Serial Communication - calculations on PC/Atmega

Projects Programming
1

Hello, I'm planning a quite big project based on Atmega controller. Basically, it's gonna be a light multi-meter. It should measure light brightness, it's CRI, power consumed by a light source etc...Few parameters attached directly to a source and few to a current that flows through it.

Anyways. One of the assumptions is visualizing the measurements. I decided to do it in C# Win Forms Application, as I am already quite experienced in it (+"using System.IO.Ports" <3 ).

And here is my question: how should ROLE SPLITTING, WHEN IT COMES TO CALCULATIONS, LOOK LIKE:

a) All the measurements that come from different sensors (here i.e : TCS3200, BH1750, ACS712...) should be directly sent via USB(UART,RS<->USB-call it what u want) and all the scalling, visualizing and saving should be done by PC(which is "little bit" faster);

b) uC should be sending values that are already scaled and in correct format, PC would only visualize them.

Personally, I think that option a) is much more bug-free and can make it easier when it will (one day...) come to coding this stuff :>

Thank you in advance, if what I wrote isn't too precise, ask me a question, I will try to precise my thoughts.

*Sorry for all the mistakes in grammar

2

Personally, I think that option a) is much more bug-free and can make it easier when it will (one day...) come to coding this stuff :>

That reasoning is nonsense. The fact that you perform calculations using code written in C# vs. code written in C++ is irrelevant. The multiplication, division, power, addition, and subtraction operators are the same.

What DOES matter is how accurate, and how fast, the calculations will be performed. On the PC is the best place, if speed is a factor, or accurate calculations require something more than float variables (such as doubles).

3

If you are going to have a PC program as part of the package then I would do as much as possible on the PC.

...R