The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#31

Post by microtonal » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

penagwin wrote: post #20

kickscondor wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally with you. The tiny original Digispark (with the USB traces on the board itself) is my fave - I use them for teaching school clubs and personal projects/gifts. If I need to go beyond that, it usually means straight to the ESP8266 or ESP32. But that's pretty rare. (With you on the nRFs, too!)

How do you like the nRFs? I've been all over the ESP8266/ESP32 since it came out, they're crazily versatile chips! I've been interested in Lora/nRF/LoraWAN for some of my low-power further range projects. I'm just curious as to how they compare to the ESP's. Also, how do you power your projects? I'm considering buying 6+ usb bricks, but I'm skeptical of non-brand name ones, and brand name bricks are expensive. After…

How often do you want to send/receive data? I experimented with a Wemos D1 Mini and a pack of 4 rechargeable NiMH batteries (LiPo batteries seem like playing with fire, literally). In deep sleep the power consumption is very low, I measured something close to the 20uA from the spec sheet.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#32

Post by cstuder » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:48 PM UTC

louky wrote: post #14

sgt wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is the documentation on those?

Not great, Dave from EEVblog did a few videos on them and how to use them. I think they're all OTP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rixo78hv_lw

OTP = One-time programmable

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#33

Post by nerfhammer » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

neya wrote: post #8

My favorite is the ATTINY 85. It's so cheap and yet, it can do almost most of the things you can do an Arduino. And yes, you can program it using the Arduino IDE as well. Last year, I started out to digitalize my entire house with these tiny ATTINY 85 chips and with some nrF wireless chips. It has worked really well for me and I'm able to control and monitor any power port in my house as well as my mains. The overall…

I've been using the attiny84, iirc attiny85 doesn't support the lowest of the low power modes

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#34

Post by snvzz » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

Obligatory mention of ESP32. It might not be $1 but it's definitely worth being aware of.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#35

Post by SlowRobotAhead » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

childintime wrote: post #27

The Renesas RX200 family would be a nice addition to the list. I'm curious how it fares against the ARM competition. The most amazing ESP8266 also reached $1 in volume, but isn't really comparable to other MCU's, with very few pins and a crippled ADC.

>The Renesas RX200 family would be a nice addition to the list.

Can you show where you're finding RX200s for under a dollar?

Because... I was interested having never seen almost anything from Renesas near what I would consider a good deal. I can't seem to find anything even close [0] this being the cheapest RX200 chip I could find at $1.70 @ 5k [1]

[0] https://www.digikey.com/products/en?dc=49904 [1] https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/renesas-electronic...

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#36

Post by hackyhawk » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

Ah yes, the tape-over-LED April Fools Joke

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#37

Post by penagwin » Tue, May 07, 2019, 6:54 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #31

penagwin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you like the nRFs? I've been all over the ESP8266/ESP32 since it came out, they're crazily versatile chips! I've been interested in Lora/nRF/LoraWAN for some of my low-power further range projects. I'm just curious as to how they compare to the ESP's. Also, how do you power your projects? I'm considering buying 6+ usb bricks, but I'm skeptical of non-brand name ones, and brand name bricks are expensive. After…

How often do you want to send/receive data? I experimented with a Wemos D1 Mini and a pack of 4 rechargeable NiMH batteries (LiPo batteries seem like playing with fire, literally). In deep sleep the power consumption is very low, I measured something close to the 20uA from the spec sheet.

Yeah from what I've seen you can desolder the status LED to lower the current even more. With the ESP32's you can use the lower power processor as well.

I want to automate my blinds, which is kinda annoying as that means ~6 different, "high up" spots in high visibility areas, and obvious motors mean "high power" (compared to micro amps).

I'm really not sure how to approach this one yet...

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#38

Post by penagwin » Tue, May 07, 2019, 7:01 PM UTC

krm01 wrote: post #29

What I really would like to see is some more competition and price drops in displays. These microcontrollers are awesome and I love building small hardware projects. But the output systems are usually pricey. If color (ideally touch) displays can be made available for $5-$7. That would open up a flood gate of opportunities.

One of the most common outputs is relays, thankfully those are pretty cheap. Displays are getting close your price which is great.

Depending on what you're doing you may want to consider purchasing something like a kindle fire for 50$ though and rooting it. Or even a pre-paid "smartphone" for under that much. Then use a microcontroller with it for GPIO.

Non-touch 11$ - https://www.amazon.com/MakerFocus-128x128-Picture-Graphic-Ro...

Touch 15$ - https://www.amazon.com/Elegoo-EL-SM-004-Inches-Technical-Ard...

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#39

Post by penagwin » Tue, May 07, 2019, 7:03 PM UTC

snvzz wrote: post #34

Obligatory mention of ESP32. It might not be $1 but it's definitely worth being aware of.

And the ESP8266. Not as fancy but it's half the price. I love both the ESP8266 and the ESP32 a ton. They really made wifi projects "cheap" for entry-hobbyists instead of some 70USD wifi shield.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#40

Post by penagwin » Tue, May 07, 2019, 7:05 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #25

neya wrote: post #8

My favorite is the ATTINY 85. It's so cheap and yet, it can do almost most of the things you can do an Arduino. And yes, you can program it using the Arduino IDE as well. Last year, I started out to digitalize my entire house with these tiny ATTINY 85 chips and with some nrF wireless chips. It has worked really well for me and I'm able to control and monitor any power port in my house as well as my mains. The overall…

My favorite is the ATTINY 85. It's so cheap and yet, it can do almost most of the things you can do an Arduino. And yes, you can program it using the Arduino IDE as well. How do you deal with the small number of pins? The NRF24L01+ uses SPI, which requires 4 pins. There are some guides on how to hook up an NRF with 3 pins. I think that only leaves 3 pins (besides VCC and GND)? The ATtiny seems to be very attractive o…

I have no clue what your project is, but a lot of us like the ESP8266/ESP32 which are ~2$ and ~5 per module, or around double with their dev kits. Get's you lots of GPIO + wifi.