Embedded Hardware/Software Thread

[muon No.5891]

Questions about microcontrollers, prototyping, PCB layout, software, and the like? I'm an embedded software engineer and have done hardware design in the past, so ask away!

[Anonymous No.5972]

What is a good, simple software to design pcbs? Eagle is really confusing. I'd like more control and less bullshit. I just want something to send to like batchPCB. ideas?

[Anonymous No.5985]

Any pointers for designing a "real" USB connection? MCU side stack, PC side stack?

[Anonymous No.6034]

>>5972
Multisim by National Instruments is damn easy!

[Anonymous No.6103]

>>6034
where can I get it? it costs a fortune!

[Anonymous No.6168]

If the OP is still here, I would love to ask something.

[Anonymous No.6302]

Am Also Embedded Programmer

OP, what language do you prefer? I mainly work in C but I have on a few occasions done Embedded C++ because of various requirements or APIs.

[muon No.6398]

>>6168
Sorry, I got banned for a legit URL. I'm too lazy to go ask on IRC to remove it so I'll just hope the mods don't feel like giving me a perma for dodging.

>>5972
Pretty much all EDA software is going to have an awful interface. Eagle is your best bet if you don't feel like spending crazy amounts of money, I'd just stick at it.

That said, circuitapp looks promising.

>>5985
The first question is: do you actually need that type of speed?

I personally haven't, so I'm not too certain of what the preferred method is. You may want to take a look at V-USB?

>>6302
All C, I work on some 16-bit applications and there's little to no C++ compiler support there.

[Anonymous No.6400]

I discovered microcontrollers a few months ago and I love the potential they have to do whatever you want. I'm making an arduino controlled el wire costume this weekend!

[Anonymous No.6449]

>>5972
I found KiCad easiest to use. You can get Multisim on all usual sources, so use Google.

[Anonymous No.6452]

Alright, so, I was trying to build this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq7-V0fK7Ag
I was wondering, how the hell do you program one of these?

[Anonymous No.6459]

>>5972
>EAGLE
>hard
You do realize it's the MSPaint of EDA, right?

[Anonymous No.6487]

>>6398
> The first question is: do you actually need that type of speed?

That's the only reason why I'm interested in it.
I'll check that VUSB.

Another question: do you have any recommendations for an ARM C compiler?

[Anonymous No.6500]

>>6487
GCC seems standard.

[muon No.6545]

>>6452
I can't read Spanish, but from poking around he's using a JDM programmer like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-JDM-PIC-Programmer/

>>6487
>>6500
Yeah, I've used the GNU ARM toolchain. LLVM has some ARM support as well.

[No.6536]

If I were to design a PCB, how would I add the components to it? Solder them on it by hand?

[muon No.6578]

>>6536
Unless you've got a BGA chip, yep. It's really not that difficult, just takes practice.

You should absolutely breadboard your design before that step though.

[Anonymous No.7162]

I was wondering, are there any high / decent quality image sensors that would do 1080p30? Preferably a nice large size, 1" or so, and that would work easily with either a Beagle, Arduino or Raspberry Pi?

[Anonymous No.7363]

What do you guys think about MSP430 launchpad?

I think its pretty neat for 5bucks

[Anonymous No.7390]

>>5891
What method would you recommend to clone the boot sequence fram an arduino ic-chip in order to create new diy arduino-boards?

[Anonymous No.7502]

>>7390
Just get a programmer and download the free bootloader. That's it.

[Anonymous No.7505]

this isn't directly related to your field but i am getting a bit desperate here. I'm making a crossover for my bass bin and it requires a 10mH inductor, however those are incredibly expensive/difficult to make yourself (ferrite rings are really expensive for some bullshit reason)

there are loads of cheap common mode chokes that are the right type. HOWEVER they arent straight forward to wire up. If a common mode choke says 10mH I take that to mean that each of the windings that is wired onto it is 10mH? and to use a common mode choke as a simple inductor I would use one winding and simply leave the other unconnected?

tl;dr how do i use this as a 10mH inductor
http://uk.farnell.com/wuerth-elektronik/744824310/choke-common-mode-10mh-3a/dp/1636295

[Anonymous No.8598]

>>7363

Not op here but i've been working with msp430's and they're pretty neat

[Anonymous No.10132]

I'm looking at the Leaflabs Maple (http://leaflabs.com) and the mbed (http://mbed.org) - both because of their ease of use, the fact that we don't need to deal with the embedded linux part, and also because of the analog in/pwm out...

