Recomend Microcontroller for Begginer.

[Biff67]

My son is showing an interest and aptitude for programming. He has done a few electronic projects and in the back of my mind I figured that someday I'd encourage him in the direction of programing microcontrollers. He's 14 and has gotten into this online game called Mine Craft. It's a game where you build vast structures and more. Involved in this construction is programming and peramaters using some progamming language. I don't know microcontroller programming myself but I'd like to learn with him.

Can you give us advice as to which micro controller would be good for us to get into? I've seen PIC controllers advertized as well as Arduino. I know technology goes different dirrections ,(ie Beta / VHS ), so I'd like to choose a good "road" to start my son on to learn microcontrollers for building robotics projects etc.

Thank You,

Biff

 

[itsmoked]

I recommend you start easier than PICs or Arduinos.

Grab a Basic Stamp. A lot of them just snap onto a 9V battery and run a Basic interpreter.

http://www.parallax.com/tabid/295/Default.aspx

Once he runs these out of steam, the rational and desire to deal with harder code for higher performance is a smoother transition. Then a PIC dev board or an Arduino would make more sense.


Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[MikeHalloran]

I second the recommendation for a BASIC Stamp. Even the simplest/cheapest one runs at around 2000 BASIC instructions per second, and can do surprisingly serious work. They will run for an amazing long time on a 9V battery, too.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[IRstuff]

Arduinos aren't that bad, although they require C instead of Basic. And, there are a lot of applications already existing for the Arduinos, including a full-blown 3-axis gyro/3-axis accel/3-axis compass with the ATMega processor all on one board for about $125

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10736

Parallax has tended to concentrate on the robots, ala Sumo, etc., but many of the accessories are quite expensive, compared to comparable accessories for the Arduino.

I have really spent as much time on either, as I should have, so I may be off on some of my perspectives.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[Skogsgurra]

My favourite in the Parallax stable is the Propeller. 32 bits, eight processors, counters galore, fast, easy language with assembler available. Video output from three (or four) resistors.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[btrueblood]

Well, I will 3rd the Basic Stamp. Three sons now have played with the development/robot kits from Parallax, and enjoyed them.

 

[Biff67]

WOW ! You guys respond quickly. Thank You.

I actually own a basic stamp from 20 years ago. I got all set up to build a tachometer for a cotton planter when my mentor up and moved. So this basic stamp has set, unused, in the box since. It seems I remember they can degrade with time(?). If I'm not mistaken it has, in addition to the 9v snap, a serial cable to interface with the computers of circa 1990(?). I don't know basic language. Where would I find a good tutorial in using/ programing the Stamp?

 

[btrueblood]

http://www.parallax.com/KitsandBoar...ategoryID/67/Level/a/SortField/0/Default.aspx

The BOE and BOE-bot kits are well written texts that guide the user quite well through the ins and outs of simple digital and analog connections. IMOP, YMMV, etc. etc.

 

[itsmoked]

Skogs... That propeller is powerful but what a freqeak show. The kid would end up twisted.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[IRstuff]

re: serial. You can get a serial to USB interface, like:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=us...convert&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

$1.75 postage paid from Hong Kong:

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-RS232-9-Pin...568?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa61e5cb0

Hard to beat that...

re: BASIC. BASIC is pretty basic. Your original Stamp should have come with a manual and some example source code. There are downloads, tutorials, and community support available from Parallax:

http://www.parallax.com/tabid/477/Default.aspx

http://www.parallax.com/Resources/ResourcesHome/tabid/473/Default.aspx

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[ornerynorsk]

There is a small PLC being sold under the name Trol Systems, carried by McMaster Carr, that is incredibly simple. We use these on our test equipment because of their ruggedness and simplicity.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[mcgyvr]

Arduino user here and recommend highly.. Never programmed and was able to be up and running in less than an hour. Tons of code/support/add-on shields,etc... out there already too.

 

[wongs9982]

I suggest any 8051 mcu, write the program in keil, stimulate in proteus. it is fun.
i made a physical water spray timer from it
sam wong

 

[itsmoked]

Welcome to ET wongs.

Is that Keil free?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[KllrWolf]

I would recommend the TI EZ430. It is what I used when in school as an introduction to microcontrollers. It is very easy to get started on and cost about $20. It is a simple setup the size of a thumb drive. the target borads with the processor are esay to swap out, and more can be bought. It uses the same programming environment as their big brothers in the TI MSP line, so transitioning to bigger and badder chips is easy. You can use use multiple languages to program it, though most commonly used is c/c++ and assembly.

 

[zappedagain]

The Atmel AVR parts are nice, with a simple to use software setup. I'll suggest these for when he wants to start learning assembly language, as they have a very simple and elegant language.

Z

 

[krugtech]

Arduino is the way to go. For one big reason- the community. I needed a microcontroller for a project and the problem is all I knew about microcontrollers is that I knew I needed one to get this project working. I ordered an Arduino Uno, then reverse engineered some code I found on the web to get it to do what I wanted it to do. I got it close and someone on the forums gave me a clue and I figured it all out. Get yourself an Arduino Uno. Try Adafruit Industries, they have some nice starter kits. If you have electonics stuff laying around and a solderless breadboard then don't waste your time with the kit, just get a bare Uno. If you have trouble with it, there's millions of people all over the forums playing with these things. Get a bunch of servos and make a mechanical spider, or get 4 electric motors with props and some speed controls and a gyro and you can make one of those quad copters. Plenty of online support.

Chris Krug

http://krugtech.com/

Maximum Up-time, Minimum BS

 

[oldfieldguy]

Add my name to the Arduino list. I carry one in my computer bag to play with from time to time. These things are well-documented and supported in a hobbyist environment to do some really interesting things.

old field guy