Which microcontroller to usean
towne107@canton.edu
Posts: 1
Hello,
I am looking to develop a prototype for a project that I've been working on and I'm looking for advice on which microcontroller to use. I need a microcontroller that will fulfill my requirements but am not looking to spend a lot of money on features/abilities that I don't need. My only real requirements are to record and log data from a couple of different sensors and then display this data on a screen of some type. I would also like the microcontroller to be able to communicate with the sensors wirelessly (the sensors being powered separately and located within inches of the microcontroller. The other, most important, aspect is that it needs to be fairly small. I was also wondering if I decided to get a development board to run my tests and do my programming first and then complete the actual prototype on a small mountable microcontroller would there be any issues due to differences between the two? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
I am looking to develop a prototype for a project that I've been working on and I'm looking for advice on which microcontroller to use. I need a microcontroller that will fulfill my requirements but am not looking to spend a lot of money on features/abilities that I don't need. My only real requirements are to record and log data from a couple of different sensors and then display this data on a screen of some type. I would also like the microcontroller to be able to communicate with the sensors wirelessly (the sensors being powered separately and located within inches of the microcontroller. The other, most important, aspect is that it needs to be fairly small. I was also wondering if I decided to get a development board to run my tests and do my programming first and then complete the actual prototype on a small mountable microcontroller would there be any issues due to differences between the two? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
Comments
How much data ?
?? a screen of some type is extremely vague. Graphics or Numeric ? What format display, size of digits, update rate ... ?
wirelessly ? - as in Infrared, Zigbee, WiFi, Bluetooth ?
fairly small also needs numbers ?
A display + batteries is likely to dictate the size.
There are a number of starter boards that include simple displays, (STm, Freescale,TI ?) but the wireless-included is less common on smaller uC boards.
You have told us everything but you have told us nothing. Good. What sensors? How fast would you like to do this? OK. But now we have a different problem. Not how to interface to the sensors but how to interface to the wireless communication devices.
By the way, if the sensors are only "inches away" why do you want to make things a hundred times more expensive and complicated using wireless rather than a direct wired connection? Yes, but if you put all that wireless communication in between it will be big.
Now, how about you tell us what you really want to measure with those sensors? And how fast? Then we can think about a good solution.
It supports video built in and you can use s twenty dollar car backup camera monitor from eBay or any NTSC, pal,vga display out of the box.
Several boards have xbee header and an sd card slot built in.
You can program in C/C++/spin/forth. There are more objects in spin, but the c system is really easy to get going.
There are cheap small versions of boards where you can still do sd data logging because there is a spot for sd card.
The SS card object and video is very common on propeller.
Any micro can do a lot of what you want, these are reasons I recommend the propeller.
And each end of the wireless is going to require a microcontroller. Sensors don't magically communicate with wireless.
If you want to save money, RS-422/485 serial wire can go to 1000 meters easily on two wires.
The Propeller can use a Micro SDcard to record data, so you have gigabytes of space if you require such.
The Propeller can support a keyboard and VGA color monitor with ASCII display (no Chinese yet).
You could make the Propeller your base station and have your wired sensors connect to small limited purpose microcontrollers that are connected to one sensor each over an RS-422.
In other words, if money is really an issue, using different micro-controllers for different purposes may save you more than using one micro-controller for everything. But you would have to learn how to use different programing tools for each.
Of course, if you use Propeller chips for everything, you will get excellent support from this forum... better that most of what is out there.
The RFDuino may be what you want...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1608192864/rfduino-iphone-bluetooth-40-arduino-compatible-boa
They're still shipping to backers, though, and haven't yet started taking normal orders.
The ability to download a piece of canned software and immediately have a VGA display, PS/2 kbd interface, and even a mouse interface, was mind-blowing. It was mind-blowing that it would do all those things, but it was even more amazing that it would do all those things without compromising in the slightest the precise timing of the primary function.
Well XBees do support analog sensors automatically don't they?
But my main point is that almost any wireless solution is cheaper than a 1000m of weatherproof UTP cable, 1000m
range isn't a selling point for RS485, its the reliability and bandwidth that would sell it to me.