Whats a good start?

Question

Fairly new to robotics and I was curious as to what to start with. I have at my disposal information to learn VB6 and AVR programing. I can solder quite well and have done basic SMD work. I have aquired an interest in muscle wires and have a book on the subject. Want to explore "mini tech" and alternative power.

I'm sure this has been asked many times and I apologise for the tedium, Many Thanks

TR

Wayne Lundberg · Accepted Answer

I tried the BASIC Stamp some years ago. Gives you a lot of options foroutputs and inputs plus some excellent examples for programming.Wayne

ian dobson · Answer

Hi,Have a look at Atmel CPU's with bascom avr (Demo version upto 4Kb code).Have a look at your local Ebay for a beginners board with a AT90S2313 or Mega8. I would recommend the Mega8 - more ram,I/O's and ADC's.RegardsIan DobsonHome of the Atmel based UDP mobile web cam  mails scanned with  (F-Prot / perl)"TrailRat"  schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:

RedX · Answer

Didn't the Bascom AVR free version limited to 2kb code? I used Bascom AVR with the AT90S2313 because of this limit. (the 2313 has 2Kb flash for code)

-Patrik

"ian dobson" schreef in bericht news:dbefnj$2cl3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.imp.ch...

ian dobson · Answer

Hi Patrik,As of Version 1.11.7.9 the demo version compiles upto 4Kb code.RegardsIan DobsonHome of the Atmel based UDP mobile web cam  mails scanned with  (F-Prot / perl)"RedX"  schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:3e3De.148287$

Alex Gibson · Answer

Could use any small micro fromavr's , pics , z80's/z80e ,  rabbits  , msp430Depending on your programming abilities  there are also others like some ofthe more powerful 32 bit micros  like the various arm7 chips  and others.like the philips lpc2000  range.There is a lot of pic , avr , basic stamp and other micro stuff on the web.A matter of picking something and getting stuck into using it.See if there is a local robotics club or any friends into robotics etc may be able to help you with etcOptions build your own board or buy a premade one have  nice avr boards.  Can be used with bascom , avrgcc and so on.Brian also provides sample code to use with the boards.  sell a range of avr , arm7 and their pod boards(freescale dsp hybrid).Their "plug a" board range isGet a few motors , rc servos and others.Get afew sensors etc , learn how to get them working with the micro and move from there.  sell a range of preassembled , low cost boards.Alex

Brian Dean · Answer

Since you mentioned SMD soldering and also AVR, you might be interested in my MAVRIC boards which are AVR based and are also available in kit form:

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Buying the kit can save you money, and you probably already know that soldering surface mount is not too difficult once you learn a few techniques.

You can program in BASIC using BASCOM-AVR or C using the freely available GCC toolchain. If you like FORTH, a free implementation is available here:

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If you go that way, you'll need to get the MAVRIC-IB which includes the external SRAM on-board, or you will need the MAVRIC-II-RE ram expansion board that goes with the MAVRIC-IIB. BTW, I have tested this FORTH implementation and it runs fine on my boards.

Commercial C compilers are available as well as other languages such as Pascal.

-Brian

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