So it's cool regardless and I have to think that it has some benefits, but I have to ask... What's the benefit over pogo pins, especially for programming the chip? I guess less special hardware on the computer doing the programming?
There is no special hardware at all, which is a _huge_ deal.
This is especially important for consumer devices like badges.
Anyone can find a device with screen that can run a webpage, but very very few people would have a right programmer with right pogo pins.
Plus, pogo pins at less than .100" spacing are pretty fragile, and the projects author uses are so small they'll need a much finer pitch.
I'm not sure if it's useful in this incarnation, but I am reminded of the localizers in A Deepness in the Sky, an early description of smartdust which were relatively omnipresent and capable of communicating and being reprogrammed by light patterns.
Comments
So it's cool regardless and I have to think that it has some benefits, but I have to ask... What's the benefit over pogo pins, especially for programming the chip? I guess less special hardware on the computer doing the programming?
There is no special hardware at all, which is a _huge_ deal.
This is especially important for consumer devices like badges. Anyone can find a device with screen that can run a webpage, but very very few people would have a right programmer with right pogo pins.
Plus, pogo pins at less than .100" spacing are pretty fragile, and the projects author uses are so small they'll need a much finer pitch.
I'm not sure if it's useful in this incarnation, but I am reminded of the localizers in A Deepness in the Sky, an early description of smartdust which were relatively omnipresent and capable of communicating and being reprogrammed by light patterns.