tiny13
agfa
Posts: 295
A question for those of you who have used atmel's processors.
I've seen several posts that describe the use of a tiny13, sounds like a powerfull·device to use in conjuction with parallax's·products.· I read a·post by Phil Pilgrim·using it as a·co-processor for a·stamp, if I remember correctly.· Sounds very interesting.· I checked out·Atmel's page for more info, but am a little overwhelmed.· Keeping costs in mind, What would someone need, the very basics, hardware and software to get started using this type of product?
I've seen several posts that describe the use of a tiny13, sounds like a powerfull·device to use in conjuction with parallax's·products.· I read a·post by Phil Pilgrim·using it as a·co-processor for a·stamp, if I remember correctly.· Sounds very interesting.· I checked out·Atmel's page for more info, but am a little overwhelmed.· Keeping costs in mind, What would someone need, the very basics, hardware and software to get started using this type of product?
Comments
For standalone development, Atmel offers their ATSTK500 AVR starter kit. DigiKey sells them for about the same price as Parallax sells the Mobo. You can program loose parts (DIPs) with it, but it doesn't come with any BASIC Stamp hardware.
There are also many third-party AVR programmers available and plans on the internet for building your own. Google is your friend here.
-Phil
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Also, the expectation that these chips can do every function they offer under one program is somewhat of an illusion. Often one function excludes another for certain i/o pins and running a real-time clock will upset serial ports due to interrupt routines.
So the perceived value is somewhat of an illusion. With beginners, the product often ends up collecting dust on a closet shelf.
The Tiny13 is one of the easiest because it is so limited.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
Programming the standard AVR can also be done with free programming software and basic low cost programmers so there is no forcing you buy proprietary programming tools.
As was stated already, the learning curve can be steep and to be honest... anywhere you could see yourself using and AVR... you could just as well use an SX chip unless using an 8 PIN chip is your driving desire.
So, unless you have been dying to try programming a micro in C, the only other reason I can see trying an AVR if you haven't yet... is curiouslty and a desire to learn something now. The TINY series of microcontrollers is no longer as unique as they once were. Microchip is filling that void as often as they can.
Personally... I enjoy using AVR's when it makes sense and programming them with Bascom's BASIC compiler for the AVR series, so even I am not usiong the free (GCC) C compiler even though I could be.
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There's nothing like a new idea and a warm soldering iron.
Post Edited (pwillard) : 6/27/2008 12:12:43 PM GMT
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Post Edited (Leon) : 6/27/2008 12:30:43 PM GMT
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There's nothing like a new idea and a warm soldering iron.
1. The Tiny13 internal clock rate (without external crystal or resonator) is higher at 9.6MHz for "up to" 9.6MIPS. 8-pin PIC internal clocks are (were in 2005 when the MoBo took shape) 4MHz for 1MIPS.
2. Programming the chip's flash memory is easier than with a PIC and can be done from the BASIC Stamp itself without addional hardware or wasting pins.
3. AVRs have separate pin and output registers. Unlike with PICs, you can read the output register, regardless of what the pin is doing. This, combined with very sane internal pullup activation/deactivation, makes bit-banging pins much easier.
4. AVRs have a register-to-register architecture. With PICs, data has to move or be operated on through an accumulator (W register).
Programming an AVR in assembly is much different from programming a PIC. The AVR instruction set was optimized from the beginning to yield compact programs. This means that some lesser-used instructions (like XOR with an immediate value) have been omitted, leaving a somewhat non-orthogonal architecture. Another quirk is that not all registers can be operated upon with immediate data or bit-manipulation instructions. There's also an architectural distinction between data registers and I/O registers. Hence the learning curve. But the Atmel engineers did their optimization homework well, because working programs turn out to be remarkably compact.
Oddly enough, these comparative qualities don't necessarily imply anything about a company's bottom line or success in the marketplace. A good chunk of my retirement portfolio is invested in Microchip (MCHP) stock and none of it in Atmel (ATML). Go figure.
-Phil
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'Still some PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!