Picaxe Controllers ??

[Bluechip]

Anyone use these chips ?

About 12 years ago, I had the EPE TK2 dooins, used to have fun programming the 'F84 Microchip wotsits, these Picaxe things seem a bit limited to me tho' compared with 'tother things.

However, they do seem simpler to use, Basic/Flowcharts rather than Assembler. ??

OR, does anyone use the 'F84 successors, if so, what programmer/ software is available ?? Preferably free/cheap   

Any thoughts, anyone ??

Dave BC

[John Rudd]

Dave,

My son used the Picaxe chips when he was at school....Having used pic micros myself prior to his introduction was a big help for him...

The picaxe chips are a useful intro to micrchips, having a built in boot loader means there's little needed for programming hardware, a serial usb cable

from a laptop or pc...

I currently use a Velleman programmer for coding 16F628As which succeeded the the older F84...

Recently I purchased a Pickit2 from Microchip when they were on offer and it comes with a small development area...

Some of the free BASIC compilers have a limit the amount of code you can write, I tend to use ASM with MPLAB as the assembler...

I built a tacho for my 9*20 with an lcd readout but have yet to install all the hardware onto the machine....

[Bluechip]

Tks John ..

I used MPLab and assembler, with varying degrees of success.  

Can you tell me what the Velleman thing is ? source? url ?

Edit ..
 http://www.esr.co.uk/velleman/products/index_kit.htm
This one ??

I'm a bit confused, long time since I did the TK2 thing, and the world moves on ..

Looking at the Picaxe stuff, not too difficult to lash up. The 18X chip seems to do a bit, so I'll give it a thrash, see what happens   Phttt ??

Dave BC

[GrahamC]

I have a little sumobot robot that I helped my grandson build. Built from a kit and he did 95% of the work; it was a good project to learn how to solder which he did rather well for a 13 year old. It uses a PICAXE 28X which even though it's features which make it easy to build into a project and program can be a bit limiting (but not much) it is still quite impressive for the ease with which you can use it. Everything from 8 pin chips up to the 40 pin size.

I have messed about with micro's since the days of the Intel 4004. PIC offerings where always my first choices for microcontrollers but of late I am starting to tinker more with the ATMEL micro's and have taken a shine to the Arduino. The Arduino uses a micro with a preloaded bootstrap program and allows you to write/debug/load programs written in a GUI in a C like language into the Arduino or compatible board using either a serial cable, usb cable or even a ATMEL compatible programmer.

cheers, Graham in Ottawa Canada

[mklotz]

Graham,

You (and perhaps others) might be interested in reading my recent foray into the world of microcontrollers...

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6792.msg72877#msg72877

[John Rudd]

Tks John ..

Can you tell me what the Velleman thing is ? source? url ?

Edit ..
 http://www.esr.co.uk/velleman/products/index_kit.htm
This one ??
Dave BC

Its the K8048....Not the best in choice but it does for me at the moment..as its externally powered.

I've previously used the JDM programmer and IcProg and served me well..only issue with that one is that it needs a true 16550 UART to work as it uses the serial port pins for deriving the programming voltage on the Mclr pin...

I used to play around with smart cards many years ago so messing with hex files isnt a problem for me...

[GrahamC]

Graham,

You (and perhaps others) might be interested in reading my recent foray into the world of microcontrollers...

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6792.msg72877#msg72877

Hi Marv,

I had seen that thread and it got to me thinking about some projects. Half the fun of this hobby is just thinking through and finding one or more possible solutions to problems, even if I never build or implement any of them. Keeps the ole brain a working and does wonders to keep one thinking "outside the box" or "outside the current paradigm". Helps satisfy the creative side "virtually" when time (or resources) don't permit otherwise.

I am going to go and re-read the thread again.

cheers, Graham

[Weston Bye]

Most of my microcontroller work is done with the MC2000-074 from these people:

http://www.vestatech.com/products_microcontrollers.htm

These controllers are handy for me because most of the applications I work with require analog input, measuring current, voltage, the output from various sensors (lvdt, linear Hall sensors, pressure sensors).  I use them for controlling small production machines and test stands and prototype proof-of-concept models.

The programming software compiles and converts from basic to assembly.  A little pricey, but fast development for me.

[Bluechip]

Hi Troops

Tks for replies .. decided to go with Picaxe ... 'cos

I don't want to run stuff on my laptop. It does have a Serial port, but I,( in common with some enthusiastic m/cyclists who have a 'Rat Bike'), I have a Rat PC with 3 comports. It runs w98SE. Utterly stable, and, I won't bother if I screw it up. There's nowt of importance on it.

The Velleman code I downloaded to my Vista laptop. Vista is not on the list of operating systems for this S/W ( 95, 98 ... XP). Unzipped it to a cd. Copied to RatPC .. don't work!! Did same to Laptop, it does !! What a bugger !! Works on a PC it possibly shouldn't, won't on a PC it should !!

So, did the same with Picaxe, this is OK on the RatPC .. decision made for me !! I can live with that until I get sorted.

EDIT  If you're interested, source of er ... info, forum etc.  

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/

The reason I lost interest in 'F84 was that there was no ADC capability, the 18X Picaxe has, so, it'll do me for the time being.
Also, there is an enormous Forum for 'em,..... and, it looks like I can do the required circuit board without lashing out on one  

Have seen Marv's posts on HMEM, which is why I resurrected the idea ..

Soldering Iron plugged in ... To Horse .....

Dave BC

[John Rudd]

Hi Troops

Tks for replies .. decided to go with Picaxe ... 'cos
  

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/

The reason I lost interest in 'F84 was that there was no ADC capability, the 18X Picaxe has, so, it'll do me for the time being.

Dave BC

but the 16F628A has an adc.....

There is an awful lot of support out there for picaxe....enjoyed playing when my son was doing his projects...

We have the 16F872A version somewhere.......and the development/program board...Probably in the loft 

[djh82uk]

Hi Guys

I tend to use Parallax propeller chips and SX48 chips.

Take a look at parallax.com, the propeller has 8 cpu cores, programmed in spin which resembles basic (asm can also be used), it's an object orientated language and the chips has a lot of features, loads of i/o pins, built in support for tv out, VGA, keyboard, mouse etc.

Very handy for debugging when you can see all of your variables on a pc monitor, also they are not that expensive.

I have tried pic's, picaxes, arduino, Atmel AVR, Basic Stamp, OOpic, Ubicom SX and the propeller is still my favourite.  ALthough I do still use picaxes for my fathers model railway stuff.

DJH