Re: [N8VEM-S100:6079] Micro controllers

["mike" <mi...@pikeaero.com>]

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It really depends on what you have in mind.

I've been using a host of micro controllers over the last many years.
Lately, it's been a lot of ARM7 and ARM Cortex, namely a lot of the
STM32Fxxx family (from Cortex-M0 to Cortex-M4F), some older NXP
LPC2xxxx (ARM7TDMI) I'm still seeing, as well as some TI Stelaris
(Cortex-M3), as well as a splash of Microchip PIC.

In some of the demanding applications I've been recently involved with
dealing with very tight timing, high speed ADC/signal processing
(number crunching) as well as servicing multiple sources of high speed
asynchronous communication channels events at the same time (Ethernet,
CAN bus, SPI, etc... So basically a lot of "real-time" mixed with a
lot of async stream-type of I/O patterns, they tend to not want to
play nicely with one another.

For these kinds of applications one must pay particularly close
attention to the architecture of the controller. For instance, the
STM32F4xxx family have 2x DMA controllers, each with their OWN BUS.
This is an important hardware feature when you're dealing with a lot
of high speed async traffic, while at the same time you're dealing
with a number of "real-time" functions. With this setup, the peripher
I/O has minimal impact CPU throughput rate. It's kind of similar to
the theory behind the old Multi-Bus standard, only with more physical
busses. :)

On the flip-side you have applications where you're basically
replacing, what in the old day, would have been a hand full of logic
ICs. In those instances, it's usually just a matter of uC pin-count,
maybe the choice of a peripheral or two, and cost, so in those cases,
just about any low cost uC could fit the job.

Some of the uC that have particularly stood out from the crowd, in my
view, over the last several years have been:

TI MSP430 - (PDIP Package) I use the MSP430G2201 in a shipping
product, for pennies each, it's a real nice chip, with 16-bit RISC CPU
core @ 16MHz max, and can power up on just a couple of electrons. :)
It's low power performance is outstanding, and is one of the key
reasons that I use it where I'm using it. I think the last time I
bought a few hundred of these, I got them for something like $0.60
each. And it in a PDIP package, you can handle them with HUMAN HANDS! :)

STM32F030F4 - (TSSOP-20 Package) I'm using this in a product just
about to start shipping. It's a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 @ 48MHz with 16KB
of FLASH, and 4KB of SRAM, so it's got quite a bit more horse power
than something like the MSP430, also richer in peripherals, but also
has low power and low cost characteristic, I just bought 400 of them
for about $0.70 each. For less than a buck, you've got real 32-bit
@48MHz processing, and a nice selection of peripherals in a very tiny
20 pin package. perfect for those jobs where you need a little bit of
I/O, maybe a little bit of complex math, which is exactly how I'm
using it, it's perfect.

STM32F407ZGT6 - (LQFP-144) I'm using this in several higher end
instrumentation packages, with the Cortex-M4 with floating point
co-processor @ 168MHz, the super-DMA setup, the Core-Coupled SRAM,
Ethernet MAC, high-speed 12-bit ADC, 2x 12-bit DAC, hardware CRC gen,
more timers than you can shake a stick at, the works, it's hard to do
better performance/price wise.

For the MSP430 development I just use GCC for MSP430 in command-line
mode (no IDE - my MSP430 programs are small). And I use OpenOCD to run
the JTAG pod.

For the ARM work, I use, and have used, a number of different JTAG
pods, and IDEs. The Olimex JTAG pods work fine, I highly recommend
them, for the price, you can't loose. They even will often work better
on some boards where the the higher end ones will give me grief.

If you're using STM32, if you pick up one of their STM32DISCOVERY
boards (they have free seminars in many cities where they give them
away), they are cheap to buy, and you can do development work right on
the discovery board, but they also double as a programming pod for
your target board (They each have an ST-LINK V2 on them).

There is a Free Open Source IDE called Em::Blocks that works with most
of the popular new ARM controllers, and I think it even works with
MSP430, and maybe some others. It's very nice,m and if it ran un Linux
(there are plans for that), then I would be using it regularly.

On a daily basis, I use Rowley CrossStudio 3.x (which uses GCC on the
back end). It's pretty good, but a little spendy @ $1,500 per seat,
however they have a "personal license" for something like $100.

