- Parallax, Inc. (company)
Infobox_Company
company_name = Parallax, Inc.
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan =
foundation =1987 Rocklin, California
location =Rocklin, California
key_people =Chip Gracey , President
industry =Technology
products =Basic Stamp ,SX ,Parallax Propeller
homepage = [http://www.parallax.com/ www.parallax.com]Parallax, Inc. is a privately held company in
Rocklin, California . Parallax, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sellsBASIC Stamp microcontroller s,Propeller microcontroller s, microcontroller accessories (such as LCDs, sensors, RF modules, etc.), educational robot kits, and educational curriculum.It also distributes the SXmicrocontroller .Originally established in
1987 , in Rocklin, CA, Parallax, Inc. manufactured products such as the ISEPIC, TopRAM, and the first third-party Microchip PIC Programmer. In1992 , the BASIC Stamp 1 microcontroller module was released. The BASIC Stamp was so named because it was about the size of a postage stamp. Programmed inPBASIC , the BASIC Stamp found an audience in electronic hobbyists with powerful I/O commands that made it easy to connect to other electronic components. In1995 , the BASIC Stamp 2 module was added to the product lineup. The user base has become diverse, including everyone from scientists and hobbyists to engineers and entrepreneurs. By2002 , there were over three million BASIC Stamp microcontrollers in use around the world.Fact|date=June 2008In
1997 , theStamps in Class program was created to provide educational resources that addressed the needs of electronic students ages 14 and up. Stamps In Class curriculum was designed to introduce students and educators to BASIC Stamp microcontrollers using software basics and simple hardware, integrating the two without a tremendous financial investment. The most popular tutorial is for theBoe-Bot robot, a simple yet versatile rolling robot that has a BASIC Stamp brain.In
1998 , Parallax, Inc. formed a partnership withUbicom (formerlyScenix Semiconductor ) to develop tools and BASIC Stamps using their new SX microcontrollers. Company founder Chip Gracey designed theSX-Key Programming Tool to make programming Ubicom’s SX chips affordable. And in2005 , Parallax, Inc. and Ubicom formed an agreement in which Parallax, Inc. is the exclusive supplier of the SX microcontroller.In
2006 , after eight years of development time, Parallax launched theirParallax Propeller Microcontroller. Amulticore system that can do real-time simultaneousmultiprocessing . It uses eight 32-bit cores called "cogs" controlled by a bus controller called the "Hub". It can be programmed in assembler, or in the interpreted Spin programming language. It comes with a software library of objects for a various sets of I/O devices, such as UARTS and a video display controller emulated fully in software.External links
*http://www.parallax.com
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.