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Discussion and comparison of the plethora of microprocessors, shields and ICs.

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FPVCurmudgeon
(@fpvcurmudgeon)
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Topic starter  

It may only be a personal problem, but I have trouble recalling or knowing the various components, e.g. ESP32, ATTiny85, Arduino xxx, etc.

Cheers, what ever you choose, it will be interesting.


   
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(@dronebot-workshop)
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Hi Rusty

Could you perhaps elaborate a bit, please? I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here?

😎

Bill

"Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window." — Steve Wozniak


   
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FPVCurmudgeon
(@fpvcurmudgeon)
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I have been watching videos and there are many shields, development boards, micro PU, 33 IoT, BLE  etc.  I'd like to understand how to  figure out what I should use for a project.


   
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Ron
 Ron
(@zander)
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@fpvcurmudgeon What is the project? Try searching DBWS and other YT sites or just YT in general and see what others have used. There is a great deal of overlap in the capabilities of a Pi and an Arduino.

The terms that you used have the following meanings.

ESP32 is the name of a board invented by ExpressIF. It has many variations and now is also made in China. For the most part code written for one version of the board will work on any other if there are no special features being used.

The ATTiny85 is a chip. It is an 8 bit RISC microcontroller. It is normally used to build a board similar to an Arduino.

Arduino xxx. The family of Arduino microcontrollers, UNO, Mega, Nano, IoT33, etc. Again, most code will work on all of them. Somewhere on the net will be a comparison sheet, possibly on the arduino.cc site.

micro PU must be a spelling error, I don't see any relevant search result.

33IoT is an Arduino board geared to IoT projects. 

BLE is Bluetooth low energy. It is totally different from conventional Bluetooth. See the WiKi for details.

Have fun

First computer 1959. Retired from my own computer company 2004.
Hardware - Expert in 1401, and 360, fairly knowledge in PC plus numerous MPU's and MCU's
Major Languages - Machine language, 360 Macro Assembler, Intel Assembler, PL/I and PL1, Pascal, Basic, C plus numerous job control and scripting languages.
Sure you can learn to be a programmer, it will take the same amount of time for me to learn to be a Doctor.


   
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 Biny
(@binaryrhyme)
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@fpvcurmudgeon The way I approach it is much the same way I approach buying a new PC, or a new car, for that matter. Each processor has different capabilities in terms of # of ports, size, power requirements, interface ports, dev environment, etc. It'd be great if there was a big feature comparison sheet (maybe there is...) but I make a list of the features I need, and then find the processor that fits.

For example, I bought a Keyestudio Mega as my main 'Learn Arduino / hack around board' because it supported a lot of ports, had a USB C port and could provide more current than usual, if need be... But when I go to deploy a project, I'll figure out what the project needs and size the processor to those specs.

Hope that helps.

I edit my posts to fix typos, correct grammar, or improve clarity. On-screen keyboards are evil.


   
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(@dronebot-workshop)
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@fpvcurmudgeon  So, If I understand correctly, your content suggestion is essentially "How to pick the best microcontroller for your project" - is that correct?

Not a bad idea actually, I can see how it could be confusing.

😎

Bill

"Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window." — Steve Wozniak


   
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(@grossdan)
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@binaryrhyme -- exactly, to tinker with ideas I like to use a better equipped processing environment.

 

When it comes to projects, then (hard) constraints, including cost, are a best friend -- they guide what fits and what doesn't fit.

I am still learning how to think about power, and current considerations and constraints ...


   
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FPVCurmudgeon
(@fpvcurmudgeon)
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@ronalex4203 By micro PU I meant micro processing unit.  Can't find greek letters.  lol  Sorry for the confusion.


   
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FPVCurmudgeon
(@fpvcurmudgeon)
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@dronebot-workshop Exactly.  I'm beginning to barely have an understanding of micro processors and single board computers.  Hopefully, that will improve.  Thanks for all your valuable work!


   
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byron
(@byron)
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Posted by: @dronebot-workshop

Not a bad idea actually, I can see how it could be confusing.

