On 5/26/13 9:00 AM, Chris Albertson wrote:
But for many applications, the inevitable overhead
(power, heat, external components, OS, etc) simply
eliminates the gain of having a better/faster CPU.
Sometimes I end up using a 6 or 8 pin PIC with only
a few lines of code to to solve complex problems where
a (F)PGA/CPLD design would be a lot of work and a
16/32bit microcontroller simply overkill.
As it turns out there are a LOT more simple jobs than there are
complex jobs. This is why they make and sel a lot motr 8-t
controllers than they sell 32-bit controllers.
For example I want to control the cooling fan for a rubidium
oscillator's heat sink. I only need three pins, 1) the temperature
sensor, 2) Fan tachometer pulse, fan voltage. A $1 "tiny AVR" 8-pin
chip can handle this just fine and we are talking about 20 lines of
code maybe after the pins are set up. Using an ARM and running an OS
would be silly overkill.
The other thing is packaging and peripherals..not to mention development
time. It might be more "cost effective" (where cost is some complex
conglomeration of your time and money) to always use the same part, even
if overkill.
Some people are happy to layout a new PCB, get it fabbed (or make it
themselves) or deadbug it. Others might want a board with terminal
strips. Or you might want something that you have a box for or maybe
you like mounting it inside.
I think everyone has their favorites, and most folks tend to have
relatively few candidates at any given time (it's difficult to switch
among various processors on a day to day basis). Right now, I tend to
use Matlab on PCs for big things, with some python. For smaller needs,
I've been using lots of Arduino Uno R3s and Teensy3s, because of the
packaging. Both using the Arduino semi-C tool chain and also the
non-arduino compilers. (having a USB boot loader, etc, does make life
easier).
I've used PICs and Rabbits in the not too recent past, but the Rabbits
don't have as nice a development environment, and there's no equivalent
of the $20 Arduino, nor the plethora of cheap interfaces to things like
relays and what not.
I haven't looked much at whether a low cost PIC on a board with
peripherals is available. They've always been a "build a circuit" either
with perfboard, deadbug, or small PCB, and that makes it take a few more
hours or days.
For the "I want to finish the project this weekend starting Saturday
afternoon", the whole arduino world is pretty convenient, at least as
far as getting the hardware put together and a first load of software
running.
_______________________________________________
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.
