Newbie Needs a Quick Bit of Advice

lboucher

Hi All

So i am a mechanical engineer who·wishes he had studied·software and has wound himself up in the robots world.
My weakest link is the electronics side of things, but i am working on that.

So i played around with the BS2 for a bit.
See my christmas lights, http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=771108

So that has been fun.

Now i need to learn how to work with a microcontroller that is cheaper than the basic stamps.
For example my light project could easily have been done with a microcontroller costing a couple bucks compared to a 50 buck BS2.

SOO, been looking at SX, seems pretty cheap and easy.
(Can someone tell me why you need an external resonator?)

Can someone give me some advice.
Is SX a good place to start compard to PIC.
What are the trade offs.

If PIC is a better route does someone know of a good starter kit.

Thanks
Lucas

J^3

Lucas,

··· I too am realizing the benefit of a cheaper micro.· In my opinion the sx is a great choice for moving beyond the BS2 at an affordable price.· The reason I say this is because the IDE for the sx is a free download, from parallax's site, which comes with a BASIC compiler very simillar to PBASIC.· You can also program in assembly, but that is a little more challangeing.· You can write your code in BASIC and then use the view list command under the run menu to see your code in assembly.· This is a great tool for learning assembly.

··· I believe MPlab from micrchip only comes with a compiler for assembly, therefore you have to spend more money for a BASIC, or C compiler.· About the resonator, I don't believe it is required but can be used for an external timing component.· I am new to this also so you might want to wait for someone else to answer this part, but as far as the SX goes, it is the way to go!!

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
There are 10 types of people that understand binary, those who do, and those who don't.

JonnyMac

I think the SX is a better start place than the PIC, but I'm biased.

First, you get a free compiler (SX/B) with the SX. The SX and SX/B come from Parallax which means you get these forums and other good support. Tools are inexpensive (though I think that if you're serious about SX development you should get a PDB). Code you develop for the SX28 will work on the SX20 (I do this a lot); and the port to the SX48 is straightforward. The best part is that with jitter-free interrupts you can create "virtual peripherals" in code -- this is what got the SX started.

You only need an external resonator when you must run faster than 4MHz or when timing is critical, as in serial applications. I've done boatloads of serial apps with the SX -- all of the serial accessories we have at EFX-TEK use an SX20 or SX28 as the host processor. All were programmed in SX/B, including the FC-4 which handles "background" serial and dimming control of four AC lamp circuits.

Marky-Mark

As a fellow ME I hear your complaint lound and clear.· I think that todays ME curiculum should include more EE and·practical programing courses, or offer more hybrid degrees.· Anyway.

I am doing the same thing and I picked the SX.· I am not·regreting that as this is probably the best forum out there, and the support is excelent.· One thing I would do different in picking my setup would be to get the Professional Development Board as a starting point.··Otherwise you end up looking for items and hand wiring them, not hard but sometimes time consuming.· Skip the assembly book for now, unless that is what you want to get started on, and download the SX help file from Parallax and start there.



▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
12-25-07 Got SX Lite Kit Plus for Christmas

12-27-07 Bought LED's and other components
12-29-07 Realized that none of my wal-warts work with board
1-2-08 Bought power supply and turned on·board, but realized the A shell sub-D connector on laptop is actually 15 pins and not serial.
1-3-08 Decided to use old laptop with a serial sub-d, that barely meets the minimum sk-key requirements.· Got LED to BLINK!!!!!!
2008 Went through most available SX/B info and started to read through Gunther's book.

·

Shawn Lowe

Plus, and this is the kicker for me, the support on this forum (JonnyMac especially!) is UNPARALLELED! (sorry for the spelling)

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Shawn Lowe


When all else fails.....procrastinate!

Brian218

I concur, the SX is a great chip to learn micro-controller programming beyond the Basic Stamp; but I too am biased .
Here is a PDF link to Jon Williams' 'Newbie friendly' excellent book "Practical SXB-no assembly required part 1". This is a FREE download and a good stating point for learning SX Basic.
http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/sx/PracticalSXB.pdf

Both the SX and PIC are 8-bit MCUs and roughly equivalent.
As far as I know, the only advantage a PIC has to the SX, is that most non-parallax projects, on-line and in print, are written for the Pic. IMO the only reason for choosing a PIC over the SX would be if your job description will involve PIC programming.

Like many others I started with the Basic Stamp, and later went to the SX and then the Propeller.
Although most of my programming is for the Propeller, I'm still learning the SX

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
This post is a work of art. Variations in spelling and grammar are intentional, artistic endeavors that add value to all of mankind.