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BS2 software emulator — Parallax Forums

BS2 software emulator

Andy McLeodAndy McLeod Posts: 40
edited 2006-11-12 16:14 in BASIC Stamp
Has anyone encountered a working BS2 software emulator for design testing that doesn't break the bank?

Post Edited By Moderator (Chris Savage (Parallax)) : 10/17/2006 1:01:09 AM GMT

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-10-17 02:44
    The only ones that I've seen are pricey. Partly, the interpretive code is proprietary and the people who have developed the emulator have had to reverse engineer the interpreter.
  • RickBRickB Posts: 395
    edited 2006-10-17 03:42
    Has Parallax considered adding an emulator/simulator to the IDE?

    Rick
  • Martin HebelMartin Hebel Posts: 1,239
    edited 2006-10-17 03:49
    Tha BASIC Stamp is way too simple a device to need emulation. It has no interrupts or background tasks. It processes 1 line of code at a time. IMHO 99% of all logical errors can be caught with a few well placed DEBUG's.

    -Martin
  • Dr. MDr. M Posts: 3
    edited 2006-11-12 13:24
    Yes well it's not only the debugging that emulation would help.

    We have already burnt a servo with my code, and I would like that to be avoided.

    It would also help to seperate hardware development and software development.

    I for example, don't know anything about electronics. While the guy I work with don't know much about programming.

    It would be really cool if you could consider adding emulation to the IDE. It would probably help people get started aswell, trying some things before they buy expensive equipment.

    Regards..
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-11-12 16:14
    It might be cool, but it's very non-trivial to emulate a microcontroller properly complete with all the timing. You'd have to be able to display the outputs, simulate the inputs with patterns and certainly some analog (R-C) circuits. That's why the emulators are pricey. Even then, the 3rd party emulator is pretty cheap in the limited (educational, BS2 only) version. I think it's $100. It really is pretty easy to debug on the hardware. You can even use the Stamp Logic Analyzer to look at the output signals before you connect stuff. How did you burn the servo? It's pretty impossible to do unless you connect the power backwards or connect Vin to the servo logic pin. It may not work right while connected, but you can't damage it from the Stamp side.
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