The mbed's online-only compiling scheme looks like a pain, is there a way around it ?

Also, do you know any similar systems (comparable hardware, easy programming) ?

[muon No.10603]

>>10132
There's been an explosion in cheap 32-bit dev boards, what's the project for?

[Anonymous No.10807]

>>10603

An aircraft autopilot !

[muon No.10974]

>>10807
I'm gonna guess you're doing some image processing then, and would want to take a look at micros with a DSP in them. It doesn't look like either of those boards do, but I only took a quick glance. I know the Beagle/Pandaboards do, so that may be worth a look.

Also http://hackaday.com/?s=uav may be helpful.

[Anonymous No.11059]

Is BASIC STAMP complete kiddy shit?

[Anonymous No.11101]

How does one get started in Digital Integrated Circuit design? Do I pick up a book on CMOS circuit design, or what?

[Anonymous No.11141]

>>10974
>>10807

This isn't as simple as just getting a chip that can do it. Look for embedded computer vision (artificial intelligence) stacks, and build upon that. You'd have to get a pretty powerful chip, computer vision of that kind takes a lot of processing power, especially if the aircraft will be flying at high speeds.

[muon No.11177]

>>11059
No that's Arduino ( ￣3￣)

These boards are tools. BASIC STAMPs are much less powerful than other options, but if they get the job done then who cares?

[muon No.11205]

>>11101
That's out of my area, but I don't think that's really something you can do as a hobbyist.

[Anonymous No.11227]

hi OP,

i want to use an arduino to control a DC motor. Basically i want to know if there is a way that can convert varying voltage into a varying motor speed. I think i need a h bridge circuit design, but to control the speed of the motor im sorta lost (something about messing with pwm?)

[Anonymous No.11250]

>>11205

You're telling me there's no company that I can send designs to that will make the ICs?

[Anonymous No.11263]

Any recommended books for getting started in embedded hardware development / microcontrollers, OP? Especially stuff like making your own software stacks like arduino. (obviously not as complete, but starting point type stuff)

[muon No.11335]

>>11227
Most likely you're going to want to get a motor controller like this: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9457, as it makes life much easier.

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/PWM describes a little on how PWM works and how to use it on an Arduino.

>>11250
Do you have $10k? Then no.

[muon No.11373]

>>11263
I really haven't made use of any books. There are incredible number of tutorials out there for starting points, and then plenty of technical papers for the more advanced stuff.

[Anonymous No.11392]

>>11205
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeriellsworth/sets/72157607161498665/

Yes, I jelly.

[muon No.11411]

>>11392
Oh man, that's dope. I stand corrected.

[/co/mrade /sci/entist No.11444]

Have you used or seen a RepRap? I'm thinking about getting into rapid prototyping, but I wanted to know if it's worth the effort, or just fun junk.

[Anonymous No.11463]

I ctrl+f'd "begginer" and got nothing so I'm just gonna assume I'm the first to post these sorts of things.

1. I want to make my own tech, stuff like iPads and robotics and shit, am I a delusional beginner?

If not...

2. What are the sort of things I should look into/learn about, and how long would it take to become proficient?

[Anonymous No.11499]

now that we have this thread, people will hopefully answer me seriously. why do we still lack a mobile app for 4chan? i would gladly pay a few dollars for more convinience rather than having issues with shitty safari app

[Anonymous No.11520]

>>5891
How did you get qualified for it?

[Anonymous No.11522]

>>11499

Pretty sure there is one, called 'Anonyma'.

could be wrong

[Anonymous No.11561]

>>5891
I love hardware. Love computers, love soldering, love improvising. Miserable failure at calculus.

What degree/career in the electrical engineering/computer science/electronics engineering etc. spectrum should I go after?

