Total Newbie

waltsar

Hi,

I've never even seen a STAMP controller so I only have a vague idea of it's use.

Please help me to understand what a basic stamp can and cannot do. I'm familiar with industrial PLC's and once knew BASIC programming.

Can a STAMP (or an equivalent) mini-controller be configured and programmed to do simple PLC functions? Particularly, does it have an I/O structure that can input simple switch inputs and also output signals that can be used to control relays?

I want to develop a control system for a model railroad that will read transistor switch outputs and reed switches, act on those inputs through internal programming and then drive relays to produce desired actions. Is the STAMP capable of this sort of action?

Thank you,
Walt

RL600

H

stamptrol

Hi Walt, welcome to the forums.

If you have plc and BASIC experience, you'll have no real problems adapting to the Stamp. Think of it as a small plc where the i/o is configurable to be an input, output, or communication.

The biggest difference is you have to deal with protetcting the Stamp from your field inputs and providing the appropriate relay or triac outputs as the Stamp is pretty much a 0 volt and 5 volt kind of device. The number of inputs and outputs can be expanded plus there are several models which give a range of capability.

There are several of us here with industrial experience, so jump in, start a project and ask any questions along the way.

Cheers,

Mike Green

Walt,
The Stamps are quite good at working with switch closures and relay control. The "What's a Microcontroller?" tutorial has examples. Over the years, several people have used Stamps for model railroad control. If you're interested, browse through the Projects forum here. I think there are some descriptions there.

waltsar

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your timely responses. I will heed your advice and start my own research.

Thanks again,
Walt

Edit: I've now read a little about some of the various offerings - and even though I have a lot more questions, I have a better idea of this product line. But I have a very basic question that I didn't see addressed in my reading .... how is the STAMP programmed? I see that the Basic STAMP has a a USB port - is that the programming port? And is there some sort of programming software provided with the STAMP kit? I see that it's programmed using PBasic, is that freeware? Once the program is written, is it downloaded from the PC to the STAMP chip via the USB port?

You may all rue the day you welcomed me to your forum.

Thanks,
Walt

Mike Green

The Stamp is programmed over a serial port. Most Stamp boards these days come already equipped with a USB to serial adapter and that's how it's programmed. The Stamp Editor is a complete IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that comes with some of the Stamp kits. It's also downloadable from Parallax ... go to the main webpage and click on the Downloads button. You'll see a button for Stamp Software and that'll get you a link to use to download the Stamp Editor. There's lots and lots of other useful information there under Stamp Documentation and Stamps in Class Tutorials, etc. Make sure to check that out.

You make up your program using the Stamp Editor. One of the menu choices compiles the program for you and downloads it to the Stamp via the USB / serial port. The same port is used for debugging as well. There's a DEBUG statement in PBasic that you can use to display messages and variable values and the debug window in the Stamp Editor will display all that.

The Basic Stamp Syntax and Reference Manual has all the details on PBasic, the Stamp Editor, the hardware itself, etc. Another excellent source of information is this website. Click on "app-notes".