Starting with HYDRA
Monty
Posts: 3
Hello! 
Just saw the HYDRA on thinkgeek and it really got me interested, but wanted to ask a couple of·questions. Basically I'm a 17 year old student·in the UK, and as such have very little money (!) so want to be sure I'll get a lot out of the HYDRA console before investing.
The main issue is, I have very very little programming experience. I have played around a bit with one or two languages, but so far haven't found the time or means to actually learn properly. Is it feasible to learn using spin/asm with the HYDRA? I like to think of myself as reasonably intelligent (most who know me would probably disagree
·), and HYDRA looks like a really really interesting thing to learn with, but is this likely to be a long uphill struggle with something too advanced for me to really use? Or is it possible to use HYDRA as a learning tool from to go from zero experience·to... well... a bit more than zero·
·? Am I likely to·find it good fun or overly challenging?
I understand a lot of what I've asked is pretty subjective! But any/all opinions are helpful.
Thanks!
Monty
Just saw the HYDRA on thinkgeek and it really got me interested, but wanted to ask a couple of·questions. Basically I'm a 17 year old student·in the UK, and as such have very little money (!) so want to be sure I'll get a lot out of the HYDRA console before investing.The main issue is, I have very very little programming experience. I have played around a bit with one or two languages, but so far haven't found the time or means to actually learn properly. Is it feasible to learn using spin/asm with the HYDRA? I like to think of myself as reasonably intelligent (most who know me would probably disagree
·), and HYDRA looks like a really really interesting thing to learn with, but is this likely to be a long uphill struggle with something too advanced for me to really use? Or is it possible to use HYDRA as a learning tool from to go from zero experience·to... well... a bit more than zero··? Am I likely to·find it good fun or overly challenging?I understand a lot of what I've asked is pretty subjective! But any/all opinions are helpful.
Thanks!
Monty
Comments
Im planning on getting a HYDRA at some point in the future, one option you might want to do is just buy the Hydra book and have a read that should give you an idea of what you need to know then you can get the full system if you feel up to it. I think I read Spin is a bit like the C programming language so maybe you could get a cheap C programming book and have a bash at learning that.
For starters, since the Hydra is based on the Propeller chip, you may download the Propeller Manual and Propeller Education Kit labs to get an idea of·the·Propeller chip's·capabilities and programming languages.· They are on the Propeller Downloads page:
http://www.parallax.com/propeller/downloads.asp
There are also downloads for some sample chapters from the excellent·Hydra book itself. They are at the bottom of this page:
·http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=32360
Have fun,
-Stephanie Lindsay
Editor, Parallax Inc.
So as noted, skim thru the propeller book, read the sample chapters I put online from the hydra book and then you can make an informed decision.
Andre'
Post Edited (Mike Green) : 6/22/2007 1:29:13 AM GMT
I have tinkered around with one Hydra, and one SpinStamp for a while and read through Andre's book and through this forum. My resumee is as follows - and be aware it depends on your own pre-experience with micros what you find in it!
(A) The propeller is one of the few chips that comes by way of the Hydra ($ 200) in a very casual-user friendly package.
- A board with all connectors you shall need, no soldering, no configuration.
- Trust Andre's book. He takes you by the hand and you learn - page by page - what you need to now, just needing a little background as a programmer though.
Don't read in this forum in the beginning
(B) The other approchach is to start with e.g. a SpinStamp and an USBplug. ($ 70) You can easily find all neccesary information downloading Parallax docs and reading in this forum, if you have some experience from other (at least two different kinds of) micro controlers and a solid background as a programmer.
The advantage of (B) is, you are very flexible and shall find good use of the electronic spare parts in your lab.
The disadvantage of (A) is, that you are trained to software ("games") rather than electronics; you will find no instructions how to add an ADC or an I2C-Display to the Hydra in Andre's book.
But the Hydra is not absolutely "closed" - you have 8 I/O-Lines to an expansion port (and some serial lines as well), and also a blank prototyping card; you can also solder to the also included memory expansion card.
This is the essence! There are minor quibbles though:
- No Stereo sound
- No SD card interface
- the expansion card stands upright, which is bad for a cute box
- the "network" is a peer-to-peer connection rather than a network
- the board could have been half the size
You surely noticed: I hate the Hydra - I love the Hydra!
Hey deSilva, a good summary, but I think you're selling the Hydra package short on the info it gives on electronics. The first 150 odd pages of the book go through describing every electronic circuit on the hydra board with system and wiring diagrams. And the Hydra board isn't made smaller because Andre wanted to separate the sub-systems on the board so you could match the descriptions up to what is actually on the board. And it's still plenty small enough for a console.
Also the kit comes with a blank experimenter board, and the eeprom board exposes all it's lines for people to play with. A few people have made electronic gizmos to plug in the expansion port.
Thanks! Monty
@CardboardGuru: You are right: I did not stress the "electronics" chapters so much as they deserved it. But I mentioned the expansion cards.... So, what I want to say ist: Yes there are expansion posibilities and all schematics, but Andre's book is very tacid wrt to how to work with it: There is NO electronic project of any kind, nit even how to connect an LED and how to compute the current limiting resistor.
The electronic part is somewhat "a propos": You learn a lot (too much to my opinion
People - including me - indeed have added SD-cards to their Hydra by just identifying the pins and using a downloaded piece of asembler software. This is NOT understanding electronics....
This should by no means constitute harsh criticism - I think Andre has done an excellent job - most useful to them who will NOT expand their board but will write programs.
@Monty: I feel misunderstood :-( My advice was to buy a Hydra and follow the book