The inevitable question which micro controller to use?

this may help:

Don...

-- Don McKenzie E-Mail Contact Page:

Crystal clear, super bright OLED LCD (128x128) for your microcontroller. Simple serial RX/TX interface. Many memory sizes.

If you like BASIC, you should consider the ARMmite and ARMexpress:

Both use BASIC; one has a compiler onboard and the other (the ARMexpress) requires a compiler running under Windows. But both are substantially faster than the BASIC Stamp, and quite powerful. The prices are good too. There are a couple of things I don't like about them, but on the whole they're great technology and value.

Best,

- Joe

Don't get the BS1, if that's what The Shack eas selling. The BS2 is okay, especially with the newer compiler, which has a more "QBasic-like" language structure.

My non-interpreted language controller of choice is an AVR, especially the Mega's in the DIP packages. They're relatively cheap, with all kinds of variations. When I need lots of IO I go for the Mega16 or Mega32, but the AT90S2313, and its newer counterpart, are good for smaller jobs. If you like BASIC, Bascom AVR is the way to go. The free demo version will suffice for many jobs, but the full package is pretty cheap -- $100. If/when you want to program in C, there are plenty of C programming choices for the AVR line as well, including open source gcc toolchains.

For a nifty first project you can try the Atmel AVR Butterfly, which is $19 and includes the chip, an LCD, and a basic board. There are a couple of books on using it, including one of programming it in C. You make your own cable for downloading.

One of the reasons to get a Stamp is Parallax's support. Excellent documentation, and their forums are very busy. Each one of these controllers has its place.

-- Gordon

Hello Gordon,

I googled for the bascom avr and they have some starter kits as well the stk200 says it comes with everything to get started with. What do you think of these?

Joe

The STK200 from Kanda is a good basic choice. It's relatively inexpensive. Make sure you get the updated version that can handle more chips. Atmel sells a more complicated cousin, the STK500, which is another consideration. They are available directly from Digikey.

I have these boards, but I mostly use a mikroElektonika AVR board (bought from a US distributor, circuit-ed.com) which has some additional features. For some it's overkill, with the LCD, buttons, Flash adapter, etc. already on it. However, I've found the board to be a time-saver in the various designs I work with. Saves me from having to hook up the accessories. It is pretty expensive -- $170 -- but with the cheaper cost of the chips over a microcontroller with an embedded interpreter, it should end up being more economical in the end. If you are going for BASIC, mE sells a BASIC compiler, but I don't recommend it. Still get Bascom. You can use it to compile your program to a hex file, then use the USB download utility that comes free with the board to program the chip's flash.

-- Gordon

Hi Gordon,

I visited the digi key site today, and then called them regarding the stk500. I talked with one of their technical people. It sounds like a complete setup, he said it comes with cables, a board with all different sized sockets (for different microcontrollers), a cd rom, user manual, so I ordered it. It uses a serial interface from my computer to the programmer. It has a few doodads like LED's and I don't remember what else he said, but there's sample programs and a sample microcontroller with it. He didn't know if the cd rom contained bascom, but that is available at the mfr's site anyway, right? He said the cd rom contained atmel's programming suite (?), or something like that so I figured I would just go ahead and get it.

Thanks for the info.

Joe

Hi Gordon,

I was out at the atmel site tonite trying to find bascom, but couldn't find it. Is there a link you may have to get me to the right place? All they have is the assembler, which is included in the stk500 kit. There is no mention of bascom, and when I searched it, nothing came up.

Joe

You can download Bascom-Avr here.>

Ian

Atmel doesn't directly support Bascom. That comes from

The demo, limited to 4K programs (it was 2K, but I think Mark increased it??) works for most projects. The demo version is not always the latest release. I would recommend trying it out, and if you like it, springing for the full version, which is an Internet key sort of thing. Dontronics is one of the resellers --

Check out the forum at MCS for the user-to-user help. Fairly active group.

Once you get used to the chips and doing little things with them like lighting LEDs, displaying text on an LCD, and responding to button presses, you're ready for the big time!

