just connect a gps chip to 
the serial port, and get AI to help with getting the impedance right for the 
antenna trace. Sparkfun have a selection of gps chips and antennae, including 
a tiny chip antenna that might be good enough. Remember to stick the antenna 
somewhere it can see the sky!

>      \---->  Internal USB Port
> - Powering capabilities (through USB / extra battery?)
> 
> There will be a problem in what size all this stuff will be, and as the
> MiniBook is 0.9cm wide, I don't want to make a hufghr sandwich !

Nothing for gyro or compass? The circuit from the nav board v2 should connect 
directly to the 40 pin connector to provide these.