Looking for Microcontroller Recommendations
in [Design]
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From: Nico Coesel on 16 Jan 2010 16:40 Jan Panteltje <pNaonStpealmtje(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >On a sunny day (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:20:06 GMT) it happened nico(a)puntnl.niks >(Nico Coesel) wrote in <4b520d64.595527000(a)news.planet.nl>: > >>Jan Panteltje <pNaonStpealmtje(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> >>>On a sunny day (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:53:57 GMT) it happened nico(a)puntnl.niks >>>(Nico Coesel) wrote in <4b51dc9b.583037562(a)news.planet.nl>: >>> >>>>>I have Linux on a Broadcom MIPS, cross compiled from the PC. >>>>>It will *not* run LTSPice in Wine see? >>>> >>>>So, get another spice derivative which does compile/run on MIPS. >>> >>>Well, there are no better Spice then LTSpice >> >>Except for the crappy user interface. > >I have no problems with that user interface. >Have experienced much worse ones :-) >I consider it excellent. > > > >>>>>And you have to re-compile *every* application. >>>> >>>>No, you don't have to recompile every application if you have enough >>>>storage space to install a regular Linux distro. Flash drives are very >>>>cheap these days. If you attach a flash or hard drive to your Broadcom >>>>system then you can install a regular Linux distro on it. >>> >>>You are WRONG. >>>Executable code that runs on a x86 will NOT run on a MIPS. >>>That is a very silly mistake you make here, I hope you do not design embedded. >> >>You are even more silly to suspect that I propose to run x86 code on a >>MIPS platform. I'd install the MIPS version ofcourse! Or the ARM >>version. > >See my previous comments, the parts that need speed, likely will be compiled from C, >not using the much better inline asm, so the performance will suck, not only because >it is now an ARM without multimedia instructions, but also because it now runs >in some compiled inefficient stuff the C complier came up with. >Try ffmpeg for example, the basis of mplayer and much of the stuff I do. >You need a 4 or 10 x faster processor without that asm stuff, if it runs at all. More unfounded comments without doing proper research first. Seems libavcodec (one of the cores of ffmpeg) has assembly routines for several non x86 platforms including ARM: http://git.ffmpeg.org/?p=ffmpeg;a=tree;f=libavcodec/arm;h=d350cbda5ac25b76cebe07e21595968281777429;hb=HEAD -- Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply indicates you are not using the right tools... nico(a)nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) --------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim Thompson on 16 Jan 2010 16:42 On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:09:16 -0600, krw <krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:41:17 -0600, "RogerN" <regor(a)midwest.net> >wrote: > >> >>"krw" <krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzz> wrote in message >>news:e524l51tm7q1rb4sk0e6v8dq8sbv8squud(a)4ax.com... >>> On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:38:42 -0600, "RogerN" <regor(a)midwest.net> >>> wrote: >>> >>>>Thanks for all the fantastic recommendations! It seems like for many of >>>>the >>>>microcontrollers it doesn't cost much to get going at a hobby level. I >>>>ordered a PIC18 something starter kit that comes with a PICkit2 >>>>programmer/debugger and I ordered a PICkit3 Debug Express. >>>>I also have an Atmel STK500 starter kit that I bought around 10 years ago >>>>and have hardly used. I downloaded Arduino software and GNU C compiler >>>>for >>>>the AVRs. >>>>I plan to look into the other stuff that I'm not familiar with but sounds >>>>interesting, such as the Texas Instruments, Silabs, Arm, etc. >>>> >>>>At work some of our electricians hacked into alarm clocks to automatically >>>>start their car a few minutes before the end of their shift. They have >>>>the >>>>Bulldog security remote starter and said it has an input you can use to >>>>start your car, where we work is too far from the parking lot to use the >>>>remote. That would be a nice microcontroller project, use a temperature >>>>sensor and RTCC, if it's freezing out, start the car so many minutes >>>>before >>>>the end of shift, the colder it is, the more warm up time is allowed. >>> >>> Be careful here. It's very easy to burn up a starter, wiring, or at >>> least kill a battery, when you least want a dead battery (BT). Even >>> professionally installed car starters cause enough problems to >>> invalidate car warranties. There is a *lot* to consider here. I >>> certainly wouldn't play with a car starter. I found it easier to move >>> to the South. ;-) >>> >> >>They have the Bulldog Security remote car starter installed and working, >>hopefully the bugs are worked out of it. > >I thought they were rolling their own starter. A commercial unit is >better but still will do exactly the wrong thing occasionally. DAMHIK >...and may void any warranty. > >>If I understand correctly, they >>run the starter for a couple of seconds, if the car doesn't start, it will >>try again so many seconds later, running the starter for maybe 3 or 4 >>seconds (or something like