-- Gordon

Wow! Found it. Thanks guys. I can't wait to get started with this now.. BTW, I also found their forum and asked where i could get a data sheet on the AT90S8515, since that's the ucontroller that's coming with the stk500. I have searched for it, and went to mouser, jameco, and even digikey. I think it may be obsolete?? Anyway, if anyone has a link to that data sheet, I would like to have a look at it.

Thanks again, gentlemen

Joe

Atmel has all the data sheets on their site, though it can be a bit harder to find the obsolete parts, which the 8515 is. (However, it's still a great chip to start with, as it supports all of the basic functionality of the AVR line, except for analog-to-digital conversion.) You will definitely want to try one of the newer DIP chips in the MegaAVR line sometime. The Mega16 and Mega32 are awesome. The later chips have their own internal oscillator, which is a definitely convenience. Easy to use in simple solderless breadboard designs.

Try Digikey to make the search for data sheets easier. Here's what I do:

1. Go to
   formatting link

1. Enter the part number, as completely as possible.

2. Odds are, for AVR parts Digikey will have it.

1. Follow the link into the Digikey site.

2. Go to the item order page for the part, and look for the Technical/Catalog Information link. Click on that one, and you get the following page, which has has links into the datasheets on Atmel's site:

-- Gordon

Thank you Gordon, I downloaded the data sheet(s), all 140 pages LOL.

Maybe I will visit digikey and see about the Mega 16 and Mega32 also.

Joe

Did you try Google for the DS? My first hit got

Good luck Ian

Hello Ian,

I did.

All I got was one hit, but it had nothing to do with the data sheet. Maybe it's the way I went about it. I googled for "AT90S8515". Only received one hit in English, the other three were in different languages that I don't speak. That was why I posted here.

Regards, Joe

is pretty useful

be easier to find atmel datsheets than on atmel.com

I have to agree with Gordon,and say that the avr butterfly is one of the best starter boards especially when combined with the butterfly carrier boards from

Apparently the latest avr butterflies don't have a light sensor due to the one that was on there being made of CdS and thats banned due to Europe's RoHS laws.

The great thing about the stk500 is you can also use it as a programmer for other boards

A more advanced board that will work with bascom or c for robotics is the mavaric board

has some handy source code for both c and bascom avr.

To see what you can do with avr's see

Some interesting boards with ethernet or displays etc webcat standalone , webtiger plugin for stk500

Alex

Another option to the Basic Stamp is the Pic-axe. programs in basic, is made much like the PIC but only needs resistors and a serial wire (serial mouse wire works well). The programing software is free. I'm not sure if it will help for your project but ar $10 for a 40-pin microcontroller it's worth playing around with.

It's been a while s> >

Another option to the Basic Stamp is the Pic-axe. programs in basic, is made much like the PIC but only needs resistors and a serial wire (serial mouse wire works well). The programing software is free. I'm not sure if it will help for your project but ar $10 for a 40-pin microcontroller it's worth playing around with.

It's been a while s> >

If you're going to use an Atmel AVR, take a look at "Wiring". ("

") This is an open source development system for AVR machines. It has its own little language, which is a subset of C++, and its own little IDE. It's intended for artists doing interactive art, of all things. There's documentation on things like how to hook up an LED, a pot, a servo, a motor, and such. They have their own board, called "Wiring", which sells for $60, but in fact any Atmel AtMega 128 board can work with Wiring. It's really a front end to GCC for Atmel CPUs, which is why the download is 39MB, but they hide most GCC issues from the user.

This may finally make Atmel processors more popular with hobbyists. The PIC and Basic Stamp machines are popular with hobbyists because they're easier to get started with. But they're rather underpowered and dated as microcontrollers go. Wiring, although "user friendly", is a hard-compiled environment, not an interpreter. So you actually get the

16 MIPS or so an AVR can deliver.

Also see "

" John Nagle

Alex,

Thanks for those links to Cornell. They even did a gps project where they essentially created a gps receiver using the mega32. I have been reading those projects for about an hour now. Fascinating. Thanks again.

Joe