ARM processor - Newbie Questions

Evaluation boards are manufactured by the same people that make your
device. They offer access to the main features and can be pretty
complex. They are expensive and you would never deliver a product with
those. Some manufacturers don't even give you a license for that.

Development boards are maded by the parts manufacturer or third party
vedors and are meant to assist you in creating a setup that can then
become the final product. Usually expensive and big.

Once you circuit design is finished (on paper or in a CAD system) and
tested (on a development board), you would create the first few master
boards form you CAD data, manually solder the pieces on them and test
the board thouroughly.

The final board depends on how many pieces you are trying to sell. If
you plan to sell 10, you'd have the board manufactured and hand solder
the components. If you plan to sell tenthousands, you'll have a robot do
the soldering.

There are prototyping bords out there that can be used in final
products, but due to the high price, this is usually limited to a series
of three to eight. The boards come with a matching case included to look
professional, but the insisde is still a prototype... .

Thanks for your reply - really informative for me.

I have heard that there are some boards that have some sort of built-in
OS - like linux - and can save/run software written in high level
languages. The plus side being; a hardware-ignorant person like me can
also assemble a device - at least as a personal project. Is that so ?
Can you please point out some links where one can find such boards?

Arshad

No, becaues I am not using ARM's yet. You'll have to do that by
yourself... .

Matthias

ST has some application notes on their site...

http://www.st.com

Look for the ARM7 ST711 I think - there is also an application note for
running ucLinux on an ARM.

Good luck..

Hi

I recently picked up 2 FREE sample ARMs from Texas Instruments. I don't know
what to do with them yet, as I am still getting my feet wet with 8-bit
microcontr0llers( MCUs). Maybe it would be worth learning some
circuit-building and testing with simpler MCUs before diving into the deep
end of ARMs, maybe your project could use some of the more capable 8-bit
controllers. Or...maybe even consider one of the many small form-factor
motherboards available and run it on Linux and use a free 32-bit compiler
for program development. Maybe use an old motherboard? An old notebook?There
is plenty of info on the Internet, and some books, eg the new "Linux
Robotics".

More than likely you could find some free programming and development tools
on the Internet, as well as some inexpensive circuit solutions for
experimenting. I think one of the regulars here sells a product called the
TinyARM - maybe have a chat with him. A mob called shmartboard/EZ sells
prototyping boards for small footprint components and MCUs that makes it
easier to make your own development boards.

Cheers

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Dale