Has anybody tried the Arduino Uno? (not a car).

[rustic]

This is a circuit board that is programmed via the USB cable from a computer.

When programmed, it can drive displays, take inputs from all sorts of inputs, analogue and digital. Keyboards etc.

A good tool to play with for the car, caravan, boat or home applications.

I am tempted to play with one, only around £20
I could make a tachometer for the Picasso:nenau
Or a voltage and current sensor.

Maplin do them, they are also on ebay.
There are loads of app boards for them.


Regards,
Rustic

 

[rayf3262]

I've not used the Arduino, but I have used the Atmel MCU that's fitted on it.
Its like most single chip MCU's there's a bunch of programmable discrete I/O pins, serial I/F,counter/timers, PWM etc.
From a hardware perspective, Arduino makes use of plug in "shields", these come in the form of Ethernet i/f, motor drivers, LCD display modules and just plain prototyping boards etc.
Typical price for a 2 line by 16char display shield is around £20, although the components on the board can be bought loose for less than half that.

The development platform is pretty good, you can write code and run it on the simulator prior to hitting the Arduino. Programming language for the Arduino is fundamentally C but you can mix it with assembler too.
You might like to d/load the development suite and have a play with the simulator before buying anything....

 

[rustic]

Thanks for that, in my early days of electronics I did do a little assembler on
Motorola 6800 / 6802
Long time ago mind. Not tried "C" but should be easier than assembler.:augie

Having said that, at Uni we learn't how to design with valves:doh Pentodes, triodes, and we were introduced to transistors to compare. etc. Briggie calm down, don't get too excited..:lol

But 3 year later in industry, we were designing systems with Micro processors.

How things quickly changed, but not as quick as now though.:doh

Rustic

 

[solarman216]

in the mid 80 s I had a Commodore computer (forget the name) that I made a digital to analogue interface or was it the other way round? anyway it was hooked up to temperature sensors on a Solar system to log temperatures on the flow and return on the roof panel, temperatures at several points on the hot cylinder, as well as flow and returns at the cylinder, also a photo cell that logged the suns strength, all running on a BASIC program I wrote, it worked well, I had good eyes and a memory then, problem was I was so busy that I ended up with information overload and did not have time to analyse the data, but it was fun, Rick

 

[rustic]

in the mid 80 s I had a Commodore computer (forget the name) that I made a digital to analogue interface or was it the other way round? anyway it was hooked up to temperature sensors on a Solar system to log temperatures on the flow and return on the roof panel, temperatures at several points on the hot cylinder, as well as flow and returns at the cylinder, also a photo cell that logged the suns strength, all running on a BASIC program I wrote, it worked well, I had good eyes and a memory then, problem was I was so busy that I ended up with information overload and did not have time to analyse the data, but it was fun, Rick

There was a Commodore PET, around that time with it's in built monitor.

I bought a Dragon 64 which was based on the MC 6809 processor, similar to the 6800 series I was familiar with. The first software was written for it by some unheard of company at the time... Microsoft...

A friend of mine who lived half a mile away had a similar unit, and we were pioneering sending data over CB channels. First WiFi and that was in the early 80's not actually legal using it to transmitt data but we were proving a point. We reckoned it could work up to 4 miles away.

Oh and I still have the Dragon... married to her... :lol:lol:lol


Yes I made a box out of ply, it housed the power supply for the TV, the computer and a cassette player all pre wired, with a lid that opened up to show the keyboard. 10 seconds to plug it in and off you go.
The first Lap Top too.
It's still in the loft with original microsoft software for things like Donkey Kong.
And the original manual etc.

It took ages to load the programme from tape.
64 k of memory wow that was a lot at the time.
Happy times.

 

[rayf3262]

As you are familiar with the Motorola 680x architecture, you will find the Atmel AVR a bit different, it uses a modified Harvard architecture, where the program and data areas are distinct from each other, unlike the 680x where the program and data areas (including i/o) are all in one linear address space.
Thought I'd mention it as it can be a bit confusing if you think in 680x terms, although if you stick with the C compiler it hides most of this from you. However when debugging it's still good to know.

 

[solarman216]

As you are familiar with the Motorola 680x architecture, you will find the Atmel AVR a bit different, it uses a modified Harvard architecture, where the program and data areas are distinct from each other, unlike the 680x where the program and data areas (including i/o) are all in one linear address space.
Thought I'd mention it as it can be a bit confusing if you think in 680x terms, although if you stick with the C compiler it hides most of this from you. However when debugging it's still good to know.

Ray you are above me and I bow, respect, Rick

 

[solarman216]

There was a Commodore PET, around that time with it's in built monitor.

I bought a Dragon 64 which was based on the MC 6809 processor, similar to the 6800 series I was familiar with. The first software was written for it by some unheard of company at the time... Microsoft...

A friend of mine who lived half a mile away had a similar unit, and we were pioneering sending data over CB channels. First WiFi and that was in the early 80's not actually legal using it to transmitt data but we were proving a point. We reckoned it could work up to 4 miles away.

Oh and I still have the Dragon... married to her... :lol:lol:lol


Yes I made a box out of ply, it housed the power supply for the TV, the computer and a cassette player all pre wired, with a lid that opened up to show the keyboard. 10 seconds to plug it in and off you go.
The first Lap Top too.
It's still in the loft with original microsoft software for things like Donkey Kong.
And the original manual etc.

It took ages to load the programme from tape.
64 k of memory wow that was a lot at the time.
Happy times.

If ever we get the chance we should meet, we have like minds, Rick

 

[rustic]

As you are familiar with the Motorola 680x architecture, you will find the Atmel AVR a bit different, it uses a modified Harvard architecture, where the program and data areas are distinct from each other, unlike the 680x where the program and data areas (including i/o) are all in one linear address space.
Thought I'd mention it as it can be a bit confusing if you think in 680x terms, although if you stick with the C compiler it hides most of this from you. However when debugging it's still good to know.

Thanks for that.
All this hidden information on this site has opened my eyes to our combined collective knowledge.

That is another reason why this site is so good.

Best regards,
Rustic

 

[rustic]

If ever we get the chance we should meet, we have like minds, Rick

Yes I agree with that...
I think there are more like minded people here as well.:thumbs
Rustic