Denis,

while GPIO was found being slow, there was some attempts to use the 
DeviceTree. Since the Linux kernel 3.8, it is part of the system. Here are 
some links:

https://learn.adafruit.com/introduction-to-the-beaglebone-black-device-tree/overview
http://chiragnagpal.com/examples.html

Especially the second one, gets the performance from 3.5kHz up to 2.8MHz. 
What is more - it seems to be possible to do some changes during the 
runtime (Device Tree overlays)

Well, I am no HW expert, just a former scripting guy, so sorry if I am 
confused :-)

Cheers,
Petr

Dne neděle 22. listopadu 2015 20:06:31 UTC+1 Dennis Lee Bieber napsal(a):
>
> On Sun, 22 Nov 2015 02:09:09 -0800 (PST), Marc Wells 
> <[email protected] <javascript:>> declaimed the 
> following: 
>
> >i am newbie ,, been looking for a board and there are lots out there ,, i 
> >am running a raspberry pi 2 ,, to slow ,, any way . i would like a nice 
> >fast little computer to run my cnc , which board it right foe me 
>
>         I suspect I'm not the one who should be answering (I don't think 
> I've 
> managed to get my BBB to flash an LED using Python yet... 
> Javascript/Bonescript demo, yes... Python, no). 
>
>         However, in order to answer the question, one needs to understand 
> what 
> aspects your are finding "to(o) slow". Number crunching algorithms or I/O? 
> If I recall, the R-Pi, as with the BBB, handles GPIO via special entries 
> in 
> the Linux file system. That is going to be slow on any board since one 
> basically has to open/write/close the special device files to make any 
> change in state on the GPIO. 
>
>         If it is the number crunching side, rather than the I/O control 
> side, 
> the R-Pi 2B is a quad-core Cortex A7 at 900MHz with 1GB RAM ( 
> https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/ ). The BBB 
> is 
> a single-core Cortex A8 at 1GHz with half the RAM ( 
> http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack ). The R-Pi 2B, if the 
> multiple cores are used, should be faster for number crunching. 
>
>         If my understanding of GPIO via the Linux file system is proper, 
> there 
> likely isn't much of a difference between 900MHz and 1GHz -- especially 
> not 
> if the cores on the R-Pi2B are in play so one is number crunching while 
> the 
> other is running an I/O thread; the BBB would have to alternate the 
> functions. 
>
>         OTOH, the BBB does have a pair of specialized PRUs designed to 
> have 
> faster, direct access to the GPIO. But they aren't programmed using the 
> common OS tools -- and they will end up running in parallel. 
>
>         You may really be looking at a coprocessor system -- Linux 
> computer 
> with add-on microcontroller... Say an Arduino Due programmed to handle the 
> actual CNC machine, with its (relatively) high-speed GPIO capability, 
> while 
> using the R-Pi2B as the number cruncher, and sending path commands (simple 
> "MOVE TO x, y, z" to the Due; the Due then implements the step commands to 
> actually reach that position. The Due (a Cortex M3 as I recall) may even 
> have enough power to handle simple spline computations -- "SPLINE FROM 
> x1,y1,z1 THROUGH x2,y2,z2 END x3,y3,z3"). 
>
>         The TIVA TM4C boards use variations of ARM Cortex M4F processors 
> with 
> lots of add-on peripherals (interrupts, the 123 board has enough timers 
> that one could dedicate a timer to each track of a soap-box derby coarse 
> and still have left-overs [6 32-bit that can be split into 12 16-bit, AND 
> 6 
> 64-bit splitable into 12 32-bit]; the 1294 "connected" has Ethernet and 
> lots of memory for a controller, you likely don't need the 129E "crypto 
> connected" with hardware encryption modules). The TIVA controllers can be 
> programmed using TI-RTOS -- real time OS. (You will need CCS6 to program 
> RTOS, but if you want simple, there is Energia -- a TIVA specific fork of 
> the Arduino IDE) 
>
>
>         Emphasis: TIVAs are controllers [TI considers them evaluation kits 
> for 
> the chips themselves, not as a hobbyist product like an Arduino, they'd 
> like you to buy hundreds of the chips for embedding in your own products]. 
>
>         And yes, I'm rambling... Too many boards, not enough time {BBB, 
> TIVA 
> TM4C123, TM4C1294, TM4C129E, Arduino Due, Uno, Mega2560, BASIC Stamps 2, 
> 2p, 2px, Propeller -- the BS2 is really overpriced by modern standards, 
> and 
> a handful of PIC chips} 
> -- 
>         Wulfraed                 Dennis Lee Bieber         AF6VN 
>     [email protected] <javascript:>    HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/ 
>
>

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