Hello lebgeekers.
A friend lent me one of these boards with the ethernet and serial module on top.
It has a cortex M4 CPU.
The question I come with, is does anyone have ideas for a cool thing I could do with it? I think I have about one month to do something with it.
I'm guessing a month is not very long. I'm not really a "low-level" programmer, so maybe I can try simple program to blink the LEDs, maybe vary them with the output from the gyroscope. I have an idea related to monitoring and controlling the temperature but this board does not seem to be equipped with a thermometer.
Maybe someone has a better idea? I'd like to impress him!
Note: I don't know if you can use the 32 bits as input or output as you wish in this board...

Here is a simple idea to build a countdown timer:

Buy 4 buttons and 2 7-segment displays.
Use the buttons as inputs, the first one increments the counter, the second decrements it, the third starts/pauses the countdown with the value shown, the fourth button resets the time to 0.

And use the 2 7-segment displays to show the current value of the timer
I like Ra8's idea.

For added (slight) complexity, buy only 2 buttons and play with simultaneous button press.
Thanks. At first this sounds like a very simple (and therefore not very impressive or very exciting) application, and it also means I will have to go find and buy additional components. But it also looks like a gentle and rewarding way to start embedded programming (without being overwhelmed), so I think this is actually a good idea. Thanks.

There is already one "user" button on the board, I'm thinking maybe I can use that (single click, double click, long press) too. I might still need one button because that's only three commands. Or maybe have a triple click! Anyway I can see when I get to that stage.

PS, might need resistors as well. I've found this resource regarding connecting a 7 segment led display to the board:
http://www.eeherald.com/section/design-guide/esmod4bsample.html
Well, first of all you need to know why the two buttons on the board are labelled "user" and "reset". What if they are related to loading the program onto the microprocessor? I would recommend reading about the components on the board to know if they serve a function or not.

Having said that, I would suggest building a "simple" 3-story elevator. I quoted "simple" because when you're designing the circuit you will come to realize that there are several scenarios you have to take into account (e.g. the motor has to turn forward and backward to reach the desired floor in shortest time possible, when 2 users on different floors "order" the elevator which client gets served first, when someone presses the same button over and over how will the designed circuit deal with it, how does the elevator know it reached the right floor and to stop at that particular floor, etc...). However, it gives any low-level programming beginner the chance to get to know electronics in the best way possible: motors, LEDs (there has to be one on each floor to signify that the push button order has been received), seven-segment display to show which floor is being reached, push buttons outside the elevator and inside the elevator, sensors to signify which floor has been reached or not, and other components as well in well known smaller circuits like voltage regulators, voltage dividers, counters, etc... Also, the desired level of programming is not too complicated but not easy either. This is why this project is a favorite for university professors to give at courses like embedded circuits and microcontrollers (I remember my elevator, good times Dr. Smaili).

Also, I remember doing a clock, I think it was a binary clock (can't remember though).

Just my 2 cents.
mesa177 wroteWell, first of all you need to know why the two buttons on the board are labelled "user" and "reset".
According to the owner of the board, "reset" reboots the board, and "user" is a user-assignable button. I don't remember i the reset button can be reprogrammed into something else. Probably not, but I don't exactly remember all he said about it.
Thanks for your idea it's pretty cool but I don't know if I want to go buy motors and other things on top of the buttons and displays.