yeah, after posting that i actually thought about using a palm pilot… which is what i would like to do… but i found my brother old palmpc… a Cassiopeia with Windows CE 1.0 on it, if i can upgrade the os or find legecy development tools and assuming it works of coarse, i may just use it as its FREE.
Friends:
Perhaps one of you more knowledgeable ones can answer that question posed in a different form, as follows:
“What would be the next steps upward in a microcontroller or board? Specifically ones that would allow for larger “Basic” type programs and a little more hardware control?”
Migs
Next step up from what? 
Nest step up from a BS2sx type solution. -Migs
Too many choices to list.
I run an IsopodX and a Plugapod from NewMicros. They don’t do basic. I’m using their Isomax language.
Jim - here at Lynxmotion - use to offer the NewMicros Servopod which is a significant step up from the BS2
Chris
The BS2sx is the fastest BasicStamp from Parallax. The next step up would probably be an AtomPro. It’s 49.95(24pin) or 59.95(28pin) and runs an average of 100,000 basic commands per second(this is an average of all non pausing commands, eg no pause,serial,pulse etc commands). The language is nearly identical to the BasicStamps. 32kbytes of program space, 2k ram. Hardware serial and PWM capable. Also we have a hardware based servo control command. HServo does use some processing recources but not much(less than 3% max with 32 servos running).
The Atom Pro 28 and the new Bot Board II will be the premeir robot controller for Lynxmotion. We have to get the Bot Boards in stock, and get the processor support for it in RIOS, SEQ, and PowerPod before the change can be complete. Just an FYI.
There are a lot of variables that determine the “the best one”.
For example:
- One’s Programming skill level (what language you want to program in?)
- Application (its intended use)
- Product Support and examples
- Speed
- Program space
- Hardware features
-
of I/O pins
- And several other variables
With the use of a Servo controller such as the SSC-32, much of the work of the MCU is passed off on the servo controller and the MCU is free to do other things, making slower MCUs seem faster. A basic stamp II for example could probably run a biped when used with the SSC32 because the SSC-32 does all the heavy lifting while the Stamp only has to send commands. Another factor is the user’s ability to write efficient programs taking advantage of the faster MCUs. If one writes code in a linear fashion, you can’t go any faster than the bottle neck will allow. For example; if your code stops to read a sensor, the entire robot would have to sit motionless until that task is finished. There are ways around this but that is an entirely different topic.
Yes it can. I can’t find the video, but this is what Pete Miles did with his Biped Pete robot. 
Here is the video of a biped using an SSC-32 and a BS2 to send commands. It’s MOV format though…
First of all, the BS2sx is not the fastest basic stamp. The BS2px is currently the fastest stamp. You have obviously not looked closely enough because it SPECIFICLY states that the BS2p is 20% faster than the BS2sx and the BS2px is 1.6 times faster than the BS2p.
Second, THE BASIC STAMP DOES NOT HAVE A FOUR PAGE LONG BUG LIST!!!
They sell products that actually work the first time you buy them. And no it is not nearly identical, can you copy and paste a program, with only minor changes, NO!
Thank you, Spacejunk
Here are the BS2px Specs for anyone wondering:
24-pin DIP
1.2"x0.60"x0.4"
0o - 70oC* (32o - 158o F) **
32 MHz Turbo
~19,000 instuctions/sec.
38 Bytes (12 I/O, 26 Variable)
128 Bytes
8 x 2k Bytes, ~4000 inst.
16+2 Dedicated Serial
5 - 12 vdc
55 mA Run / 450 μA Sleep
30 mA / 30 mA
60 mA / 60 mA per 8 I/O pins
63
Serial Port (19200 baud)
Stampw.exe (v2.2 and up)
Get upset much. I was not aware Parallax had come out with a new stamp. The SX was their fastest for a LONG time. My mistake. According to Parallax.com the PX does ~19,000 instructions/sec. Also that four page long bug list isn’t a list. It is a lot of messages talking about a handful of bugs. If you just use BS2 commands then yes you can basically copy one for one. However Parallax added new commands when they came out with the BS2P which are diffrerent syntactically though some are functionally the same as some of our additional commands.
Can the BS2PX do hardware PWM?
Can the BS2PX do Hardware buffered serial communications?
Can the BS2PX control 24(28 on a BAP28) servos using less than 3% off the processors power?
Can the BS2PX do floating point math?
Can the BS2PX run an average of 100,000 basic commands per second?
Can the BS2PX run as fast as 500,000/sec on some commands?
If you want to do a side by side comparison by all means, lets do it.
Unlike you, I was being polite when I said the BAP was the next step up from a BS2SX(the question that was asked). I did not come in here to start a flame war. I was ASKED to post by Jim, the OWNER of Lynxmotion and THESE FORUMS.
I did not say the BAP completely blows away the BS2(any BS2) and can do so many more things than BS2 could ever do. I did not say the BS2 can NEVER be updated in the field to include new commands. I did not say a BS2 could never fully control a PS2 controller because of a BUG in its Shiftin/Shiftout commands.
