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Using only the USB to I2C connector to program BlinkM
Can I use only a USB to I2C connector to program the BlinkM? Or do I need an arduino or microcontroller?
I do not even know what a USB to I2C really is but I'd like to avoid using an arduino or microcontroller. I want to just use the PC to program the BlinkM
I do not even know what a USB to I2C really is but I'd like to avoid using an arduino or microcontroller. I want to just use the PC to program the BlinkM
I’m undecided
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Hi Mike,
You should be able to use any USB-to-I2C converter to program BlinkMs. In fact, when setting up the Arduino board to program BlinkMs, what you're really doing is turning it into a USB-to-I2C adapter. The only reason why we recommend using the Arduino board is that it's 3-5x cheaper than the USB-to-I2C adapters I was able to find on the net. If you know of one comparably priced, I'll test it out and write up how to use it with BlinkMs.
But if you want to get started right now, don't let the fact that Arduino is a general purpose microcontroller platform dissuade you. Several people use an Arduino exclusively for playing with BlinkMs and haven't done anything else with it. To them it is just a cheap USB-to-I2C converter that they had to "configure" once. :)
The company and 2 other people say
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Hi Mike,
You should be able to use any USB-to-I2C converter to program BlinkMs. In fact, when setting up the Arduino board to program BlinkMs, what you're really doing is turning it into a USB-to-I2C adapter. The only reason why we recommend using the Arduino board is that it's 3-5x cheaper than the USB-to-I2C adapters I was able to find on the net. If you know of one comparably priced, I'll test it out and write up how to use it with BlinkMs.
But if you want to get started right now, don't let the fact that Arduino is a general purpose microcontroller platform dissuade you. Several people use an Arduino exclusively for playing with BlinkMs and haven't done anything else with it. To them it is just a cheap USB-to-I2C converter that they had to "configure" once. :)
The company and 2 other people say
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Oh and USB and I2C are both protocols/languages for sending data over a cable. But they do things differently, so an adapter is needed to bridge the two. USB is a relatively complex protocol, suited for when one of the devices is a computer, who can manage all the "conversations" with devices like mice and flash drives. I2C is a really simple protocol made for little tiny devices to talk amongst themselves.
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Inappropriate?I would like to use the Devantech USB-I2C adapter to control a BlinkM. This is a small $41 adapter based on the FTDI FT323R USB chip.
I am having trouble controlling the BlinkM and I am wondering if anyone else has successfully used this part with a BlinkM.
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