To me, the Microchip stuff is sort of "ho hum"...nothing really
outstanding, but they perform as expected, and they're typically in
the right price bracket, and the IDE/compiler can be had for free now,
(although the free compiler is slightly crippled in that it won't try
very hard to do certain levels of optimization).

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts on the subject....I think
about this stuff a lot... :)

Re: micro-controller BASIC: CARIBOU++ RTOS also contains a BASIC
interpreter, I recently had CARIBOU BASIC running on separate serial
ports on an LM3s8962 development board. Multi-user BASIC, effectively!
:)  https://sourceforge.net/projects/caribou-rtos/

- --Mike


On 15-01-23 04:11 PM, Tom Lafleur wrote:
> If your not a C or C++ person, look look at these Basic
> interpreters version.. I use a PIC32 with Basic in my starting
> Robotics class...
> 
> You may want to look at this...
> 
> http://mmbasic.com/overview.html
> 
> 
> 
> http://geoffg..net/maximite.html <http://geoffg.net/maximite.html>
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.andrewhazelden.com/blog/2013/03/irixbasic-on-a-pic32-microcontroller/
>
> 
<http://www.andrewhazelden.com/blog/2013/03/irixbasic-on-a-pic32-microcontroller/>
> 
> 
> 
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5348882/which-interpreted-language-can-work-on-on-microchip-pic32
>
> 
<http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5348882/which-interpreted-language-can-work-on-on-microchip-pic32>
> 
> https://sites.google.com/site/pcusbprojects/5-custom-projects/t-microsoft-visual-basic-net-support-for-pic32mx250f128b
>
>  http://www.cpustick.com/
> 
> On Fri, Jan 23, 2015 at 12:12 PM, Tom Lafleur <laf...@lafleur.us 
> <mailto:laf...@lafleur.us>> wrote:
> 
> You know, you can't beat the PIC24/dsPIC33 (16bit) or the PIC32
> for price and performance...
> 
> I've used both for many project and have now standardizer on the 
> PIC32..., no need to use a limiteted processor to do small
> project....
> 
> The development tools are free and solid, lots of demo code
> available...
> 
> a PIC32MX270F256B is in a dip package, USB serial, SPI, I2C I/O
> ATD ect... 64KB ram, 256K flash  all for $4!!! (there even a
> version of BASIC that run on the chip) 
> http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?product=PIC32MX270F256B
>
>  you can use a Microstick II from Microchip for $35 to program
> them or PicKIT3 for $45 ( on sale from time to time) (donot get a
> PICKIT2) 
> http://www.microchip.com/DevelopmentTools/ProductDetails.aspx?PartNO=dm330013-2
>
> 
http://www.microchipdirect.com/ProductSearch.aspx?Keywords=dm330013-2
> 
> ( if you have a .edu email address you can get at 25% discount)
> 
> their just no need to use a limited Arduino today!
> 
> tom lafleur
> 
> On Fri, Jan 23, 2015 at 11:05 AM, Don Caprio <ilv...@gmail.com 
> <mailto:ilv...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> I've been contemplating using micro controllers. Mostly to learn 
> more about them, how they operate and learn to program them. What
> possible uses they may have for S100.
> 
> There is a ton of stuff out there. Looking for recommendations of
> which micro controllers are easy to use and program, don't require
> a ton of $$$ for the dev tools, etc.
> 
> Looks like the Microchip PIC is a contender. Arduino? STM8S003F3P6
> ST Microelectronics - 8 bit MCU 8K flash 16mhz CPU, EEPROM, UART
> Chip is less than $1 ! ???
> 
> 
> Thank you
> 
> -- Don Caprio ilv...@gmail.com <mailto:ilv...@gmail.com>
> 
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> 
> 
> --
> 
> ~~ _/) ~~~~ _/) ~~~~ _/) ~~~~ _/) ~~
> 
> Tom Lafleur
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
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> 
> Tom Lafleur
> 
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- -- 
Regards,

Mike Sharkey

CEO, Engineering Manager
Pike Aero Corp.
420 Cross Street
Sudbury, Ontario
Canada    P3E-3W1

P:1+(705)586-2255
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