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SX or propeller? — Parallax Forums

SX or propeller?

HenrymouHenrymou Posts: 128
edited 2007-02-28 19:57 in General Discussion
I have mastered the BASIC stamp.
I want to know from the experts whether the propeller or dip SX chip is best for advanced robotics.
tell me everythin'
-Henry
cool.gif

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2007-02-27 02:36
    Henry,
    There has been plenty of discussion before and I don't think there's anything new. "Best" depends on what you want to do and what you mean by "advanced robotics".
  • HenrymouHenrymou Posts: 128
    edited 2007-02-27 02:55
    Well, yes but which one has the best:
    processing power
    data space
    price range $$$
    most amount of pinss?
    ...
    and more?
  • HenrymouHenrymou Posts: 128
    edited 2007-02-27 02:56
    oh, I changed my icon yo
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2007-02-27 04:25
    Please stay away from discussions of "best". It's not useful.

    processing power
    The SX will process more instructions per microsecond. Each instruction on the SX only processes an 8 bit value while the Propeller does 32 bit arithmetic. The Propeller's instructions do more per instruction if that's useful. The Propeller also has 8 independent processors while the SX only has one. The SX does have an interrupt capability so it can do some functions as interrupt routines, thus sort of doing several things at the same time (functionally) as well.

    data space
    The Propeller has more built-in RAM memory (32K bytes + 512 words/cog) which is shared between program and data. The SX has separate data (262 bytes) and program (4K instruction words) memory, both less than the Propeller's, but possibly making better use of it depending on the application.

    price range $$$
    Prototype board price for SX = $10. Prototype board price for Propeller = $25

    most amount of pinss?
    SX48 has 36 I/O pins while the Propeller has 32 I/O pins of which 28 are generally available and 4 are used for booting, but available afterwards.
  • HenrymouHenrymou Posts: 128
    edited 2007-02-27 07:55
    OH, thank u!
    I think I will use the SX chip, It sounds better for my kind of projects
    bye
  • Capt. QuirkCapt. Quirk Posts: 872
    edited 2007-02-27 09:03
    Depending on your program size, you can run out of Variable space with the SX in a hurry.·If your using SX/B, time dependent functions like Pulsout, serin, pause, etc. will slow your program way down. If you compare sections of code that have been converted to SASM, the difference in runtime between a 4 and a 50 mhz crystal is extreamly small, even though the 50 mhz will produce aprox. 11 times cycles of the 4 mhz.

    The biggest differences for me was, timiming is much more critical, PBasic uses many more word variables and· converting code isn't always easy as maybe it should be.·Debuging the SX and the learning curve was much steeper for me than the BS2 also. But I enjoy working with the SX very much.

    If price is the main factor, you might also look at the BS2SX OEM modules too
  • HenrymouHenrymou Posts: 128
    edited 2007-02-28 04:56
    yep, SX chip it is! yeah.gif
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2007-02-28 14:22
    On the other hand, if you want video and keyboard: use the Propeller

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  • PaulPaul Posts: 263
    edited 2007-02-28 19:57
    The Propeller has a BS2_functions.spin to get you up and running quickly also. If SX has something like that I never found it.

    2 cents
    Paul
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