please assist with selecting kits, parts, etc.

metallo

i know this will be a frequently asked question, but i'm a bit overwhelmed with the variety of kits, parts, texts, etc. that i can purchase. i will be teaching myself everything there is to know about microcontrollers and intend to do so using parallax kits.

1) i don't want to buy a book, if i can download it instead
2) i would like to solder up the basic stamp kit, rather than buy a premade one
3) i would like to buy a box of parts for all of the exercises i can do in the texts
4) i want to avoid buying duplicate parts, kits, etc. and buy a bunch of the kits all at once
5) i like the idea of the USB version rather than the serial version, but that's not an absolute requirement

can someone please help guide me to the right products to purchase. i looked at the stamp in class flowchart:

http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/edu/curriculum/flow.asp

and i'm interested in most of the kits there. for example though, with the very first one, "whats in a microcontroller" i can purchase the parts kit and text for $66, or just the parts for $39 and i'm assuming i can dowload the exact version of the text i would otherwie purchase in printed form? but i don't see the basic stamp module with the parts kit and i need to know what basic stamp project board to buy.

thanks for any help

k

allanlane5

When you're learning, you're going to mess stuff up.

Thus, it would be good to have a 'stable' platform to work with.

Also, the books are written assuming a certain platform BEING worked with (pictures of parts placement, mostly). Thus it would be extremely helpful to have the 'base' platform everybody else has.

So, I recommend buying the Board Of Education, WITH a BS2, WITH an introductory course package. Once you have that, you can probably download texts and purchase parts on your own. One thing to be aware of -- Parallax purchases mass quantities of these parts from vendors, and so purchasing the 'kit' from Parallax may actually cost less in the long run than buying it yourself. But buying it yourself is do-able.

Mike Green

A lot depends on what you want to do in the future. If you mostly want to learn about microcontrollers and the Stamp, maybe use the Stamp for a simple controller in the future, you could even get the Basic Stamp Activity Kit for $80 and, if you want, a USB to Serial adapter for $15. It would be hard to get the small parts, Stamp, and basic breadboard for anything near the $80 it costs as a package. I've read a lot of Parallax texts on the computer screen and, sometimes, it's easier to use the printed book, especially when you're trying to use the Stamp Editor and trying to reference a diagram or code listing too. I would suggest getting the Stamp Manual in printed form. I use both and sometimes it's much easier to use the printed book.

If you have a specific project in mind that would need some of the capabilities of one of the newer Stamps, you might start with that by getting a USB Board of Education and the specific Stamp you will want (I'd get a BS2px for the extra features), then getting the What's a Microcontroller? parts kit.

Steph Lindsay

Hello Metallo,
·
Your enthusiasm for learning is admirable!· Yes, we do have a broad variety of products, but·if you have never worked with microcontrollers before, the best way to start is by downloading "What's a Microcontroller? v2.2"· (All of our Stamps in Class texts are available as free downloads.) The pdf is the first link at the bottom of this page.·
·
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28152
·
If you·browse through it, you will see that it is written specifically for·the Board of Education (BOE) with·a BASIC Stamp 2 (BS2), or the HomeWork Board with a surface-mount BS2.· If you purchase a BASIC Stamp OEM kit and solder it together yourself, you could still perform the experiments in the book if you are experienced with reading schematics and would be comfortable building the circuits on your own breadboard. I usually don't reccomend beginning that way, because when troubleshooting one has to think of soldering errors as well as wiring errors and programming errors.
·
The BOE Full Kit comes with a BS2, and is available in a·dual serial/usb compatible version (part# 910-28103).· It costs a little more to get started, but it can take you farther.··It is compatible with all of our Stamps in Class texts (except the Toddler and SumoBot robots, which use their own boards).· If you damage your BASIC Stamp, it can be replaced. Also, the BOE will accept any 24-pin BASIC Stamp model (BS2p, BS2sx, BS2pe, etc.)·so if you think you will want to use any of those in the future this is the way to go. Of course you would need to buy the What's a Microcontroller parts kit separately.