Do I need to go on or will you see my original post for what it was. An answer to a question that was asked by a forum member in good faith.
The BS2 SX came out over three years ago.
5 bugs compared to no bugs is %100 more, and quite a list.
No you can’t. Many BAP commands have very limited features, modifiers ect.
No it can’t do hardware PWM. (Big deal, most people use a motor controller anyway)
No it can’t do hardware buffered serial communications. (Not documented)
No it can’t control 24 servos. (Most people use a servo controller)
No it can’t do floating point math. (Who uses floating point math?)
All true but unlike the basic atom IT WORKS perfectly. And if it doesn’t, you can get it fixed within the NEXT YEAR!
I am not here to start a flame war, and that is not what I am doing, I am simply giving you a diffrent point of view.
As far as I am concerned, Jim did not ASK you.
What is the point of being able to update if there never is an update.
The shift in/out thing is not a bug, and it still works.
It was not in good faith, it was to sell a product.
To every one else, sorry for the rant, I am quite fed up with this.
So, I was saying I didn’t know the PX was out(it’s brand new) so I didn’t mention it. Just because the SX came out three years ago(I think it was longer than that) doesn’t mean it wasn’t the fastest BasicStamp until this PX.
5 that were fixed if you read the posts. One that may be a new one but may be a coding issue that I am working with. Nothing new in the BasicStamp command set. Lots new in the BAP command set over the same period of time. Bugs don’t happen when you don’t change anything.
Let’s see and example. I say BAP has more modifier options and more command options than BasicStamp.
I’d say most of this is import to robotics. Just because you can use an external servo controller or motor controller doesn’t mean you have to. With BasicStamp you have to.
BasicAtom has been shipping for over 7 years. Seems to be working pretty good.
I say shinanigans. You are trying to start a flame war. I did not start bashing the BasicStamp. I simply stated a step up was a BAP. You came in and started bashing the BAP making out like I’m trying to sell something. I don’t force anyone to buy anything. Jim ASKed me to post in here. You don’t want to believe me send him an email and ask HIM.
Because you don’t want to ask him if he did.
Seems to me there have been more updates to BasicAtom/Pro in the past three years than to the BasicStamp.
I’d have to say most would say you are wrong on this. It can’t do something that it should be able to do.
Did I tell him to go to basicmicro.com to order the module? Did I say the basicstamp sucked and he’d be better off with the AtomPro? I told him the next step up was PROBABLY the BAP. If I’d known of the PX stamp I would have told him it was the next step(in the BasicStamp line) but the BAP was next after that. I did tell him the price so he would know what he was getting into but I guess in your world he shouldn’t need that information to make a reasoned decision.
Don’t like my posts, then don’t read them.
You should be fed up with your own post. Read my original post. I didn’t say anything that warranted your flames. It’s a good thing to feel remorse. Wallow in it.
I don’t understand why people get sucked into “whats the Best xxx” post.
There’s never a right answer, but I some sort of pro forma reply for this question might be helpful…
Personally, I’ve got three flavours of stamp I use often, all from different places: a BS2PX, an AtomPro28 and a Coridium ARMexpressLITE. All have excellent support.
All are good for what I use them for, and I really don’t have any complaints - each of them do something the others do not.
My biggest problem with the BAP is no hardware flow control. The BAP is supposed to wait when the Hardware Flow Control pin goes high yet it does not. My circuit board’s LED light goes “ON” indicating a hardware flow control signal is being sent to the BAP, yet the BAP ignores it.
It works flawless with the stamp.
The BAP is superior in many areas but that’s not what makes a great MCU. Who needs a porch when you only plan to go 30?
In some cases a BAP my be the only solution to a certain application and should not be excluded from as being a great MCU choice.
It’s what’s important to the user that justifies the greatness of any one MCU. I have to agree with Spacejunk that the BAP support could use improvement and more time spent fixing problems such as I have described above.
Not trying to be butt, just some feedback. I know I am not alone on this issue.
I read the original post.
I picked up the phone and called my friend Nathan at Basic Micro and asked him to reply to the post! I did this because the Atom and the Atom Pro are very stamp like in their use and programming, and they have more program storage and faster execution. Nathan knows the specs of the Atom and the Pro better than I do. So spacejunk, chill man! You see now why I was so happy to have this topic appear on the forum?
I just got my first Bot-Board and I really love it. I like to make and program robots, but I do not love to solder. I have programmed a variety of BS2s and a Javelin. I haven’t tried a Basic Atom yet, but I will now, if only to use all 28 pins on this board I really like.
I really love Parallax’s propeller chip. It seems very powerful compared to stamps. It has multiple processors in parallel, which is ideal for robot applications. It is harder to program for most people, but it does have a good mechanism for code reuse through code objects that run discreetly on a processor so that a new programmer doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. It also seems like an architecture with more upward potential because sooner or later you need to use multiple processors for robots and I am sure they are going to make bigger and faster versions of this cheap low power consuming chip.
Lynxmotion-- if you made a Bot-Board for the propeller chip I promise I will buy three! There may be others out there like me, and more on the way. Your kits are great and so is the bot-board.
George