EE (newbie): needs stamp jumpstart (232 & 485 application)
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Posts: 46,084
Hi all,
I was reading through some postings and this looks like a wonderfully
supportive community. I am hoping you all can jumpstart me on stamp! I
have a new project that is relatively simple, and I've been pointed to the
stamp as a solid way to prototype it without having to custom fabricate PCBs
or order a ton of development boards. I have an electrical engineering
background, have worked with Motorola DSPs and microprocessors, and am
comfortable programming down to assembler. I have some general questions on
how to get started. But first:
ANY USEFUL SAMPLE CODE OR SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT ARE HELPFUL (preferably with
multiple 232 comms and/or 4-wire 485 multi-drop) WOULD BE GREATLY
APPRECIATED!
Here is what I need to do...
Project:
-Connect ~20 "nodes" to a common rs-485 bus to then talk to a main PC
server.
-Each node needs to communicate with two external devices via rs-232 (an LCD
and a bar code reader). Each node also needs to light up a few LEDs and
take a few push-button inputs in a very asynchronous environment.
-The system cannot lose information or miss inputs (is stamp an interrupt
driven environment?)
Here are my main starter questions:
1) What should I order to get started here (preferrably to wire-wrap the
entire project together)? Should I order a bunch of the starter kits?
Should I just order a bunch of Stamp "chips" and get some empty perf. boards
from Radio Shack? Help with what to order (from the chips to the software
to the power supplies) is greatly appreciated!
2) What is the best software development tool to use to program both in
BASIC and assembler (is there a C development program available?)
-Cost is important, but not at the sake of sacrificing an elegant design.
Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to following the projects on
the list and lending a hand when I can!
All Best,
John Lerch
jwlerch@a...
John W. Lerch
Proximities, LLC
501 Forrestal Rd., Suite 202
Princeton, NJ 08540
p: (609) 951-9595
c: (609) 468-4959
f: (646) 514-5877
e: jlerch@p...
www.proximities.com
I was reading through some postings and this looks like a wonderfully
supportive community. I am hoping you all can jumpstart me on stamp! I
have a new project that is relatively simple, and I've been pointed to the
stamp as a solid way to prototype it without having to custom fabricate PCBs
or order a ton of development boards. I have an electrical engineering
background, have worked with Motorola DSPs and microprocessors, and am
comfortable programming down to assembler. I have some general questions on
how to get started. But first:
ANY USEFUL SAMPLE CODE OR SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT ARE HELPFUL (preferably with
multiple 232 comms and/or 4-wire 485 multi-drop) WOULD BE GREATLY
APPRECIATED!
Here is what I need to do...
Project:
-Connect ~20 "nodes" to a common rs-485 bus to then talk to a main PC
server.
-Each node needs to communicate with two external devices via rs-232 (an LCD
and a bar code reader). Each node also needs to light up a few LEDs and
take a few push-button inputs in a very asynchronous environment.
-The system cannot lose information or miss inputs (is stamp an interrupt
driven environment?)
Here are my main starter questions:
1) What should I order to get started here (preferrably to wire-wrap the
entire project together)? Should I order a bunch of the starter kits?
Should I just order a bunch of Stamp "chips" and get some empty perf. boards
from Radio Shack? Help with what to order (from the chips to the software
to the power supplies) is greatly appreciated!
2) What is the best software development tool to use to program both in
BASIC and assembler (is there a C development program available?)
-Cost is important, but not at the sake of sacrificing an elegant design.
Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to following the projects on
the list and lending a hand when I can!
All Best,
John Lerch
jwlerch@a...
John W. Lerch
Proximities, LLC
501 Forrestal Rd., Suite 202
Princeton, NJ 08540
p: (609) 951-9595
c: (609) 468-4959
f: (646) 514-5877
e: jlerch@p...
www.proximities.com
Comments
The only editor you will need is downloadable from Parallax. There is a new
version coming out to-morrow, so wait 'till then to d-load. There may be C
tools out there, but I don't know of them. A serial (not null modem) cable
is required for programming. Sample code is everywhere, the Parallax site
has a ton, the 'net has plenty more. And you can always ask the kind folks
on this list for specific code examples.
I would start with a B2SX OEM module and some breadboards from Radio Crack.
The OEM has a Vreg and a com port built in. I would also recommend a serial
LCD for debugging and so on. There is a built in debug that shows results on
the PC, but sometimes it is easier to have an LCD if the Stamp isn't hooked
up to the PC.
The Stamp does not have interrupts. As to your project, there are many here
more qualified then I to comment, so I will leave that to them.