The BASIC Stamp Activity Kit is the least expensive way to get started with "What's a Microcontroller?"··Once you·have mastered that, there·are also specific instructions for using the HomeWork Board in "Robotics with the Boe-Bot,"·"Understanding Signals"·and our upcoming book "Smart Sensors," and it's also fine with "BASIC Analog and Digital."· The BS2 on the HomeWork Board cannot be replaced, but there are additional 220-ohm resistors between the I/O pins and the breadboard to help protect it from wiring errors.

Parallax does not sell·a single·kit that contains the components required for all of the Stamps in Class books.· You can see a full Components Listing·for each kit by clicking on the link at the bottom of that kit's product page.· If you compare the individual kits, you will find that there's lots of overlap for small, inexpensive components like resistors, capacitors,·and LEDs, but each one has some unique and sometimes higher-cost components as well.··· After starting with one kit, you can compare the listings to see if it is more practical to buy new components·individually or with their kits.

Of course, the BASIC Stamp Manual is also a free download, and is a must-have whichever route you choose:
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27218


I hope this helps!

-Stephanie Lindsay
Technical Editor, Parallax Inc.
·

metallo

ok, i have to follow up with a synopsis of my understanding and hopefully get 1 or 2 clarifications.

1) i should purchase the "board of education":
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28850

2) and purchase the slightly more advanced model of the "basic stamp" the BS2px:
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=BS2PX-IC
i assume this does at least what the BS2 does, but has "room to grow"

3) then, if i want to suffer only slight penalty for ease of readability, download:
what's a microcontroller? PDF file
-as opposed to purchasing the printed form

4) and last but not least, purchase the parts kits i'm interested in such as:
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28122
or
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28128
or
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27340

5) and if i'm resourceful and want to spend hours and hours spec'ing components i could go to a place like mouser.com and try to find the individual components in each of the above kits by looking at the PDF text books for those "classes" and identifing what i need to buy, eliminating overlap of parts and excess "inventory"...and even then, certain kits may still be cheaper buying from parallax.

6) now, i stumbled across this in my browsing:

http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=910-27207

and it looks as though that has about everything i need to get going, with the exception that it is the BS2 and not BS2px chip, which may handicap me in the future.


now for a different type of question, if i learn all this development and programming by using these kits, namely the "board of education" with a BS2-- chip, am i learning industry techniques? in orther words, when i decide that i want to build a hardened industrial component using what i learned, can i buy pretty much the same technology for that purpose. such as an "industrial" version of the BOE with onboard BS2px chip? hope the question doesn't seem silly. for example, one of my possible goals is to build a data logger that will read 3 or 4 channels of mV type industrial sensors and stamp each line of data with latitude/longitude and time from a GPS. maybe part of the programming will be to interpolate the GPS position at each data sample (GPS outputs every second, whereas data is sampled 20 times a second).

thanks for the input

metallo

oh, i almost forgot. on the page with the USB BOE w/ BS2 kit, there are accessories:

lcd printer
memsic accelerometer
etc...

are there enough project examples in the text to take advantage of those? when i read about the LCD display, it seems to be something not necessarily made to work with the educational "stamps in class" stuff.

thanks again

Mike Green

1-5) Yep
6) The main advantages of the BS2px rather than BS2: Faster (x5); More program memory (8K vs 2K) although the additional memory is really for multiple programs (in banks), not bigger programs. You can "chain" from one program to another, but not conveniently; Special purpose statements for I2C, 1-Wire, polling of I/O between statements, parallel LCD display support; additional configurable I/O pin capabilities: Schmitt trigger, built-in pullups, CMOS/TTL threshold switching, analog comparator on pins 0-2.

Yes, you can buy the "industrial" (OEM) version of most of the Stamp chips (not the px yet). The BS2p is slightly slower than the BS2px (12,000 inst/sec vs. 19,000 inst/sec) and the BS2px is the only Stamp with the configurable I/O pin capabilities. The BS2pe is a little slower than the BS2p, but has twice the memory (16K), takes less power, and is intended for data logging applications (the program memory in all Stamps is EEPROM and is accessible for storing data as well).

