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How to pick a microcontroller

sureshjoshi.com

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Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#71

Post by Taniwha »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #68
shmolyneaux wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has used the parallax propeller, I feel like you a doing a bit of a disservice to not include some reasons for or against it. Cons: - Comparatively high price point at $8 - The custom 8-core architecture is more difficult to make full use of - No other chips in the family (can't flexibly move up or down in flash size / IO / core count) - No interrupts - Uncertain availability, and may be nearing end-of…

Wow, some lovely downvotes for making a suggestion. Not sure how two words can be so offensive to people... Other advantages to Propeller in addition to what you say: - DIP form factor, easy to breadboard - Very little supporting circuity needed. Very easy to set up. - Enthusiastic intimate helpful community on the forum - GCC available (not an advantage over Arduino but it exists you don't have to use SPIN) - Pretty…

I'm not sure DIP form factor is a pro these days - it ups manufacturing costs a lot - unless of course all you are making is breadboards - are there SMT versions available?

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#72

Post by jdietrich »

jwr wrote: post #21
std_throwaway wrote: post #2

A quicker guide for real beginners: Do you want to understand in detail what's happening? => Arduino UNO Is the UNO too small/slow? => Arduino Due Still too small or you really just want a small computer running Linux but with GPIO-Pins? => Raspberry PI

I disagree. Everything you listed a) can't be used for products, b) doesn't let you make progress beyond "oh look, I lit up an LED!". Sure, if you never programmed a small device, by all means, start with an Arduino. But after you do light up that LED, please learn more. Go bare metal, learn about interrupts, state machines, entering sleep states -- without those things you'll stay forever in the toy world. In the re…

Arduino was designed as an easy way for non-technical artists to use electronics in their projects. I won't argue that anyone half-serious should go bare metal.

The RPI is a useful production device in some niche applications, thanks to the Compute Module. There are a lot of circumstances where you need a powerful SoC, but you don't have the time or the budget to deal with a dense BGA; the RPI Compute Module replaces a lot of difficult design work with a standard SODIMM slot. Obviously it's no use in a mass-market consumer product, but it makes a ton of sense for a small-volume industrial device.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#73

Post by kirrent »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #27
antoniuschan99 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Light blue bean is $30. ESP is production ready. But doesn't have bluetooth (esp32 is not ready for prime time yet). What are other considerations? Wemos D1 mini or NodeMCU :).

"esp32 is not ready for prime time yet" There are some rough edges, but its already very useable, especially since the new silicon came out. Got anything specific in mind?

I just came back to my esp32 after a 6 week hiatus and the framework has evolved impressively in that amount of time. It's an awesome product for a steal of a price. Definitely at the usable stage.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#74

Post by wolf550e »

maxander wrote: post #61
skrebbel wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your confusion stems from what kind of beginner the author means. You read it as "total beginner to anything vaguely related to microcontroller programmer". I assume the authors means it as "has programmed stuff with microcontrollers before but never made a hardware design from scratch yet". After all, picking a microcontroller is a design/architecture choice more than a programming choice.

Well, then there's another term he ought to define! :D I've done several projects using various flavours of Arduinos and Pis, but that sort of hobbyist-maker-level experience hasn't lead me to encounter an acronym for "Bill of Materials."

Few people have seriously contemplated ordering the manufacturing of a small run of something they themselves designed. More people have seen the term BOM when reading estimates of how much it costs big brands to manufacture a smartphone or a game console in industry publications or even in the more technically-oriented consumer reviews.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#75

Post by taneq »

falcolas wrote: post #11

Now that you've picked a microcontroller, here's some tips on the next steps: "How to be: A smart hardware programmer" https://youtu.be/g8QDCMuy6oM I link to this only partially in jest - you really will need way more components than the plan says you'll need. Even microcontrollers; misaligning a header by one pin can result in things like putting the output of a 3C Li-Poly over a signal header...