Jonathan
Original Message
From: "John W. Lerch" <jwlerch@a...>
To: "Basic Stamps" <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "Joshua Girvin" <jgirvin@p...>; "Brian Tsang"
<btsang@s...>
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 7:54 AM
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] EE (newbie): needs stamp jumpstart (232 & 485
application)
> Hi all,
>
> I was reading through some postings and this looks like a wonderfully
> supportive community. I am hoping you all can jumpstart me on stamp! I
> have a new project that is relatively simple, and I've been pointed to the
> stamp as a solid way to prototype it without having to custom fabricate
PCBs
> or order a ton of development boards. I have an electrical engineering
> background, have worked with Motorola DSPs and microprocessors, and am
> comfortable programming down to assembler. I have some general questions
on
> how to get started. But first:
>
> ANY USEFUL SAMPLE CODE OR SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT ARE HELPFUL (preferably with
> multiple 232 comms and/or 4-wire 485 multi-drop) WOULD BE GREATLY
> APPRECIATED!
>
> Here is what I need to do...
>
> Project:
>
> -Connect ~20 "nodes" to a common rs-485 bus to then talk to a main PC
> server.
> -Each node needs to communicate with two external devices via rs-232 (an
LCD
> and a bar code reader). Each node also needs to light up a few LEDs and
> take a few push-button inputs in a very asynchronous environment.
> -The system cannot lose information or miss inputs (is stamp an interrupt
> driven environment?)
>
>
> Here are my main starter questions:
>
> 1) What should I order to get started here (preferrably to wire-wrap the
> entire project together)? Should I order a bunch of the starter kits?
> Should I just order a bunch of Stamp "chips" and get some empty perf.
boards
> from Radio Shack? Help with what to order (from the chips to the software
> to the power supplies) is greatly appreciated!
>
> 2) What is the best software development tool to use to program both in
> BASIC and assembler (is there a C development program available?)
>
> -Cost is important, but not at the sake of sacrificing an elegant design.
>
>
> Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to following the projects
on
> the list and lending a hand when I can!
>
>
> All Best,
> John Lerch
> jwlerch@a...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> John W. Lerch
> Proximities, LLC
> 501 Forrestal Rd., Suite 202
> Princeton, NJ 08540
>
> p: (609) 951-9595
> c: (609) 468-4959
> f: (646) 514-5877
> e: jlerch@p...
> www.proximities.com
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
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>
>
>
>
expensive but you only need to buy it once. It has one stamp, a
small proto board, any easy to use serial interface, PBASIC language
documentation, and PC software. Then you only have to buy stamps for
future projects (or reuse them).
On the parallax site they have columns called "Nuts and Volts" where
they give sample circuits and code. Take a look at the ones on RS232
(esp. the one about interfacing VB) and RS485.
The Basic Stamp does not support interupts. As someone who learned
microprocessors on the Z-80 this is a major point of frustration, but
for most applications you can work around it by checking your inputs
regularly and even some fancy circuitry tricks.
As for your specific project, why do you need to talk to the barcode
reader and the LCD with RS232? This is probably making things more
complicated than they have to be. The book that comes with the
starter kit explains LCD interfaces very well and BS2+ has exelent
subroutines for this.
I hope this helps.
-selket
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "John W. Lerch" <jwlerch@a...>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I was reading through some postings and this looks like a
wonderfully
> supportive community. I am hoping you all can jumpstart me on
stamp! I
> have a new project that is relatively simple, and I've been pointed
to the
> stamp as a solid way to prototype it without having to custom
fabricate PCBs
> or order a ton of development boards. I have an electrical
engineering
> background, have worked with Motorola DSPs and microprocessors, and
am
> comfortable programming down to assembler. I have some general
questions on
> how to get started. But first:
>
> ANY USEFUL SAMPLE CODE OR SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT ARE HELPFUL
(preferably with
> multiple 232 comms and/or 4-wire 485 multi-drop) WOULD BE GREATLY
> APPRECIATED!
>
> Here is what I need to do...
>
> Project:
>
> -Connect ~20 "nodes" to a common rs-485 bus to then talk to a main
PC
> server.
> -Each node needs to communicate with two external devices via rs-
232 (an LCD
> and a bar code reader). Each node also needs to light up a few
LEDs and
> take a few push-button inputs in a very asynchronous environment.
> -The system cannot lose information or miss inputs (is stamp an
interrupt
> driven environment?)
>
>
> Here are my main starter questions:
>
> 1) What should I order to get started here (preferrably to wire-
wrap the
> entire project together)? Should I order a bunch of the starter
kits?
> Should I just order a bunch of Stamp "chips" and get some empty
perf. boards
> from Radio Shack? Help with what to order (from the chips to the
software
> to the power supplies) is greatly appreciated!
>
> 2) What is the best software development tool to use to program
both in
> BASIC and assembler (is there a C development program available?)
>
> -Cost is important, but not at the sake of sacrificing an elegant
design.
>
>
> Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to following the
projects on
> the list and lending a hand when I can!
>
>
> All Best,
> John Lerch
> jwlerch@a...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> John W. Lerch
> Proximities, LLC
> 501 Forrestal Rd., Suite 202
> Princeton, NJ 08540
>
> p: (609) 951-9595
> c: (609) 468-4959
> f: (646) 514-5877
> e: jlerch@p...
> www.proximities.com