So I've read that Arduino has announced a new 32 bit AVR board called Zero. It seems to be in the Uno form factor so smaller then the current 32 bit Due board. Any thoughts on what will differentiate between these two products, or will Zero phase out the Due?
Sure seems that the Arduino folks are going a little crazy with all the new board options released in the last couple of years. I'm most likely staying with the 8 bit boards so won't effect me much, but I sure hope they don't stretch themselves too much at the expense of taking too many resources away from what made them so popular in the first place, simplicity, affordable, and easy to learn and apply.
PS: I do give them credit for interesting board names, Uno, Due, Zero. What's next, something Italian meaning -1 ?
Sure seems that the Arduino folks are going a little crazy with all the new board options released in the last couple of years. I'm most likely staying with the 8 bit boards so won't effect me much, but I sure hope they don't stretch themselves too much at the expense of taking too many resources away from what made them so popular in the first place, simplicity, affordable, and easy to learn and apply.
PS: I do give them credit for interesting board names, Uno, Due, Zero. What's next, something Italian meaning -1 ?
This guy says its Uno, Zero, Due - where 0 actually fills the gap between 1 and 2!
More information here - no pricing yet on either the board or MCU.
Oh man that is an unfortunate name but actually I'd be pretty interested in the SAMD21 chip. Last I checked they weren't available yet, but the "SAMD21 Xplained" board was. The SAMD20s have been available for a while and look pretty good too, but lack the USB capability.
Although the name is modest, I think they'll do really well with this product. I can see lots of compatibles coming along. The embedded debugger is a huge feature - I hope the Arduino IDE will take advantage of this.
I don't like the inclusion of a second chip for debugging which won't be available for use in our own designs, and while I understand why Atmel would want to promote their new chip, and like the small package, I'm disappointed that they've announced this before the chips are even available.
I use the Arduino for commercial ventures, and if the necessary chips to replicate it within my own designs aren't in stock anywhere in significant quantities, then this board is useless to me.
dlloyd:
Although the name is modest, I think they'll do really well with this product. I can see lots of compatibles coming along. The embedded debugger is a huge feature - I hope the Arduino IDE will take advantage of this.
I had hoped for debugging features in the DUE. As far as I know it is still not there.
If the zero has debugging it would be great indeed.
Not sure why zero is a bad name. Isn't there zero coca cola? Fiddling with their slogan I would think of "Real Arduino, ZERO hassle"
scswift:
I don't like the inclusion of a second chip for debugging which won't be available for use in our own designs
What are the details on this? Are you sure the second chip won't be generally available?
I'm pretty sure. There was a whole thread about it on AvrFreaks. I believe one to the Atmel representatives said it was custom silicon, and that even if you reverse engineered it it would do you no good because it won't be made available for purchase.
If so, will this be the first Arduino that can't be cloned?
Yes, in the sense that you can't make an exact clone of it which features the built-in debugger.
You should however be able to create boards which are otherwise identical, and program them.
But you may not be able to use whatever debugging environment they add to the Arduino IDE. Then again, it may be possible to buy a JTAG debugger from Atmel and still interface that with the IDE as you would when debugging the Due in Atmel Studio. The debug chip on this board may in fact be the same chip in their standalone debuggers, and since it's connected via the JTAG interface, one of their standalone debuggers connected to a board with a SAMD21 processor on it may just appear to the IDE as an Arduino ZERO. Or not. We don't know yet.
That is a concept ie. all STM Discovery boards or LPCxpresso boards use.
A debugger chip and the MCU of interest. The debugger chip is closed, so you cannot clone it, usually includes an encryption key for the IDE debugger (so it works for specific chip types or license only).
What you may do is to purchase a single board, and use the board (or better the debugger part of the board) as a debugger/programmer for your other barebone designs (via SWD or JTAG).
It seems silly to go to so much trouble. Why would I want to use STM's debugger chip with another vendor's hardware? I'm sure I can buy a JTAG debugger from Atmel for a reasonable price. And I'm guessing there are open solutions out there that will work with any Arm chip. So why be difficult about it? You don't need to lock me in with custom chips and encryption. Atmel has locked me in with their excellent documentation, their excellent Atmel Studio, their inexpensive ISP programmer, and all the libraries available for the Arduino.
scswift:
I don't like the inclusion of a second chip for debugging which won't be available for use in our own designs
What are the details on this? Are you sure the second chip won't be generally available?
I would be astonished if it were not available, I can see no commercial interest in not selling a chip there is a demand for.
Almost the same stuff: STM32L100CDISCOVERY board costs $7.71, hopefully the Zero will cost the same
The Discovery board is heavily subsisted in an attempt for ST to buy part of the market. It is cheaper to by one board than one processor from most suppliers I have seen.
Doesn't sound to me that the second chip with possible proprietary firmware has to be a limitation to custom run time standalone applications using the main ARM chip. You just develop and debug on the standard development board and only transfer the finished code to your standalone project?
It's pretty clear that lots of details need to become know before we write off the Zero as a product not worth looking at. But as I said I'm a 8 bit guy only. If I can't do it with a 1284P chip then I'm not going to take on the project.
