The 218 clone is available from Samodular.com as 218s  and EMS Store 218R (R=Roman)

218s   this is soon available in a improved version also from samodular.com

I built the 218R from an old kit for a friend, some experience and docs are here to have an backup and knowledge transfer:

Differences:

the 218R is black/silver 

the 218s is blue,red

the new upcoming versions of the 218s use an ARM STM32 directly on the pcb, no additional pcb.

Programming/Flashing:

latest Firmware from EMS website: B218-v2.0.hex

howto flash:

connect the ribbon cable to the STlink v2 programmer and connect a PC to the programmer by usb.

start the STM programmer tool

power on the 218R

try to make an connection in the STM Utility software and upload the data by the function: "program&verify"

after you have done this, the connection will be lost ! that's ok. (on bottom you can see the error message after the programming) - but you need to respect the log entry before the error message started  - which says: "programmed in 1s and 430ms" that's what we want.

just disconnect and restart the 218R and perform the compare function - which reads the memory of the 218R and the computer it with the content of the hex file.

that's all. 

Pictures:

The heart an STM32, not perfect here - the decoupling caps are far away from close to the chip.