Hi As I've mentioned before, the ARM parts are getting to be pretty pervasive. The toolchains are quite good. The peripherals are extensive and they seem to work well. I have a preference for the Freescale versions, but there are a *lot* of people out there making them. They similarities between them are greater in most cases than the differences. You can get a part with 1MB of flash, 128KB of ram, 6 UARTS, 4 16 bit A/D's, 10/100 Ethernet, USB, and a bunch of other stuff for less than $10. Drop this and that, go to half the flash, and yup, the price is 1/2. Comes with a free toolchain and two very capable free versions of RTOS.
Why harp so much on toolchain stuff? Well, some of these outfits seem to think that $1,000 or $10,000 is a reasonable thing to pay for a single seat license of a full featured tool suite. The same is true in the RTOS world once you get past the "training wheels" versions. Not everything does well running under Linux. I would much rather have a proper RTOS for most embedded tasks. Bob On May 25, 2013, at 4:09 PM, "Charles P. Steinmetz" <[email protected]> wrote: > On another thread, Bob wrote: > >> If the objective is to complete a very simple, low powered project and be >> done with it, go with the Arduino. If the objective is to learn an empire, >> be very careful about which empire you pick. The ARM boys are quickly >> gobbling up a lot of territory that once was populated by a number of >> competing CPU's. Learning this stuff, and getting good at it is a >> significant investment of time. > > I'm starting a new thread because I don't want to hijack the first one, which > I'm hoping will continue to provide useful information about the broad > continuum of available devices, from the "easy enough for a child to assemble > and program" to the "need to learn machine language." > > My question here is more pointed: If one is going to learn a new system today > for timing and other measurement/control projects, which "empire" is likely > the best one to choose? > > Of course, much depends on "what do you want to do with it?" So, perhaps, > the ultimate answer will be several families, each for a class of > applications. But on the other hand, some families may have a range of > models that fulfill a wide range of applications. Also, my personal approach > does not require squeezing each project into the most minimal hardware > possible -- as long as the added expense isn't huge, I'm fine with using more > resources than necessary for smaller tasks if it means my investment in > learning the system (and in programming tools) is leveraged more broadly. > Also, my personal needs generally do not run to battery or other low-power > systems, so low power drain is not of great importance to me. > > Some of the more systemic (less application-oriented) factors would be, which > system is more versatile? Which has the most useful PC cards (or development > kits) available that do not require the user to start with a bare chip? > Which is likely to be around and supported longer? Which is easier to > program? For which is one likely to find more programs to study and pirate, > more libraries, etc.? Which is easier to outfit with removable memory (USB > drives, memory cards, etc.)? Which has better and faster ADCs and DACs? I'm > sure there are lots of other factors worth considering, as well. > > There may be good resources already available that address these issues. If > so, pointers would be appreciated. > > Any books people recommend to get a feel for applying and programming these > devices? > > Much appreciated, > > Charles > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
