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bs2 and ti's msp430 — Parallax Forums

bs2 and ti's msp430

softconsoftcon Posts: 217
edited 2012-09-30 15:17 in General Discussion
I'm curious if anyone has used this board. I saw one reference to it, and the user wasn't happy with the tools available, but that was a couple years ago. Ti claims there's opensource/free tools now, so I'm wondering if this little guy could be used in combination with a basic stamp to offload some of the more cpu intensive tasks, while the bs2 ties everything together, and handles the main processing on several projects I'm still contemplating. For less than 5 bucks, it won't hurt to get one and try it I guess, but I'd like to hear people's experiences (both good and bad) with this board.

Comments

  • iDaveiDave Posts: 252
    edited 2012-09-29 18:58
    I have a few of theme and they are excellent boards but you need to know what your doing.(good old c language programming, not BASIC) Whereas the bs2 is a great introduction to the world of microcontrollers(how I started) the ti chips are thought of in more professional terms. The launchpad board was TI way to get a piece of the hobbyist/maker action and I think they've been well received. Oh, and also they sip just a miniscule amount of juice compared to bs2's, arduino's, etc. So for stand alone projects that have to go weeks(months?) off a small battery they are very often used.
  • CircuitsoftCircuitsoft Posts: 1,166
    edited 2012-09-29 20:21
    I have a watch with a CC430 in it, that ran for a year and a half on one CR2032. The CC430 is a single-chip MSP430 and CC1100 radio.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-30 03:31
    The BasicStamp2 was a major change in available microcontrollers in that it provides a simple language and IDE software with substantial documentation for free.

    The msp430 is a Texas Instruments product that was introduced at giveaway prices for the lowest of its products, with some free software. In many ways it is a good and interesting product. But if it is support you are after, stick with a Parallax product while you try to figure out the MSP430.

    The 'less than 5 bucks' is a bit of an illusion as everything that really does something in the product line costs substantially more. At some point, I acquired enough of these 'promotional junk' items that I never get into fully learning that I don't waste my time or money on them.

    Some people seem able to quickly comprehend and handle any new device, I am not one of them. I am still learning a lot about the Propeller and the BasicStamp. I suppose an Arduino would be nice, but I can learn C with the Propeller. In many ways, it is like buying yet another screwdriver when you already have two or three good sets -- clutters my efforts.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-09-30 04:52
    Good support for the MSP430 is provided by the MSP430 Yahoo group:

    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/msp430

    The Rowley CrossWorks tools are excellent:

    http://www.rowley.co.uk/msp430/index.htm
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-30 06:53
    Here is the link to the product line. Lots of choices, extremely low power, but the inexpensive ones are not as interesting as the more expensive -- try Digikey or Mouser for prices.

    And did you see the price on that software? $150USD for personal license.

    http://www.ti.com/lit/sg/slab034v/slab034v.pdf
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-09-30 07:27
    It's worth it! The IDE and compiler are excellent.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-09-30 09:00
    Code Composer Studio is free to use with the MSP430 Launchpad.
  • softconsoftcon Posts: 217
    edited 2012-09-30 10:13
    Yeah, I saw they use C. This isn't a problem, I'm no expert in C, but I've done my share of hacking on C, mostly porting programs to osx and (years ago) porting from unix to dos, :) so I'm just fine with a C environment, was just checking to see if they were usable, or if the whole thing was a waste of time. Some seem to think so, while othes seem to think it's great. I figure it won't hurt to get one and see what I can do with it. if it turns out that it's useless to me, then it isn't a huge investment lost, and besides, I'm curious how easy it is to interface with the propeller or the bs2. Should prove interesting either way.
  • softconsoftcon Posts: 217
    edited 2012-09-30 10:25
    Yes, I did see the free software. I try hard not to purchase stuff that requires expensive software to make work, because there's less than an even chance that said software won't work with my screen reader software. If there's no free option, or something opensource I can tweak to work, the whole exercise becomes moot, because most developers (especially on windows) don't know (or care) enough to make their software accessible. This is why I love parallax, and their way of doing things, no screen reader issues here, just plug everything in, and off I go. The windows software for the propeller isn't exactly the most speech friendly thing out there, but it is usable, and since I use my mac most of the time anyhow, it's easy enough to use an external editor for the coding, then just load the software in the prop tool and download it to the propeller, poof, no need to worry about accessibility, since it can all be done with keystrokes regardless of what's on the screen. So, free/opensource is for me. :)
    I wouldn't have asked about the msp430 if there hadn't been free software to program it.
    Too many times back in the dos days, I wasted money purchasing software that just plain didn't work with screen reading software, so these days, given an alternative, I'll use free/opensource before any commercial app, regardless of the job. Guess this is why I became a programmer myself, got tired of finding cool software that didn't work for me.
    Admittedly, the stuff I turn out isn't nearly as flashy as the other stuff, but it works for me, and that's all that counts.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-30 10:33
    The ultra low-power feature of the MSP430 series is quite attractive. But all the development stuff that I want is way over that $5 and there are only a limited series of devices that are DIPs.

    In sum, it is good stuff if you can bring something to market.
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2012-09-30 10:50
    The Rowley Crossworks C Compiler package is really polished and with the personal license only costing a $150, it's a steal.

    There is also the Energia - a arduino like development suite for the MSP430 - it's free.
    Here are several sites:
    http://www.43oh.com/

    http://energia.nu/

    And try Olimex for low cost MSP430 boards. They have a nice one for $16.00 at Mouser called the Olmexino-5510.
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2012-09-30 15:17
    I have a msp430 dongle here in the DVD case ,. I have yet to tinker with it .l..
    If I need small and simple .I drop a Picaxe .. more power I use a BS2 and then its Prop time ...
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