USB GPIO Interface - The Easy Way !

[TiagoSilva]

Hi, i'm in need of an idea of how to make an USB GPIO Interface board, is there any ic with that function ? or does anyone knows an simple way of doing that ? It doesn't need to have many I/Os but it needs to be by USB...
Or where can i find an simple schematic to do that ?

The main ideia is to make an simple GPIO Board that is connected to the PC by USB Interface.

Well,
i hope anyone can help me...
thanks.

 

[arhi]

USB GPIO Interface board, is there any ic with that function ?

I'm using this:
**broken link removed**

I believe that's what you need .. on the one side you have USB, on the other side you have serial port or bitbang

 

[fenderman]

Hi,
As arhi suggests, I am already using the FTDI devices, I use the DLP-USB245M-G modules, details can be found at **broken link removed**
This device is already build onto a small PCB and you can use the VCP (Virtual Comm Port) drivers suplied by them to interface directly to a PC, and they are cheap and very easy to implement.
Roy

 

[LabRat]

Aren't these a bit expensive? Wouldn't something like the Microchip PIC's with USB support be more cost effective? (Or have I missed something in the requirements that would rule these out?)
See 18F2550 for example (28 pin device)

 

[arhi]

Aren't these a bit expensive?

DLP packages (board with FT chip + pic + some other things) maybe is but FT's are 2-4GBP price range (4-8US$) for 1 FT chip .. I do not see how is that expensive.

here is the price for FT2232D (I use that one mostly - it has 2 ports, can be configured as serial or parallel.. easy to use .. i love it)
**broken link removed**

 

[blueroomelectronics]

The FTDI245R is preprogrammed as a USB to parallel device, although not as flexible as a microcontroller solution like the 18F2550. Because it's SOIC it won't be as easy to prototype as a DIP package like the 18F2550 either.

 

[LabRat]

Ok.. I followed the link and found "DIP" boards priced (in UK) for 19 pounds. (Not sure how to make that funky UK money sign). Which is circa $40.00 over here. Quite a large difference in price.

 

[arhi]

It is absolutely true that soic is not that easy to experiment with, that is why I personally use one dip module (bought it together with CCC C compiler for ~100EUR) for testing, and I order only chips for the final product .. it is less flexible then pic but it is definetely the "easiest" way to interface your board to PC via usb .. not to mention that driver works great..

anyhow, lot of 18Fwxyz work nice with USB .. the FT**** is the easy way - not necessary the best way

 

[3v0]

Hi, i'm in need of an idea of how to make an USB GPIO Interface board, is there any ic with that function ? or does anyone knows an simple way of doing that ?

Look up a little project called the USB bitwacker.
**broken link removed**

Also
for linux/C info.

Sparkfun sells it as a kit but can wire it up point to point if needed.

 

[ella]

My favorite one is SUB-20. It has 32 documented GPIO and 2 push buttons. It is built with AT90USB647.
SUB-20 Multi Interface USB Adapter USB to I2C SPI GPIO RS232 RS485 Ir
It has also PWM outputs and analog inputs.