that). > >Car starters also have to monitor RPM to detect the start. Sometimes >this doesn't work out so well. Multiple start attempts will often >kill a battery. A human has a better chance of doing it right than a >generic auto-starter. They work great, when you don't need them. > >>Also, they said it will only run the car >>up to 15 minutes and then shuts off unless the ignition switch is turned on. > >Yes, but starting under all conditions is the real problem. > >>One guy took a battery operated alarm clock and wired a transistor to the >>alarm, I'm not sure what the others did, but something similar. With a >>microcontroller you could sense temperature, if it's above freezing you may >>not want the car to start at all. >> >>In my position, I go to work at the same time every morning but I work over >>some almost every day, so starting my car based on time wouldn't work for >>me, starting by cell phone might though. But I don't want to have another >>cell phone just to set in my car to start it a few days a year. Remote >>starting would benefit me mostly in the morning but I'm in range to start my >>car from inside if I wanted to. > >I had one of these things in my wife's car. Never again, and I only >lost a battery (and had to put up with SWMBO's ire). Our Q45 has heated (and cooled) seats ;-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
From: Jim Thompson on 16 Jan 2010 16:44 On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:07:37 -0600, "RogerN" <regor(a)midwest.net> wrote: > >"Falk Willberg" <Faweglassenlk(a)falk-willberg.de> wrote in message >news:hit41r$pvm$1(a)news2.open-news-network.org... >> RogerN wrote: >> ... >>> That would be a nice microcontroller project, use a temperature >>> sensor and RTCC, if it's freezing out, start the car so many minutes >>> before >>> the end of shift, the colder it is, the more warm up time is allowed. >> >> Are you really going to waste 50% gas by blowing warm air (and harmful >> gases) out of the exhaust, torture the engine by running it cold and >> idle for minutes? > >When it's iced over, we walk out to our car, start it, and scrape ice from >the windows. After it starts warming up the ice scrapes off easily. Seems >like either way the car needs to warm up to get the windows clean, the only >difference is if it's warming up before we get there or after we get there. > >> Why not use an auxiliary heater and control this with a micro? >> That would be a smart approach. >> >> Falk > >Do you have a recommended energy source to warm the car? LP? > >RogerN > That would probably work. Early Hudson's had a _gasoline_ fired heater, rather than the usual hot water system. ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
From: Jon Kirwan on 16 Jan 2010 17:07 On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:02:30 GMT, nico(a)puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) wrote: ><snip> >If you >like your sanity, I wouldn't program those in assembly though (google >'MIPS one delay slot'). Oh, cripes. I used to exclusively code MIPS R2000 in assembly code. There was a nice code reorganizer provided to fill in the branch delay slots. But I had no problem keeping in mind the fact that there was also no synchronizing flipflop keeping track of register writes from prior instructions and register reads in the next one and inserting delays --- they didn't include the ability, so there was no delay, so you needed to know that you'd read the old value and not the new one. So what? Dead easy to remember. I had no problems coding them in assembly and hardly ever needed the reorganizer's features. It's nothing like you suggest as being "hard." You put your mind in the frame and just flow from there. You have to do that with anything, anyway. Jon
From: Jan Panteltje on 16 Jan 2010 17:15
On a sunny day (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:40:02 GMT) it happened nico(a)puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) wrote in <4b5220fa.600540296(a)news.planet.nl>: >>See my previous comments, the parts that need speed, likely will be compiled from C, >>not using the much better inline asm, so the performance will suck, not only because >>it is now an ARM without multimedia instructions, but also because it now runs >>in some compiled inefficient stuff the C complier came up with. >>Try ffmpeg for example, the basis of mplayer and much of the stuff I do. >>You need a 4 or 10 x faster processor without that asm stuff, if it runs at all. > >More unfounded comments without doing proper research first. Seems >libavcodec (one of the cores of ffmpeg) has assembly routines for >several non x86 platforms including ARM: > >http://git.ffmpeg.org/?p=ffmpeg;a=tree;f=libavcodec/arm;h=d350cbda5ac25b76cebe07e21595968281777429;hb=HEAD So how fast does it run on ARM (with that asm , I just looked at it), compared to a modern Atom with integrated GPU? Any benchmarks? It looks a bit primitive to me, but then again the register shuffle you have to get used to :-) Probably unstable too. And it cannot even run LTSPice in wine, or any other of the many apps I have in wine. It cannot run MS windows 7, and neither any of its zillions of applications. No advantage, even sucks more power then a modern Atom. DOA. |