Why use a PIC or AVR when you can get an ARM module for $10 ???

I'm really not asking a question, but instead making more a statement.

If you are only going to make ONE or few of something, and if you don't care about battery-operated (low-power) or extremely-small or extremely-cheap or you don't care about Audrino compatibility, then you should be looking at lower-priced ARM 32-bit processors!

For some applications, the PIC and AVR are excellent match, but since your time is worth far more than an IC chip, then maybe you should consider an ARM instead.

The STM32 Value Line Discovery board (STM32VLDISCOVERY) is cheaper than most AVR Audrino boards. The board has a STM32F100 chip, which has an ARM Cortex-M3 core, but doesn't have USB or Ethernet peripherals. This board is a great low-cost entry-level board, and you can't complain for such a cheap price!

News about Board:
ST | STMicroelectronics

Board info:
STMicroelectronics : Application & Tools

CPU info:
STM32 - STM32F100R6 microcontroller - documents and files download page

In USA, it is $11.85 from DigiKey and Mouser, search for STM32VLDISCOVERY:
DigiKey Corp. | Electronic Components Distributor | United States Home Page
Mouser Electronics - Distributor elektronischer Bauteile
**broken link removed**

By the way, this STM32F100 chip is the little brother of the STM32F103 (has USB) and STM32F107 (has USB and ethernet), and many features are identical across all the families.

you should be looking at lower-priced ARM 32-bit processors!

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none, really.

those CMx boards are incredibly bargains, especially for the hobbyist market.

---------- Post added at 22:07 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

for a little over $10, you get a super powerful mcu, plus a progarmmer and a debugger.

Not to mention red-hot skills / experience that you can market yourself on right away.

PIC/AVR are so yesteryear.

what is the cost of to board with usb and ethernet.. and can i get it in india

nikhilele said:

what is the cost of to board with usb and ethernet.. and can i get it in india

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I don't work for ST, but here is some info.

That board comes from ST Microdevices in ONE flavor. The chip doesn't have USB or Ethernet. The board does have a 2nd ARM chip (STM32F103) that does have USB, but it is ONLY used for the USB to SDW debug interface.

List of STM32 families.
**broken link removed**

List of stocking distributors in America, Europe, Asia, Japan:
**broken link removed**

But it is the complexity of the processor that one doesn't uce ARM but PIC/AVR.
Regards,
Jerin.

incomplete_jerin said:

But it is the complexity of the processor that one doesn't uce ARM but PIC/AVR.
Regards,
Jerin.

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What you know about C and C++ is mostly portable, so you don't have to re-learn those aspects. Assembly is NOT portable, but if you are living in mostly assembler then you are wasting your time, because with faster processors means that you don't need to mess with assembly most of the time.

There is always a learning curve for every microcontroller chip so you can't take that part away. Whether PIC, AVR, ARM, PPC, or others all have some learning curve.

The most complex part of flexible chips is the jillions of hardware things that you need to configure, which can be overwhelming, but at the same time you benefit because you have lots of features that you might need later.

If you use PIC, then stick with it. If you use AVR, then stick with it. If you want to move to another CPU family, then consider ARM.

If you are working on a project which you won't make very many of them, then hardware expenses are a drop in the bucket compared to man-hour expenses, so just use an ARM / PPC / x86 and not worry about the HW cost. If you have to ship a bazillion of something for a cheap price, then find the cheapest and most reasonable chip that you need to use. Still you can't toss out ARM for price sensitive designs, because ST says in a brochure that STM32 LQFP48-package 16K-flash chips are $0.85 each in 10K units.

In my opinion is a great opportunity for moving to ARM. And i hope that the community start sharing know how about their processors because in my opinion there is still a bit lack of documentation. Any way, if any one is stating to use microcontrollers i don't see any good reason for not stating with that board. Probably that is going to have a great impact on the next few years when the people that started to learn with this board is going to chose STM ARM processors as they favorite for their development.

But it is the complexity of the processor that one doesn't uce ARM but PIC/AVR.

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the complexity comes from the functionalities those chips offer.

however, most vendors offer libraries that will get you started easier on those chips than on a PIC or AVR.

Ya. Thats for true.........

Simplicity of PIC MCUs is for me the selling point. A few days ago, I needed to make a makeshift oscillator for a friend, and it took me only 2-3 hours to make up the circuit, and the firmware that does the trick.

I don't think if anyone can say, he is using 100% of the processor (whatever it is).
When we are intending to deal with less than 1000 lines of code and have the MCU connected to less than 50 components, why we are supposed to switch from easy to do 8 bits to much more complex 32 bits.
I am not against ARM, but the needs of the project (either for hobby or for a real industrial one) dictates that what provider you need.

Mahdi.

>>>If you use PIC, then stick with it. If you use AVR, then stick with it. If you want to move to another CPU family, then consider ARM.

I copied this statement from above. If you love a chip, then keep using it. I'm not telling you to quit using anything. Lots of people come on this board and say "Hey...what chip should I use...", in which case they should at least consider all options.

One thing that PIC and AVR have over ARM for home-projects or small projects is the surface-mount issue. Since all ARM's are surface-mount packages, they are a pain-in-the-ass for most people. If a company ever ships an ARM in DIP package, like for PIC and AVR, I'm positive that it will put a big hurt on Microchip and Atmel. Once you get into larger PIC and AVR packages and surface-mount, then a major advantage goes away.

The big advantage of ARM is a crap-load of software tools and lots of excellent debug interface devices, also 32-bit rocks for many applications, especially since it allows you to do 32-bit fixed-point math very quickly, where-as on a 8 or 16 bit device you have lots of extra instructions to get the extra resolution.

I wanted to do a project with PIC or AVR in the last year, and was shocked to find the crappy peripheral devices. I couldn't believe the limited peripherals in many of their chips.

STM32VLDISCOVERY. A couple of weeks ago, DigiKey and Mouser had many hundreds in stock, but now both are zero. DigiKey suppose to have stock on November 10. I noticed that Farnell in Europe and Asia has stock.