Propeller 1 dead?
port513
Posts: 50
in Propeller 1
Is anyone using this MCU anymore?
I will try to compete in a Sumobot competition with the Activity board
/Henke
I will try to compete in a Sumobot competition with the Activity board
/Henke
Comments
http://www.efx-tek.com/topics/ap-8.html
Of course Parallax uses them an a variety of products, such as the newly announced S3 Robot, (and it was used in the S2):
https://www.parallax.com/product/28333
It is also used in the ELEV-8 V#:
https://www.parallax.com/product/elev-8
Bill Henning uses them in some of his products:
http://www.mikronauts.com/
There are many users out there but sometimes they will not tell you what's "Under the Hood"
The Propeller P1 is alive and well!
https://www.parallax.com/product/28231
When I need to wiggle a bunch of I/O pins in asynchronous ways nothing else is easier that the Prop.
.. & many have asked the same question of the 8051, over the years ....
Just because something is mature, and not some fad, does not mean it is not being used.
-- AP-8+ audio player (finalizing design)
-- AP-16+ audio player (in production for five years and still very popular)
-- HC-8+ controller (our most popular controller, recently updated to add new features)
-- FC-4+ lighting controller
-- RC-4+ (in final design)
We do contract work using the Propeller as well.
Personally, I used the Propeller for many of Camera Turret's products (until the owner passed and the company closed); I now write Propeller code for similar products for another company.
In Hollywood, I work with Alliance Studios, mostly using EFX-TEK boards, but occasionally building something custom. You can see pictures of a lot of Propeller-powered projects here:
-- https://www.pinterest.com/jonmcphalen/techno-art/
http://www.clusos.com/
http://www.astrosolutionsllc.com/AstroSolutions_LLC/AHC.html (uses 3 P8X32A's)
Sorry to hear about Lou. He was a nice guy. I helped him out a lot with his products back when he used the BS2sx.
Lou was a really great guy and we became close friends over the years. I miss him and his infectious laugh very much. Luckily, another company -- who used to buy boards from Lou -- is now building those kinds of products which are needed by budget filmmakers.
Mouser: 5334 in stock.
Pretty sure the big suppliers don't keep that many "dead" items setting around, ready to ship, if no one is ordering them.
Great observation and comment!
Parallax themselves are still designing in products using these.
I have no worries about the P8X32A (except the QFN package) being around for many many years to come. I am still designing them into products, and even after the P2 release, I will still have applications where the current P1 (P8X32A) is more suitable and design them in.
It is quite clear to me that P1 sales must be increasing. Mouser and DigiKey are keeping much larger quantities in stock than they used to. Companies don't hold large stock if they are not selling them.
The QuickStart probably hasn't been good for the third party Prop board industry, but it has made it extremely easy to roll our own by drawing daughterboards, which are extremely simple and therefore easy to design. I use ExpressPCB which I know is bad because proprietary and all but very easy to use and fast, and price is never the tent pole in our mostly custom one-off projects. Add a laser cut acrylic enclosure from Ponoko, and suddenly my little company is a manufacturer.
The P1 is the reason I started doing these things for my company; I really can't imagine continuing this kind of work with any other platform. Even the P2 is going to be a lot more limiting because of its form factor and power supply requirements, although it will obviously be the go-to solution when the P1 doesn't have enough RAM or I/O. Even after P2 I will probably continue to use P1 when it suffices just because it's so easy to work with. There really is nothing else out there anything like it.
-Phil