As you may have noticed from reading some of the information on the Stamps, it's very easy to connect A/D converters and additional serial memory (I2C or SPI serial bus). Parallax now has an "easy to connect and use" GPS receiver. GHI Electronics and others make SD/MMC card interfaces to microcontrollers like the Stamp that take care of all the card I/O and file system (FAT) maintenance so that the memory cards can be read/written on your PC.

Mike Green

The accelerometer (like all Parallax accessories) comes with documentation on how to connect it to your Stamp and sample programs that exercise the basic functionality of the accessory.

Keep in mind that Parallax sells heavily to the educational market where ease of use and high quality documentation are very important.

All of the LCD displays are usable with the Stamp boards. Some of the boards have a built-in socket for the parallel LCD cable. Others you have to use a few wire jumpers to connect it. The "p" series Stamps have built-in statements for the parallel LCDs. The others can use them, but it's more awkward. It may be simpler to use a serial LCD instead since all the Stamps support a serial interface with their built-in statements.

Post Edited (Mike Green) : 9/28/2006 10:21:54 PM GMT

allanlane5

Your ultimate goal is a little ambitious, but not a show-stopper. The BS2px will let you 'try-out' all of the interfaces you'll need to implement your ultimate solution. It MAY have enough speed and I/O to be used for that itself -- or having proven the interfaces, you MIGHT need to implement an SX based solution. Probably not, the BS2px is a very capable platform.

My point is, having learned the Stamp and the interfaces to the equipment you want to use, even if the Stamp doesn't quite meet your need at the very end, you'll not have wasted your time -- you'll apply 90% of what you've learned to the ultimate solution.

And really, I can't concieve of any OTHER way to get there. Any other processor/compiler/chip-burner combination is going to cost more and have a MUCH steeper learning curve.

Oh, and make very sure that you do purchase a 'wall-wart' AC to DC power supply from Parallax -- preferably the 7.5 volt one. Parallax has a very good price, and you know the power plug will fit. Some kits come with, some do not.

Steph Lindsay

Hello Metallo,

One caution about beginning with the BS2px - the programs in the Stamps in Class texts were all developed for the BS2.·Many will not work exactly as written with the BS2px because some PBASIC commands have arguments with units that vary with different models of BASIC Stamp.·

For example, the PULSOUT Duration argument is in 2 microsecond units for the BS2, and 0.8 microsecond units for the BS2px.··· So,

PULSOUT 850

...would send a 1700 microsecond pulse when used on a BS2, but only a 680 microsecond pulse with the BS2px.· If you were using this command to control a Parallax continuous rotation servo, the former would make it rotate at full speed one direction, and the latter to rotate slower in the opposite direction!· So, if you were to use a BS2px with the "Robotics with the Boe-Bot" text you would need to modify all of the code segments that control the servos with PULSOUT commands in order to·get the robot behaviors described in the experiements.·

Just as beginning with an OEM adds a layer of complexity to troubleshooting, so would having to modify all of the programs for the BS2px as you went along.··If you go this route I reccommend reading up on each new PBASIC command as it is introduced, this can be done with the BASIC Stamp Manual or with the Help file in the BASIC Stamp Editor.

BTW, the·accessories you mentioned, such as the LCD and accelerometer, etc. are all well supported by the same author who wrote What's a Microcontroller, and the examples are given for the BS2.· You can browse through his forum articles here, and many of them will be part of the next Stamps in Class book "Smart Sensors and Applications":

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=560570

BTW, you can look at the complete components listings for each Stamps in Class kit by clicking on the link at the bottom of the products page.· The parts are available through Parallax as a complete kit AND as individual components in almost all instances.


·

metallo

thanks to everyone for your input and individual viewpoints.· i think the text and examples on the forums and everywhere else are outstanding ways to learn, and all for free.· i can't wait to see my first program in action...i've always wondered how these sorts of things work and what it takes to learn.· it's great to find virtually an entire website dedicated to learning "kits".

i teach a wiring class for people who build airplanes.· we learn about crimping, soldering, basic circuits and so forth, but nobody building an airplane ever does anything with a microprocesor (i'm talking about an individual person, not big companies like boeing or cessna).· i think it's time i conquer this fear of things i cannot see (like tiny 1's and 0's)·and expand a little.

soon the sky will be the limit on all those ideas i always had but could never implement!

thanks again

kas