ARM microcontrollers for a hobbyist ?

[docesam2]

i am a computer geek looking for an adventure in the micro controller world as a "serious" hobbyist.i have a lot of projects in mind ranging from very simple ones up to relatively complex ones involving data processing and SSL/TLS protocol implementation and simple database use also other stuff like a robots and helicopter maybe. my vision is to be that "micro controller guy" that can do "stuff" including making custom PCBs ..etc. i am basically a guy with no life and have got a job with good salary and welling to enjoy

i am looking for a micro controller architecture that have got a whole range of micro controllers from very small up to large micro processors.my idea is that i am a hobbyist and i am not welling to learn different languages for different families but i want to concentrate more on doing my projects.so i am looking for a one-programming-environment-do-it-all sort of thing. well, i know it will not be 100% same programming environment for all but at least no extensive difference. i have been told that the ARM platform is the one that has what i want.

i did some research and found that ARM does not make the processors but rather license the architecture for others to make. in effect ,ARM processors from different vendors may differ internally in some ways (e.g register and pin names). i know also that more powerful processors like arm11 are just arm9 with some extra processor features /instructions so it is not an entire different architecture.

i am welling to program in C (other high level languages is OK but not assembly ) and i am welling to buy the processor of any vendor as long as that vendor is popular (the company will not disappear any time soon) with availability of good learning resources especially books for that hardware / IDE /programming language. cost is not that important within reasonable limits ,e.g. a 300$ programmer is OK ,300-500$ development board is OK.difficulty of programming is not so important unless it is really beyond a hobbyist limits.

my question is :

is the programming language /environment/libraries used in the 3 newer families of ARM processors(cortex-M,cortex-R and cortex-A) are the same ,i.e. if i learn cortex-A programming will i be able to make programs for cortex-R and cortex-M without relearning a whole new language/environment?

any help will be highly appreciated.sorry for being so long. thank you very much in advance .

 

[wp100]

Hi,

I know nothing about ARM processors other than the fact that in the hobby arena they are not as well supported compared to the Microchip Pic and AVRs.

Have a look are the second post ' ARM Cortex ' in this Forum ARM
Also note the dates of the recent posts - a couple a month !

Perhaps before you spend lots of money on a high end develeopment board perhaps consider something simpler to start with, you might be surprised how much they can do.

Most of the software for the Pic and AVR micros is free and there are countless web turorials and help forums like the EDAboard.
Hardware wise for $30-$40 you can get a simple Pic or AVR programmer or an Arduino Uno board, just add a breadboard to get you going, alternativley there are some good free software simulators as well.

 

[doraemon]

Hello!

You may consider starting with a cheap board. I have recently bought this one:
**broken link removed**
There is a link to view how this board looks.
It is very cheap (around 70 USD), has a small OLED display and can connect to internet.
I have used it for a small HTTP server. I don't think Texas Instruments will disappear
anytime soon.
And if you want something more advanced, TI also has a more enhanced hardware
which fits your budget.
**broken link removed**
This board has really everything (ethernet, audio, usb hub, usb device, and you can
also have memory extensions). I have seen a IP camera demo implemented on this
board last June.
Since C/C++, TCP/IP programming, etc... are the same everywhere, I think
you will have no problem to switch to another device. In fact, what changes most
is the IDE. If you keep the same, then basically you will program the same way.

As for custom PCBs, it depends on what you mean. Do you want to design the PCB and
get it manufactured by a prototype maker, or do you want to manufacture it yourself?
I would not advice the self manufacturing for the following reasons:

1. If you want to make PCBs, you have to buy first some basic tools (lamp, acid, etc...)
and have a safe space to work, be sure that your cat, dog, child does not go there...
Well, it's good to make one once in your life to know how it goes, but that's it.

2. All you can do is shitty work unless you invest in some heavy development tools.
By shitty work, I mean:
- Your PCBs will not have metallized holes (you can do "vias" by hand, but that's not clean)
- You will be limited to 2 layers.
- You will have no printing
- You will have no solder mask
- You cannot do thin tracks (e.g. 0.1mm)

3. You will get used acid and you will not know what to do with it. I wouldn't spill it
in my garden...

In case you are looking for a prototype maker, here is one:
PCB Manufacturing | Printed Circuit Board |Fast PCBs | PCB Prototypes | PCB Prototyping - PCB-POOL.COM

Dora.

 

[docesam2]

Hi,

I know nothing about ARM processors other than the fact that in the hobby arena they are not as well supported compared to the Microchip Pic and AVRs.

Have a look are the second post ' ARM Cortex ' in this Forum ARM
Also note the dates of the recent posts - a couple a month !

Perhaps before you spend lots of money on a high end develeopment board perhaps consider something simpler to start with, you might be surprised how much they can do.

Most of the software for the Pic and AVR micros is free and there are countless web turorials and help forums like the EDAboard.
Hardware wise for $30-$40 you can get a simple Pic or AVR programmer or an Arduino Uno board, just add a breadboard to get you going, alternativley there are some good free software simulators as well.

i agree with you. arm platform have got no decent community support. i wonder how much the commercial support cost.
thank you for you kind response .

 

[G4BCH]

You could try the LPCExpresso, a relatively cheap development board ( about £20 ) by Code Red for NXP processors.
I've found the forum support to be quite good, and the IDE easy to use.
The board comes with holes on a 0.1" pitch that can be fitted to a header making it easy to use on home made boards or even Veroboard.
The learinig curve moving to 32 bit processors is a bit steep but worth the effort. I' still in the very low foot hills but am finding the increased processing power very useful.
Peter

 

[wp100]

i agree with you. arm platform have got no decent community support. i wonder how much the commercial support cost.
thank you for you kind response .