There are so many boards these days, but homing in of small but representative selection with the sort of project you would consider them for could be useful.  I've garnered far too may different boards over the years and I've been considering what boards to home in on for some projects.  

Personally, for microprocessor boards, I like boards that can be programmed via the Arduino IDE (or similar like PlatformIO) in C or C++, but that can also be used programmed with MicroPython if desired.  So the rpi Pico and various variety's of ESP32 top the list, and these boards are at very attractive price points.  Spend a bit more and the very fast Teensy4 board is worth a look.

I'm also thinking that I would recommend something like the rpi Pico (real cheap, low power, fast, dual cores to play with, excellent documentation) as the board I would recommend for beginners in place of the venerable Arduino Uno.   Have you considered moving on from your stock uno board you use in most of your examples? 

Your review of the sort of boards you would consider for inclusion in your various projects with some sort of rational to the choice would be of interest to me, and indeed many others I think.


   
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Ron
 Ron
(@zander)
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@byron If we had a spreadsheet style document with boards on one axis and capabilities/functions/features on the other would be a good start. That may even already exist on the web but where and was it prepared by someone with an agenda or neutral. I tend to decide based on what boards others are using that have built the same or similar thing. Because we have several standards for interfaces, busses etc, a simple sensor project can usually be implemented on a few dozen different boards. As the complexity of the project increases the number of suitable boards diminishes. I personally would love to see this covered, maybe even some sort of 'open source' effort with interested people adding to the repository of knowledge. Host it on github or similar to avoid anarchy.

First computer 1959. Retired from my own computer company 2004.
Hardware - Expert in 1401, and 360, fairly knowledge in PC plus numerous MPU's and MCU's
Major Languages - Machine language, 360 Macro Assembler, Intel Assembler, PL/I and PL1, Pascal, Basic, C plus numerous job control and scripting languages.
Sure you can learn to be a programmer, it will take the same amount of time for me to learn to be a Doctor.


   
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Will
 Will
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@ronalex4203 

If the spreadsheet rows are the candidates, what columns would you want to see listed ?

Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're talking about.


   
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byron
(@byron)
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Posted by: @ronalex4203

If we had a spreadsheet style document with boards on one axis and capabilities/functions/features on the other would be a good start.

I agree with that thought, but, with so many similar boards, I think some sort of arbitrary selection might be called for.  So as said, for me, the ability to be programmed in C++ and MicroPython would get on my list, but also, as you say the number of projects and examples found that actually use the board the quality of the support forums a board, the quality of the documentation, etc could also be used to whittle down the list to a number of boards that get on the list.  

Maybe this could lead to a DroneBot 'A' list of preferred boards (albeit somewhat arbitrary in nature) but a good starting point for those contemplating a new projects and needing to select a new microprocessor board.


   
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FPVCurmudgeon
(@fpvcurmudgeon)
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Interesting comments.  Obviously, after pointed out, the programming language/ide is a component of the decision and an appropriate inclusion in a spreadsheet.  Frankly, I'm at the stage of just trying to get a documented project to work, not design my own.  However, I am collecting a lot of pieces and I have a difficult time figuring out what some of them are!  lol


   
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Ron
 Ron
(@zander)
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@will Not sure candidates are rows, but in any case, start with IDE support and which, interfaces like USB and type, camera and type, protocols like I2C, etc. Just start with the marketing brochure and list everything, that is why I think that belongs on the rows and the boards on the columns. I am hip deep in redoing my backup strategy and hardware (new drives, raid, USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub, Thunderbolt 4 cable etc) followed by all new workbench organizers then the LED project. After that I can turn my mind to this topic if it is something the group/Bill wants to do. I personally do not have enough need for it to spend a lot of time but I can easily see many others would benefit. 

First computer 1959. Retired from my own computer company 2004.
Hardware - Expert in 1401, and 360, fairly knowledge in PC plus numerous MPU's and MCU's
Major Languages - Machine language, 360 Macro Assembler, Intel Assembler, PL/I and PL1, Pascal, Basic, C plus numerous job control and scripting languages.
Sure you can learn to be a programmer, it will take the same amount of time for me to learn to be a Doctor.


   
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