Looking for Microcontroller Recommendations

Years back I played some with PIC microcontrollers but I've heard that manufacturers are making better microcontrollers for less money.

Not looking for professional ICE or anything but maybe something competitive with Microchips in circuit programmer/debugger. I was considering buying Microchips ICD3 with PICDEM 2 board for $230, but thought maybe something would be a better choice. I'm considering Atmels line but wanted some input on others worth checking into.

Any recommendations on favorite microcontrollers that I can get up an running with for a reasonable amount of dollars?

Thanks!

RogerN

Reply to
RogerN
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About $100 will get you going on the silabs devices. You get:

8 input MUX to a ADC 2 DACs A collection of counters 128K of code space a few K of RAM A couple of UARTs A SPI port A couple of comparators

Reply to
MooseFET

Yes, PIC included. They have everything from 8bit 6pin chips that cost cents, to 32bit processors that cost about $5.

Forget the ICD3, the PICkit3 is all you need for program and debug, it's essentially the same as the ICD3 but much cheaper. The PICkit 3 on it's own is only $45, or a bit more with a demo board included. See my review:

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Don't take in all the negative stuff, that's only in comparison to the older PICkit2, it's actually a good programmer/debugger and is all you will need.

Atmel have a similar priced ISP programmer, but it doesn't do debug.

Don't touch third party or kit programmers, really, they are not worth the hassle.

Atmel and PIC are essentially the "big two" (argue away...), you'd probably only go with something else unless you have a specific need.

The Arduino is arguably the easiest system to get up and running, and it's all the rage, see my review:

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It uses an Atmel. There is the PICAXE too, but you probably want something more than that.

All other raw micros (PIC, AVR, MSP430 etc) and their associated development systems are about as equally annoying to get running for the beginner.

Dave.

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Reply to
David L. Jones

230$ just about gets you two of these
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Reply to
a7yvm109gf5d1

If I get to choose, I use Z8XP

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with this dev kit (~$50)

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Reply to
IanM

On a sunny day (Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:22:56 -0600) it happened "RogerN" wrote in :

There are no better micro controllers then PICs. Next step up is a x86 :-)

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

RogerN schrieb:

^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is no such thing as a "better microcontroller". Some are cheaper, more powerful, have more/less PINs, UARTs, RAM/ROM etc...

AFAIK is Atmel's Jtag protocol proprietary. On the other Hand an SPI-Programmer can de made from a parallel port and a few wires.

MSP430-series: Cheap, free toolchain including in circuit debugger.

ARM: In circuit debugger with OpenOCD, free toolchain.

I hate/like them all ;-)

Atmel AVR: Programmer is 50¢ (LPT and wires) controller

Reply to
Falk Willberg

Roger,

Texas Instruments' MSP430 low-power 16-bit MPU series has a lot to offer, and they've released a number of inexpensive (relatively speaking ) development/experimentation kits:

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(Or just go to

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and check under Microprocessors, then MSP430/Tools_and_Software)

The lowest-entry-cost package is the ez430-2013, a USB plug-in kit for $20US with a detachable processor board. It's a good kit for learning the MSP430 instructions and internals, but you'll want to solder a header onto the detachable F2013 board when you get around to attaching peripherals. What's really nice is that if you're not yet set up to etch your own PC boards you can pick up additional boards from TI at $10/3 and just wire them into a project. (The spare boards are also handy if you discover you aren't the world's greatest solderer. )

If you want to play with RF links, there's the ez430-RF2500T for $50US, a two-board kit (wireless is kinda silly with only one board, but not every EVK-maker seems to realize this).

But it's hard to get excited by a bare-bones CPU/MPU, and you can code only so many LED-flashers before you start getting bored. This may explain TI's latest MSP430 offering, the eZ430-Chronos: a development kit built around a sports watch. (These were in considerable demand and just started shipping, but the backlog may be gone by the time you make your decision.)

This $50US kit includes the watch, a USB RF access point for communicating with the watch, and a USB programming/debugging board/interface. The watch, in addition to its 96-segment LCD display, has a pressure sensor, temperature sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer, and five buttons. You can find more details in TI's ez430-Chronos Development Tool User's Guide PDF.

TI provides the source code for the pre-installed application software. You don't _have_ to use TI's code, but having software to look at that exercises each of the peripherals means that you don't have to start coding from scratch, and sometimes it takes working code and some experimenting to really understand the fuzzier areas of a part's data sheet.

If you're just getting started you'll probably have questions. TI has a number of MSP430 technical documents available, a set of TI-hosted fora, and recently set up a MSP430 "wiki". There is a Yahoo MSP430 group, a 'web site called DesignMSP430

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and several collections of overciews and university course labs and notes scattered across the 'web.

