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From: FreeRTOS info on 6 Jun 2010 14:46
On 06/06/2010 17:10, Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2010-06-06, Michael Kellett <nospam(a)nospam.com> wrote:
>
>> Now for the bee in my bonnet !!!
>> Why do people buy development boards?
>
> 1) They allow you to run benchmark code to compare different
> processors.
>
> 2) They allow you to evaluate toolchains and other infrastructure.
>
> 3) They allow software development work to start long before the
> custom product boards are ready.
>
> 4) They're free: you often don't buy them -- you borrow them from the
> CPU distributor.
>


5) When your custom hardware comes back from the manufacturer and your
software does not run on it - they allow you to very quickly determine
if its (primarily) a software or hardware problem.

They are so inexpensive (normally) why would you not have one?


Regards,
Richard.

+ http://www.FreeRTOS.org
Designed for Microcontrollers. More than 7000 downloads per month.

+ http://www.SafeRTOS.com
Certified by TÜV as meeting the requirements for safety related systems.



From: D Yuniskis on 6 Jun 2010 15:03
Hi Rocky,

RockyG wrote:
>> Hi Michael,
>>
>> Michael Kellett wrote:
>>> Why do people buy development boards ? They either have no hardware
>>> (like the Silabs ones) so you need to make a board with your own stuff
> on to
>>> get your project going or they have loads of stuff on them (like the ST
>
>>> ones) but it's never what you want, so you need to make a board with
>>> your own stuff on to get your project going.
>> Yes! I simply cannot understand this huge waste of effort.
>> You are *going* to design a board *anyway*. Do it and at least
>> get started on the path to nailing down all the "gotchas" that
>> *will* come up in the design.
>>
>> Years ago, I could *almost* understand the rationale that "it
>> lets the programmers get started" (yet another self-delusion!).
>> But, nowadays, you can write and debug *lots* of code without
>> ever needing real hardware. For most projects, you don't even
>> need to use the actual tools for the targeted platform for
>> much (most?) of the code!
>>
> I find them useful from the POV that you can use them as a sanity check.
> I.E. Have I installed the tool-suite correctly or is it my hardware that
> has a problem?

Understood. I'm in the position where if the hardware doesn't
work, it's *still* "my problem" :>

> Once the 1st project is done, the usefulness falls away as you have
> reasonable confidence that the h/w is OK.

I much prefer the "freedom" to not get tied down to a particular
hardware implementation until I absolutely *must*. Especially
nowadays with new devices appearing "daily" -- and, old devices
*disappearing* just as frequently!

If you insist on having hardware before you can write code,
then you put that in the critical path, force people to
make decisions about that hardware (which you will have to
buy into!) and then you end up as the "wagged tail". :<

Even with lots of experience, its still hard to come up
with realistic estimates for time and space on hardware
requirements. And, if you are in a market where cost is
a criteria, you can't afford to err on the high side
(since it gives your competitors an advantage) *or* on
the low side (since it can greatly complicate your
design).

For most designs, the "processor+I/O" is usually pretty
simple to throw together. Layout is a breeze with modern
tools (no more cutting rubilyth!). And, there are *so*
many quick-turn houses out there that you can get a first
pass of your *final* board in a month or two (start of
design to first copper).

Spend the energy better learning your tools so you can
leverage their effectiveness. I'd much prefer examining
symbolic variables and looking through trace buffers
than sitting with a scope probe wondering why a signal
is at 37% duty cycle instead of 52%, etc.
From: Chris Burrows on 6 Jun 2010 19:24
"Michael Kellett" <nospam(a)nospam.com> wrote in message
news:jd6dnb-iQYr4K5bRnZ2dnUVZ8kqdnZ2d(a)bt.com...
>
> Now for the bee in my bonnet !!!
> Why do people buy development boards ?

Think of it another way. Ask yourself why do they also buy development
software written by others and you might answer your own question.

P.S. We write our own development software ;-)

--
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
Astrobe: ARM Oberon-07 Development System
http://www.astrobe.com


From: Michael Kellett on 7 Jun 2010 03:39

"hamilton" <hamilton(a)nothere.com> wrote in message
news:hugmju$j7b$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> On 6/6/2010 8:53 AM, Michael Kellett wrote:
>>
>> Now for the bee in my bonnet !!!
>> Why do people buy development boards ?
>>
>> Michael Kellett
>
> Now for the bee in your bonnet !!!
>
> Why do people complain about thing they can not change.
>
> With the number of development boards out in the world, there must be some
> kind of a demand, but that would require thinking past your own little
> world.
>
> hamilton

Oh Hamilton - why must you insult that which you have mostly missed the
point of.

I asked the question - with I thought, sufficient pointers to suggest that
it was a matter for philosophical discussion - so I would have thought my
willingness to think "past" .. my .. "own little world" was clear enough.

Actually there have been some interesting points made.

I am surprised to learn that some engineers have the time and resources to
actually test several different processors physically rather than comparing
on paper. I've never found it to be necessary but then I quite like reading
data sheets.

Another poster suggested that development boards are frequently not bought
(and I did ask why people buy them) but given and indeed I have quite a few
lying around that I was given.

I do often look at development board schematics but I don't need the
phyisical board to get the benefit of them in my own designs.

It's also fair to say that most of my work is for designs which will be made
in small numbers - as few as one and rarely more than a few thousand. Saving
a little on the cost of the processor chip is not often an issue.

However for mass production designs there is huge value in getting real
hardware early in the project.

Thanks for all the comments (and I hope the OP got something out of it too
!)

Michael Kellett





From: Grant Edwards on 7 Jun 2010 10:21
On 2010-06-07, Michael Kellett <nospam(a)nospam.com> wrote:
>
> "hamilton" <hamilton(a)nothere.com> wrote in message
> news:hugmju$j7b$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> On 6/6/2010 8:53 AM, Michael Kellett wrote:
>>>
>>> Now for the bee in my bonnet !!!
>>> Why do people buy development boards ?
>>>
>>> Michael Kellett
>>
>> Now for the bee in your bonnet !!!
>>
>> Why do people complain about thing they can not change.
>>
>> With the number of development boards out in the world, there must be some
>> kind of a demand, but that would require thinking past your own little
>> world.
>>
>> hamilton
>
> Oh Hamilton - why must you insult that which you have mostly missed the
> point of.
>
> I asked the question - with I thought, sufficient pointers to suggest that
> it was a matter for philosophical discussion - so I would have thought my
> willingness to think "past" .. my .. "own little world" was clear enough.
>
> Actually there have been some interesting points made.
>
> I am surprised to learn that some engineers have the time and resources to
> actually test several different processors physically rather than comparing
> on paper. I've never found it to be necessary but then I quite like reading
> data sheets.

Odd. None of the datasheets I've ever seen contained useful
throughput data.

--
Grant Edwards grant.b.edwards Yow! Am I in GRADUATE
at SCHOOL yet?
gmail.com
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