Yeah, one of the biggest shocks to the system when going from desktop software development to embedded development is how easy it is to fry your hardware (and since this is pre-alpha grade hardware, often even with a software mistake). Never buy just one of anything because you'll let the magic smoke out, a /lot/. And that goes double if you're doing anything higher voltage than CPU supply voltage, or higher current than a few hundred milliamps.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#76

Post by taneq »

jwr wrote: post #21
std_throwaway wrote: post #2

A quicker guide for real beginners: Do you want to understand in detail what's happening? => Arduino UNO Is the UNO too small/slow? => Arduino Due Still too small or you really just want a small computer running Linux but with GPIO-Pins? => Raspberry PI

I disagree. Everything you listed a) can't be used for products, b) doesn't let you make progress beyond "oh look, I lit up an LED!". Sure, if you never programmed a small device, by all means, start with an Arduino. But after you do light up that LED, please learn more. Go bare metal, learn about interrupts, state machines, entering sleep states -- without those things you'll stay forever in the toy world. In the re…

Arduino is fine if you just need some low level / real-ish-time control. I used one as glue for a test setup (converting a voltage input to drive some DC motors via H-bridges) and it was perfect for the job - simple to set up, straightforward to run, a little underpowered (I couldn't quite get to 20+ kHz PWM on the pins in software, so it's a bit noisy) but adequate.

I absolutely agree that an Arduino shouldn't be the core of a consumer electronics device, but for anyone not familiar enough with the field to know that already, it's probably at about the right level.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#77

Post by cmrdporcupine »

Taniwha wrote: post #71
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, some lovely downvotes for making a suggestion. Not sure how two words can be so offensive to people... Other advantages to Propeller in addition to what you say: - DIP form factor, easy to breadboard - Very little supporting circuity needed. Very easy to set up. - Enthusiastic intimate helpful community on the forum - GCC available (not an advantage over Arduino but it exists you don't have to use SPIN) - Pretty…

I'm not sure DIP form factor is a pro these days - it ups manufacturing costs a lot - unless of course all you are making is breadboards - are there SMT versions available?

Yes, they sell in both. DIP is generally better for hobbyists.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#78

Post by bigiain »

fragmede wrote: post #67
pjc50 wrote: post #47

Related on EE.stackexchange: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/264794/how-d... I agree with OP's "grief factor" - difficult to estimate but really critical to your project timeline. I'm also going to advocate my "pick something " suggestion; the first one of anything you buy in an unfamiliar product area will always be wrong. This applies to computers, cars, cameras, houses, everything; when you're ente…

If we're recommending pet favorites, the Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless, despite being the newest, is now my recommended "microcontroller". There are a few tweaks needed on top of the base Rasbian distro to make it appropriate for use as a microcontroller, but with a base price of $10, it's cheaper, more powerful, and has accessories (ie - anything USB with open source Linux drivers), than some Arduinos. Built in wifi, L…

I'm always a little cautious with RasPi gpio - it's so much easier to accidentally fry a RasPi than an Arduino, most thing I make that need gpio at least start out in prototype stage using an Arduino to deal with io with a RasPi (or NextThing CHIP) hanging off the side if I need more computrons than an Arduino provides.

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#79

Post by bigiain »

sureshjoshi wrote: post #65
pjc50 wrote: post #47

Related on EE.stackexchange: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/264794/how-d... I agree with OP's "grief factor" - difficult to estimate but really critical to your project timeline. I'm also going to advocate my "pick something " suggestion; the first one of anything you buy in an unfamiliar product area will always be wrong. This applies to computers, cars, cameras, houses, everything; when you're ente…

The "grief factor" is how I run my life :) I agree with "pick something" with the addendum of "pick something that someone experienced you know/trust recommended after hearing how little you know about it".

Heh. My "pick something" strategy almost always turns on the "What have I got sitting around that's close enough for what I need?" Sure, and STM32 or an Atmel AT8 _might_ be a better choice, but if I've got a drawer full of Arduinos and a bunch of projects with RaspberryPis in them that haven't been powered up for months - I'll go rat those bits and use them... (Last weekend, I wanted a 6dof IMU sensor - which I could have ordered - but I just used a spare quadcopter control board with a dud baro sensor, because it was there when I wanted it... I ended up using the mags in the 9dof sensors on the flight controller as well, so win all round...)

Re: How to pick a microcontroller

#80

Post by bigiain »

falcolas wrote: post #11

Now that you've picked a microcontroller, here's some tips on the next steps: "How to be: A smart hardware programmer" https://youtu.be/g8QDCMuy6oM I link to this only partially in jest - you really will need way more components than the plan says you'll need. Even microcontrollers; misaligning a header by one pin can result in things like putting the output of a 3C Li-Poly over a signal header...

This is why I like prototyping with Arduinos - you'll 99% likeley get away with plugging an 11.1V (or 12-13V fresh off the charge) battery into any of the pins on an Arduino. You'll be looking for another RasPi if you made _that_ mistake...
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