Another option is to choose one of the mushrooming Arduino-class boards: inexpensive boards based on the Atmel AVR series, available in a variety of form factors. Many are designed to accept peripheral boards (ethernet, USB, motor control, etc.) known as "shields". The original site seems to be:

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but you can also obtain parts and information from:

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(check the Arduino menu)

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

Frank McKenney

-- "They [the Congress] seemed, some little while ago, to be at a loss for objects whereon to throw away the supposed fathomless funds of the treasury." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Ritchie

-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

Reply to
Frnak McKenney

The future seems to be the ARM architecture.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

I'd go for an ARM based controller nowadays. NXP has a very nice lineup and they can be programmed through the serial port (no hassle with JTAG).

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Reply to
Nico Coesel

On a sunny day (Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:39:11 -0800) it happened John Larkin wrote in :

I bought a book on ARM in the eighties? I was also the future then ;-) But somehow x86 grabbed it.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

No, today is the ARM architecture!

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Reply to
Nico Coesel

On a sunny day (Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:39:59 GMT) it happened snipped-for-privacy@puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) wrote in :

Writing from the ARMchair I suppose...

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

x86 has - for now - won on the desktop, but there are around 100 embedded uPs for every PC, and the embedded chips aren't x86. Some netbooks are ARM+Linux, and that may be an increasing trend.

There's no justification for putting a hundred dollars (or more) worth of power-hogging x86 CPU into a web browser or a cell phone. Some of the low-end ARM chips cost well under a dollar now, and there is some awesome stuff for $5 or so.

I'm sorta hoping that Intel will be the next DEC, except that I miss DEC.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

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As I have pointed out before the 8051 in fact out performed the 8088 on many operations.

A simple 32 bit Arm like processor would be just about the ideal processor for viewing web pages and working on documents etc. It can address enough memory and fling bytes around efficiently. For viewing a video a little hardware help could make it ok for that job. When something like LTspice is being run, a little more is needed:

Programs like LTspice need to be able to do long floating point operations and move the floats to and from memory quickly. For this it seems that having a second processor that does this would be the way to go. The user interface of the program could run on the integer machine. When the floats are needed, the second machine gets powered up and handed the problem. It would mean that the power consumption would shift up and down.

The $100 lap top that is being shipped to 3rd world countries does this sort of thing only more so. Most of the time, it is running just a small microcontroller. When the user does something that needs to be responded to, the CPU chip gets powered up just for as long as it takes.

Reply to
MooseFET

That is exactly why almost every ARM based system on chip has a floating point unit.

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Reply to
Nico Coesel

Thanks for all the fantastic recommendations! It seems like for many of the microcontrollers it doesn't cost much to get going at a hobby level. I ordered a PIC18 something starter kit that comes with a PICkit2 programmer/debugger and I ordered a PICkit3 Debug Express. I also have an Atmel STK500 starter kit that I bought around 10 years ago and have hardly used. I downloaded Arduino software and GNU C compiler for the AVRs. I plan to look into the other stuff that I'm not familiar with but sounds interesting, such as the Texas Instruments, Silabs, Arm, etc.

At work some of our electricians hacked into alarm clocks to automatically start their car a few minutes before the end of their shift. They have the Bulldog security remote starter and said it has an input you can use to start your car, where we work is too far from the parking lot to use the remote. That would be a nice microcontroller project, use a temperature sensor and RTCC, if it's freezing out, start the car so many minutes before the end of shift, the colder it is, the more warm up time is allowed.

I'm wanting to make some intelligent I/O and operator interface products that would be compatible with the Basic Stamp but would have a ICSP plug and perhaps a bootloader so these could be reprogrammed for anything else the end user wanted. Of course the products being compatible with the Basic Stamp would work with other microcontrollers and could even be controlled from a PC.

Thanks again!

RogerN

Reply to
RogerN

But be advised: as soon as you think 'I need 2 PICs for this project' it is time to dump the PIC and learn to use a completely different microcontroller. For more complicated projects using a PIC is like eating soup with chopsticks. PIC gets you started real fast but it also runs out of air real fast.

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Reply to
Nico Coesel

What applications have you had to implement where a 40-80 MHz 32-bit MIPS processor with 512M of flash is so woefully inadequate?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Be careful here. It's very easy to burn up a starter, wiring, or at least kill a battery, when you least want a dead battery (BT). Even professionally installed car starters cause enough problems to invalidate car warranties. There is a *lot* to consider here. I certainly wouldn't play with a car starter. I found it easier to move to the South. ;-)

Reply to
krw

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