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The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

jaycarlson.net

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Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#71

Post by teraflop »

iheartpotatoes wrote: post #70
Darkphibre wrote: post #51

Oh, I really like his analysis on "Parametric Reach" for the various architectures: > If you want to commit to a single architecture, it’s important to know which one gives you the most headroom to move up. I created a fictious “times better” score by comparing the the part tested with the best part available in the same ecosystem — this usually means fairly comparable peripheral programming, along with identical dev…

He should have used the geometric mean, that's exactly what it is designed for.

Multiplying four values together and taking their fourth root is the geometric mean.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#72

Post by Taniwha »

blhack wrote: post #47

I feel obligated to mention in every one of these threads the wemos D1. I actually have a tough time explaining just how incredible this board is. You can program it in the Arduino environment, meaning if you are doing any hobby electronics, you're probably already really familiar with the programming modalities. It comes with a programmer, and power regulator. No fussing with anything like you might have to with a b…

I give these away to local kids - on aliexpress $5 buys you a baggy containing a D1, a proto board, wires, resistors, LEDs, temp/light sensors, switches ....

Great value - program them as if they were an arduino

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#74

Post by mylons »

cr0sh wrote: post #69
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…

Are you in the United States? I'm just curious how your homeowner's insurance feels about this? That is, will they still pay out for a claim should something happen, and they determine your modifications were at fault? Because if the adjuster or whomever does find you have such modifications - they -will- blame those. And probably deny your claim and coverage (and probably cancel your policy). At least that would lik…

does insurance feel the same way about a Nest and other commercial devices that are already available?

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#75

Post by iheartpotatoes »

Having used half the IDE's this person outlined, I really really really really wish every single one had a "write Makefile" option. Maybe 1/4 or the IDEs I use do that successfully. I always end up using GDB for debugging, and then the IDE for asm-level tweaking (well, I don't do the tweaking, someone smarter than me does :), but I can do 90% of my work in GDB).

In the "real world" IAR Embedded Workshop is the hands-down winner (licenses are $$$$$$), which is unfortunate because despite being so mature it is awfully clunky.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#76

Post by gmiller123456 »

blhack wrote: post #47

I feel obligated to mention in every one of these threads the wemos D1. I actually have a tough time explaining just how incredible this board is. You can program it in the Arduino environment, meaning if you are doing any hobby electronics, you're probably already really familiar with the programming modalities. It comes with a programmer, and power regulator. No fussing with anything like you might have to with a b…

I actually prefer the Wemos D1 Mini. The D1 you linked has the same header layout as the Arduino, which might confuse a lot of people that you can use Arduino shields. Some of them might work, but probably not without modifying the libraries for them.

The D1 Mini actually has it's own shield format, and several shields are available. Even experienced people will find value in the ability to just plug in a display, or other device and use already available libraries. Maybe not great for production work, but great for prototyping and learning.

I think the big downfall with any ESP8266 board compared to others is going to be power consumption, even with WiFi off. So anyone not plugging theirs into a wall should do some research in that area.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#77

Post by hathawsh »

cr0sh wrote: post #69
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…

Are you in the United States? I'm just curious how your homeowner's insurance feels about this? That is, will they still pay out for a claim should something happen, and they determine your modifications were at fault? Because if the adjuster or whomever does find you have such modifications - they -will- blame those. And probably deny your claim and coverage (and probably cancel your policy). At least that would lik…

I agree. I bought a little relay board a few years ago to get started on a project for controlling line voltage, but then I started to think:

- Will the board short if it happens to collect moisture, oil, dust, or lint? What if a bug is attracted to it? Will I even monitor the condition of the board?

- Will the traces and relays heat up if I accidentally draw too much current through them? Will they degrade over time?

- Is there a chance that vibration could loosen the board and make unintentional connections?

I decided I probably could never answer these questions well enough to satisfy an insurance company. It doesn't matter that I have plenty of experience with line voltage; what matters is that I am not a licensed electrician. Therefore, at home, I only experiment with low voltage and low current, delegating all line voltage to UL listed devices.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#78

Post by simonbh »

cr0sh wrote: post #69
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…

Are you in the United States? I'm just curious how your homeowner's insurance feels about this? That is, will they still pay out for a claim should something happen, and they determine your modifications were at fault? Because if the adjuster or whomever does find you have such modifications - they -will- blame those. And probably deny your claim and coverage (and probably cancel your policy). At least that would lik…

I went with a IotaWatt for measuring my home energy usage. It is based on the ESP8266 and is completely opensource hardware and software. You retain control of your data or you send to an external server.

https://iotawatt.com/

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#80

Post by foobarian »

magicalhippo wrote: post #64
neya wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Power monitoring is tricky. Rest are simple. Power monitoring involves converting the mains voltage to DC that is almost proportional to the mains voltage. Then you would rectify it and downsize it and get it to a voltage level that whatever power management IC you use can accept. You also need to include fuses and other safety circuitry to ensure it doesn't exceed that threshold your microcontroller can accept…

> You also need to include fuses and other safety circuitry to ensure it doesn't exceed that threshold your microcontroller can accept. I'd say you need to include other safety circuitry, as well as proper PCB design, to make sure it doesn't start a fire. If you don't know what you're doing, don't rely on random stuff from AliExpress etc to be grid safe, and don't try to make stuff that connects to the grid yourself.…

I would be terrified of any kind of relay there. I had a few relays fail on my furnace such that they burned a 1" diameter hole in the PCB.
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