Whats the Best microcontroller?

[zoomkat]

I don’t understand why people get sucked into “whats the Best xxx” post.

[mattpower]

@zoomkat

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…

It depends on your application, and there is no substitute for doing your homework first.

]How much programming experience do you have?
Do you need/want a lot of readily available sample code or do you prefer /:m]]to write it yourself?/:m]
]Do you want to write code in BASIC?/:m]
]Do you need analog/digital conversion?/:m]
]Do you need the extra I/O pins?/:m]
]Do you need floating point numbers?/:m]
]Do you need more code space?/:m]
]Do you need to run servos directly from the stamp?/:m]

And the list goes on.

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.

[sn96]

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.

[robotdude]

@spacejunk

As far as I am concerned, Jim did not ASK you

I read the original post.

@johnny-5

as most people i started with a standard BS2. I am currently using a BS2sx as i wanted more program storage and faster execution.

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?

[georgeecollins]

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

[printerface]

i have not had any experience with it, but Paralax’s relatively new Propeller chip sounds good.