Poll: Most Preferred Board

Poll: Most Preferred Board.

  • RaspberryPi

  • Arduino

  • CHIP Computer

  • Beagle Board

  • Intel

  • Panda Board

  • Other (please specify).


Results are only viewable after voting.

Thread Starter

samsonovi

Joined Nov 21, 2017
10
Hello.
I was always interested in what is the most preferred electronics board (Arduino, RasPi...) among the people.
Let's find out!
 

ebeowulf17

Joined Aug 12, 2014
3,307
It seems like most conversations I see here about microcontrollers are around the PIC family. However, OBW0549's comment reminds me that most users are designing their own boards for those, which isn't generally the case for people using Arduino, RPi, etc. It's a different beast altogether.

For my part, I often enjoy the convenience of using the Arduino environment, although it's almost always Adafruit Arduino-compatible products these days, the "Feather" board and "Trinket" series in particular.
 

Thread Starter

samsonovi

Joined Nov 21, 2017
10
Where do you all get the resources for the design and all the hardware needed to assemble it?
Do you purchase anything?
Very interesting idea.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Where do you all get the resources for the design and all the hardware needed to assemble it?
Do you purchase anything?
Very interesting idea.
A variety of tools are needed. They can be found at...

Digikey.com (or any other electronics component distributor like Newark.com, etc)
eBay
Free online PCB design tools (eagle, designSpark, KiCad, ...)
Local hardware store.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
For example? I havent found any near me... :(
You can't buy everything in one location.
At your local hardware store, you find
- hand tools,
- wire,
- plastic trays
- glass plates
- Acetone & isopropanol
- electric drill
- drill bits
- fluorescent light (for UV Source)
 

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,345
You can't buy everything in one location.
At your local hardware store, you find
- hand tools,
- wire,
- plastic trays
- glass plates
- Acetone & isopropanol
- electric drill
- drill bits
- fluorescent light (for UV Source)
Because I live in a fairly remote location and I have some difficulty getting around I buy a lot of stuff (not just for electronics) from ebay.
 

kubeek

Joined Sep 20, 2005
5,794
Right now I bought an arduino board and a compatible LCD display with touch screen for the convenience of setting up the hardware, but I plan on using straight C instead of that crappy arduino toolchain and libraries.

At work it is mostly STM32 controllers that I work with and obviously custom hardware.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,396
Hi,

To me the Arduino and rPi are in two different classes. There are also very different classes of Arduino.

I use the Arduino Nano and Uno once in a while. The Nano is very small so it fits into things nicely.
The Mega is a really great board for big projects. The Due is nice but 3.3v limited.
I have several Nanos but only a few of the other type.
For the rest i use the PIC chips and make my own boards either hand wired or etched.
 

DNA Robotics

Joined Jun 13, 2014
647
Microchip has a few development boards and starter kits.
http://www.microchip.com/Developmen...eftNavId=8ca84cfd-2df3-4e6e-a80c-086b572804ce
This is a new one, on sale.
Curiosity High Pin Count 28/40 (HPC) Development Board Quick Start Guide
http://www.microchip.com/Developmenttools/ProductDetails.aspx?PartNO=DM164136
Satisfy Your Curiosity
Your next embedded design idea has a new home. Curiosity is a cost-effective, fully integrated 8-bit development platform targeted at first-time users, Makers, and those seeking a feature-rich rapid prototyping board. Designed from the ground-up to take full advantage of Microchip's MPLAB X development environment, Curiosity includes an integrated programmer/debugger, and requires no additional hardware to get started.
Supports 28 or 40-pin 8-bit PIC® Microcontrollers with low voltage programming capability

This one is for the 18 pin PICs
Curiosity Development Board
Part Number: DM164137
20% Off - Use Coupon Code : CURIOSITY Expires : 31-Dec-2017

When I bought myPICkit™ 3 In-Circuit Debugger Part Number: PG164130, for a few dollars more it came with an 18 pin PIC development board #DM164120-4. That one isn't available now but you may find another combo kit.
The first development board I got was for Full speed USB with an 18F4550 chip that was programmable with USB and didn't need a PICkit.
 

ebeowulf17

Joined Aug 12, 2014
3,307
Right now I bought an arduino board and a compatible LCD display with touch screen for the convenience of setting up the hardware, but I plan on using straight C instead of that crappy arduino toolchain and libraries.

At work it is mostly STM32 controllers that I work with and obviously custom hardware.
As someone who's used the Arduino resources a fair bit, and has only dabbled a little in going deeper (using a register not supported by the library to change a sensor mode for example,) I'm curious what it is you dislike.

Is it the Arduino IDE, work environment, debugging tools, etc? Do you think the libraries skip too many useful features, or waste code space, RAM, or other resources? What is it that makes it crappy?

If I were going to work on learning new stuff to improve my coding projects, and assuming I wasn't completely shifting to a new realm (PIC, etc,) where should I spend my energy to make the most of my future Arduino-ish projects?
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,720
Like other posters above, I build my own boards. I have built boards for MCUs from a variety of manufacturers, including Analog Devices, Atmel, Freescale, Microchip, TI. For the past five years I have been focusing on STM32 ARM MCUs.

Usually, I start off using the manufacturers development kit to get my feet wet. After that, with the knowledge acquired, it is a simple next step to lay out my own customized board.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
I'll use whatever tool suits my specific needs....

In general you are usually hard pressed to make your own for cheaper/less work now no matter how much better it makes you feel about yourself (feeling of accomplishment)...
But its all about your needs/volume,etc...
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,814
One more vote for PIC and designing / making my own boards. Each project is different, the great thing about PIC is you can get one that has just what you need for any project.

Bob
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,396
Hi again,

I forgot to mention i also made controller boards using the 8080 microprocessor (not microcontroller) and also the Z80 CPU.

The Z80 version was really nice in that the ROM held the communication code so that the RAM could be uploaded with code form a host computer. I cant remember if i used the parallel port but i think i used two lines from that not all of them, so it was really a serial interface using some parallel port pins. That was to reduce wiring to the board from the host.

It was pretty complicated though as i had to use some glue logic, an oscillator, and decoder logic for the i/o ports. The board was about 6 inches by 4 inches or something like that.

I would never do that again though with the number of different microcontroller chips that came out over the years. A single chip has everything on it and more. Even the low end PIC chips do an incredible amount of functioning with almost nothing else but maybe a voltage regulator.
 
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