It would be great if some embedded experts in the group can share the pros and cons of these manufacturers. What have been your personal experiences with respect to the availability of stocks, training material, support, forum support?
I did this kind of decision a few years ago. My goal was to use MCU in home automation. Now, it seems to me quite simple. Arduino is the best documented and opened to wide public community, and from the Arduino portfolio it is Arduino UNO. That means Atmel ATmega328P chip. Yes it is 8-bit MCU with small memory while there is lots of 32-bits, more powerful in the world.
I think the power of the ATmegas is enough for most hobby application but developer's efficiency is the key of success. During the time, I focused to ATmega1284P - a type with the biggest SRAM. I have my own version of the board Arduino clone with 1284P which is able to run at 25MHz.
As an example of practical use I can point to my equithermic application for heating system in my house which is based on ATmega1284P chip. Here is a link Arduino HVAC regulator presented just at project beginning, but actually it is in operation. Still having plenty of room for new features.
There are many people which disagree with me about ATmegas, but I am confident that it is the best start to learn and for deep understanding. It should not be a problem focus oneself to another platfom if the ATmega will be "small".
manish_n:
It would be great if some embedded experts in the group can share the pros and cons of these manufacturers. What have been your personal experiences with respect to the availability of stocks, training material, support, forum support?
Honestly, there is little difference. They are all working with the same technology and business constraints.
I have a simple method for selecting.
- Go to my favourite electronic supplier
- Select a family e.g. Cortex M3, or "32 bit with 64KB Flash" etc
- Find the cheapest not already tried
- Download the free IDE and datasheet from the manufacturers web site. If not found, goto 3
- Find a dev board < 30 Euros. If not found goto 3
- try compiling and running a "blinky" project. If it takes > 1 day goto 3
- Try making a real project. If get stuck look for help, if not found goto 3
- Deploy solution, have drink!
Getting to 8 is pretty easy with AVR, PIC, NXP, STM32, Atmel/Microchip, Infineon. I got stuck at 6 with Cypress PSOC, needs more brain power probably.
The launchpads look pretty good, and they have an Arduino like IDE:
I'd rate TI, Atmel, and Microchip as essentially similar (Note that Atmel is now part of Microchip.)
As a hobbyist, I usually consider the following:
- Can I buy the chips? Usually this means "in small quantities from standard distributors like Digikey and Mouser, or via the manufacturer's online store." Sometimes it means "from various hobbyist-oriented online presences and/or local stores." This isn't as big an issue as it was at one time (because a lot of places are less picky about sending things to individuals than they used to be), but occasionally you run into a part that isn't sold except in large quantities, or has a very small number of distributors. FTDI chips used to be very hard to get, for example.
- how are the tools? Are there free tools? Are there multiple tool alternatives, or am I locked into a particular vendor IDE? Assuming ARM, and thus gcc, can I get the specific chip data to use with generic gcc without too much trouble? What about libraries - Arduino, mBed, ANYTHING? Are the libraries any good? Are they USEFUL, even if they're not that good (ie is there easy-to-understand source code available?) Any languages other than C? What about documentation? Ease of hardware programming and debugging?
- How is the "community"? Is there one? Are there both "beginner" and "more advanced" communities? Articles in hobbyist magazines? Enough users to actually have discussions?
AVR and PIC have extensive hobbyist history. 8051 - less so. FTDI VNC2 - almost nothing
Atmel or Microchip or Texas Instruments all are the same in hardware aspect. But the community is obviously different. Atmel with Arduino is outstanding. Beginner is easy to familiar with MCU world when using Atmel.