Hi,

You have to think as to what these development boards are for - their principle role is to provide professional and college users with an easy to use platform to become familiar with the chip makers products.

The fact that the hobbyist may also buy them is not of great importance to them, so little is provided to help them.

However Microchip and Atmel do seem to have embraced the hobbyist much more , hence so much better support direct from them.

There will always be other chips with greater computing power that the Pics or AVRs but do not be fooled by thinking the Pics and AVR are the poor relations, they have some powerful chips too - example the Pic32 range. **broken link removed**

However most folk start with much simpler devices like the Pic16F or ATMEGA chips - the old saying - walk then run.

 

[docesam2]

Hello!

You may consider starting with a cheap board. I have recently bought this one:
**broken link removed**
There is a link to view how this board looks.
It is very cheap (around 70 USD), has a small OLED display and can connect to internet.
I have used it for a small HTTP server. I don't think Texas Instruments will disappear
anytime soon.
And if you want something more advanced, TI also has a more enhanced hardware
which fits your budget.
**broken link removed**
This board has really everything (ethernet, audio, usb hub, usb device, and you can
also have memory extensions). I have seen a IP camera demo implemented on this
board last June.
Since C/C++, TCP/IP programming, etc... are the same everywhere, I think
you will have no problem to switch to another device. In fact, what changes most
is the IDE. If you keep the same, then basically you will program the same way.

As for custom PCBs, it depends on what you mean. Do you want to design the PCB and
get it manufactured by a prototype maker, or do you want to manufacture it yourself?
I would not advice the self manufacturing for the following reasons:

1. If you want to make PCBs, you have to buy first some basic tools (lamp, acid, etc...)
and have a safe space to work, be sure that your cat, dog, child does not go there...
Well, it's good to make one once in your life to know how it goes, but that's it.

2. All you can do is shitty work unless you invest in some heavy development tools.
By shitty work, I mean:
- Your PCBs will not have metallized holes (you can do "vias" by hand, but that's not clean)
- You will be limited to 2 layers.
- You will have no printing
- You will have no solder mask
- You cannot do thin tracks (e.g. 0.1mm)

3. You will get used acid and you will not know what to do with it. I wouldn't spill it
in my garden...

In case you are looking for a prototype maker, here is one:
PCB Manufacturing | Printed Circuit Board |Fast PCBs | PCB Prototypes | PCB Prototyping - PCB-POOL.COM

Dora.

thank you for sharing your ideas.

right now i am concerned more with one thing : are the development language /environment /libraries are "similar" in cortex-M ,cortex-R and cortex-A?
if so then learning the arm programming is well worth it.

 

[wp100]

Hi,

Seems you are getting no respone to your question here.

Why not try TIs own Cortex M forum, just put your name in the Company details box when registering.

**broken link removed**

There are also a couple of Unofficial Cortex forums as well.

 

[alexan_e]

He has posted the question to LPC2000 yahoo group too, if anyone is interested to read see the following link
ARM microcontrollers for a hobbyist ? | LPC2000 | EmbeddedRelated.com

Alex

 

[docesam2]

Hi,

Seems you are getting no respone to your question here.

Why not try TIs own Cortex M forum, just put your name in the Company details box when registering.

**broken link removed**

There are also a couple of Unofficial Cortex forums as well.

yep ,i did. thank you.

---------- Post added at 16:58 ---------- Previous post was at 16:56 ----------

He has posted the question to LPC2000 yahoo group too, if anyone is interested to read see the following link
ARM microcontrollers for a hobbyist ? | LPC2000 | EmbeddedRelated.com

Alex

yep.

i remember that i read somewhere the owner of that group saying that his group is the "avrfreak equivalent" in the arm world. i didn't buy on that at that time but now i do.

 

[doraemon]

Hello!

right now i am concerned more with one thing : are the development language /environment /libraries
are "similar" in cortex-M ,cortex-R and cortex-A?

I think your question has no absolute response. The best I could say is "yes and no".

1. The Yes:
Supposing you will program in C in for all these environments, some parts of what you will do is
portable. What is not portable is the hardware drivers. Will you write mostly applications or
will you build systems from the scratch?
Again, supposing you use C, you will probably get libraries like stdio, stdlib, etc. They are
also pretty standard.

2. The No
The processors you are mentioning are for very different targets. M is the microcontroller series,
therefore low-end (let's say up to 100 MHz clock) and the A series are for quite advanced systems
(typicaly GHz processors). Do you program an Android based system as you would program a
small data logger? Certainly not.

That said, if you have some experience with one processor, you will learn another one a lot faster
than a pure beginner that would start at the same time.

I would advice to start with a standard development board to get some feeling about what you
can and cannot do. Then you can move to another one and this time you will have enough
technical knowledge to choose the processor that fits your needs.

Dora.

 

[amphancm]

Your question concern about hardware too much ( like a professional )
Normally Hardware will change to higher technology.
Software will change or adjust some.

I think if it is hobby we'll learn in new for fun.

I'll suggest ARM Microcontroller Board from china.( I think very cool because you can use with android OS also )

Mini6410 ARM11 Development Board.
Microcontroller Kits Projects Development Board

 

[docesam2]

Your question concern about hardware too much ( like a professional )
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maybe i am welling to do a professional work.