Ok, no lynch mobs needed Not taking anything away from Arduino, I owe you Arduinites and this community tons. I've learned so much, and had great success with many projects thanks to you all.
But, we're hitting that point where Arduino's hardware limitations are really starting to show... Spending more time making things fit, and contemplating slaving Arduinos to spread the load...
Pretty much sure I'm going in the direction of the beaglebone with this next project... The extra processing power, memory, on-board ethernet, extra i2c buses, pretty much make it a no brainer... (Now if only the programming was as easy )
Some if it's very straight forward; but it's the adjustment from 5v to 3.3v I/O's that's confusing me... Would it be as simple as running my existing 5v circuits through a SN74LS04 to drop down to 3.3v for the beaglebone?
Have you looked at the other Arduinos such as the Mega boards or have you looked at other boards such as Bobuino or any of the myriad of other boards with expanded capabilities?
What are you working on for your next project?
It would make a lot of sense for you to find out where the Beagleboard people hang out and ask for help there from others who may have migrated from Arduino to the Beagle.
I was actually intentionally leaving it vague Reason being, trying to keep it more general - I'm sure I'm not the only one starting to think this way...
For me, I'm using a freeduinoSB, atmel328 based, and it's the processing power, lack of multi-threading and 32k of memory that's becoming harder to work around.
Have found the beagle google group - but it pales by comparison... More based around software and making existing 'plug in' PC type hardware work, rather than developing hardware... Albeit the beaglebone is a newer product (released halloween 2011), one can hope that will change...
Also there's the new ARM-based Arduino Due coming out. We don't know that it will have and I'd put money on it not having all the features of a Beagle but if all you need is a bigger and better Aduino that should fit the bill and that way you can stay in the warm, cosy and helpful Arduino environment
Of course that may have the same 5v/3v3 problem, once again the information supplied so far is very limited.
You can down convert easily with a resistor divider. Up converting is harder, I'm not sure if the '04 can do either without looking at a data sheet but any chip that can run on 3v3 and tolerate 5v inputs should work for down, and any chip that has a logic high threshold of about 3v when running on 5v should work for up.
OR you can use the chips designed for just this, the TXB0108 for example.
Another thing to remember is that the ARM chips cannot drive 20mA like the AVRs, so forget about hanging LEDs directly off pins etc.
Pretty much sure I'm going in the direction of the beaglebone with this next project... The extra processing power, memory, on-board ethernet, extra i2c buses, pretty much make it a no brainer... (Now if only the programming was as easy )
Did you find one for $19.95. If not, just go to the goodwill recycling center and pick up an old computer for $50.
There are also some off the shelf IC bidirectional level converters available, although most appear to be for a set direction (all high to low or all low to high), for example:
HCF40109 - A single 16 pin DIP that can shift 4 lines in one direction. SN74LVC425 - bidirectional (although all the same way) 8-way bus shifter.
or you can use MOSFET as the bidirectional level converter.
Somehow I expected the next release to be... More...
Well bear in mind that we still have no real idea what it will do and what features it will have. But I think it's fair for Arduino to produce something better than the current boards and less than Beagle/Fez/Pi et al. most of which have features that many people don't need.
OTOH if the Due is the same price as those boards you may as well get the extra features and just not use all of them.
I just wish they would release some more details so we could make decisions, much longer and I think people (like you) will migrate and once that happens you won't have a good reason to come back.
No, but we have a pretty good idea based on what they handed out at maker fair, the big disappointment to me is the lack of connectivity... Ethernet shields pretty much run you into the beaglebone price point, but then you've just eaten up 1/3rd of your flash (even on a 328 - 2/3 if you've got the atmega8)... Meanwhile if you actually have to serve up the webpage, it can cause some interesting handling; as it doesn't multitask - so if that's a mission critical I/O read/write... Then you start looking at slave avr's and... this is why beaglebone is looking good
BillHo - Thanks, also found the MAX3378; realizing a lot of it is simple chip replacement (though it's driving me nuts that they're harder to find in DIP format).
What really confuses me in this thread is that someone who needs threads, several I2C buses, more memory, etc still uses the IDE and its libraries.
Don't get me wrong here, the IDE is great to start messing with microcontrollers, but if you really want to make the most of things, you got to go down to bit level and write things up.
That being said, in the end, it all depends on what project you have in hands. The Arduino has been stretched a lot and it should be the project designer to see what is above that can meet certain requirements. Then look into prices... for example, for roughly the same price of an Arduino you can get an Olimexino with an STM32 onboard. It has a CAN interfacing chip, RTC (inside the STM32), SD card socket, battery charger and runs at around 72MHz. So you can get a more capable board for roughly the same price. The catch (and this may be a big one for you), is that the platform isn't even half as built as the Arduino is with all the people behind it creating libraries for pretty much anything you need.
Can you give us a field where you create your projects? Maybe then we can point you in some direction...
OR you can use the chips designed for just this, the TXB0108 for example.
@Graynomad watch out for the TXB series when doing level conversion, the device IO you are converting has to be able to source at least 2mA for it work. I got caught by that once trying to interface the serial data on a GSM module. The TXS series, while designed for open-drain, also works with push-pull circuitry up to 24Mbps IO speed, you get the benefit of connecting almost anything and not having to worry about using pull ups.
bubulindo:
What really confuses me in this thread is that someone who needs threads, several I2C buses, more memory, etc still uses the IDE and its libraries.
Don't get me wrong here, the IDE is great to start messing with microcontrollers, but if you really want to make the most of things, you got to go down to bit level and write things up.
Can you give us a field where you create your projects? Maybe then we can point you in some direction...
I still use the ides and libraries, because I'm no programmer... i ve gotten OK at muddling through thanks largely to examples here; but my brain doesn't lend itself to the art like many... I have a much easier time with the hardware than the software...
Current project is actually 2, one is loosely based on the good old aquarium controller, getting a little complicated - and bouncing off that wall where if i keep it arduino based, I'll probably end up with 2 slaved avr's... project 2 is basically a generator controller and inverter, where I'm having issues getting steady outputs... slaved in a second avr, just to poll physical sensors and control the engine (Stirling, not internal combustion) but even running one processor for engine control, one to handle generator control, still can't get a steady 60hz sine wave output... ordered up a netduino+ for this one, just needing to figure out the programming...
zoomkat:
zoomkat - you're missing the point apparently...
Well, not sure what beagleboard discussion is doing in an arduino forum. Shouldn't this discussion be in the general chit-chat forum group?
Guess it depends on your point of view, I still see it as an arduino circuit - even if it is moving to a different platform...
Blah, I miss this community going back a few years where it was more the wayneft's than the zoomkats... @wayneft - thanks for that info.
Blah, I miss this community going back a few years where it was more the wayneft's than the zoomkats... @wayneft - thanks for that info.
May some like me are generally not impressed with post that seem to be a general whine about arduino boards. So what is your arduino project question in the arduino project section of the arduino forum? Your time machine's GPS lose its signal?
Have you looked at the other ATMega chips like the 324? you can get a 40 pin DIP version that has a bunch more I/O and still could use the same tools. And you could have it in a couple days instead of "someday..."
Perhaps that would be a choice for an Arduino Dos - the AtMega324 or ATMega644 based on teh 40 pin DIP version.
Not taking anything away from Arduino, I owe you Arduinites and this community tons. I've learned so much, and had great success with many projects thanks to you all.
)
didn't realize I needed a full project write up just to ask a question...