[muon No.11571]

>>11444
No, I've only used commercial printers, sorry. If you only have one or two ideas for using them, it's probably not worth the time/money/effort.

>>11463
>1. I want to make my own tech, stuff like iPads and robotics and shit, am I a delusional beginner?
For an iPad: yes. Robotics: definitely no.

>2. What are the sort of things I should look into/learn about, and how long would it take to become proficient?
The usual first steps is to blink an LED with an Arduino. From there, get a clear, defined project goal. Make it something cool, but not too difficult -- my first project was to hook up an NES controller to an Arduino. Then, expand your knowledge a little more by using the NES controller to control a motor, whatever!

Pretty much all the information you could need is out on the interbutt, you just need to define a good goal. Lady Ada is a good resource for tutorials and hardware.

[muon No.11583]

>>11520
Electrical Engineering degree with a focus on embedded.

>>11561
CE, fo sho,

[Anonymous No.11593]

>>7363
I suck TI's cock, especially with all their TIDeals and whatnot.

[muon No.11652]

>>11645
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/

[Anonymous No.11645]

>>11571

I don't wish to be bothersome but could you elaborate on the second one. Like is there any 'absolute beginner' tutorials out there, y'know like that tells what kind of solder to buy and stuff like that. I mean hand-holding to the max, at least until I feel I can leave the nest, spread my wings, y'know?

[Anonymous No.11654]

Allegro is totally the most straight-forward. *trollface*

BASIC stamp guy: it might be a decent intro, but you might as well learn something like C on a PIC if you are going into the field.

[Anonymous No.11663]

>>11652

Ah, thank you.

[Anonymous No.11666]

>>11101
> How does one get started in Digital Integrated Circuit design? Do I pick up a book on CMOS circuit design, or what?
Get a book on FPGA programming and an FPGA dev kit.
FPGAs aren't just for prototyping. They're used in a lot of hardware where a microprocessor wouldn't be fast enough and the quantities involved aren't sufficient to justify the (vast) cost of a custom IC.

[Anonymous No.11697]

>>11583
Computer engineering sounds like it would involve me smashing my face into the calculus wall again.

[muon No.11720]

>>11666
I'll pimp Digilent for their dev kits, as they're pretty cheap and they've given me two for free.

http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,400&Cat=10&FPGA

>>11697
Its going to be a pre-req for all engineering. Just avoid E&M if you can.

[Anonymous No.11732]

>>11697
CS and IT are minimal math.
EE is the most abstract and requires all kinds of crazy mathematics. ME is a little better since it's physical.

I can't speak much about CE.

[muon No.11757]

>>11732
>CS
>minimal math.
（。ワ°）

Software Engineering maybe, CS is applied math.

[Anonymous No.11788]

>>11720
>they've given me two for free.

how

[muon No.11796]

>>11788
They run design competitions at some universities and give them out to people who participate.

[Anonymous No.11800]

>>11666

Is there any book you'd recommend on the subject?

[Anonymous No.12320]

Mech. Eng here with a strong interest in embedded systems.

Doing research and we use the PIC's a ton. Also familiar with the ATMEGA series and learning Freescale (HCS08). Decent in C but enjoy assembly more to learn the actual hardware functions (SPI, I2C, etc). Have done a bit of analog and digital circuit design as well.

Questions:
What should I study to give me a wider diversity in the embedded field.

Graduating in Dec, any advice on companies to work for?

What uC do you prefer to code in? Industry standard?

[Anonymous No.13935]

I'm interested in learning all of this where do I start? I'd like to get into the hardware aspect of technology.

[Anonymous No.14081]

would be cool if you could make a nice simple IDE for raspberry pi's GPIO when it comes out

[Anonymous No.14104]

hi OP, i own this laptop, k52f, with the p6100 processor, was wondering if i get an i3 processor can i attach it on this motherboard? the models k52f come with p6100, i3 and i5.
I think its the same mobo .. halp ?

also intel hd graphics for non gaming ppl is awesome !

[That info guy !DEGUyWiNfo No.14112]

>need help

I want to create a device with Bluetooth adapter, Touch screen, RF reader (for proximity cards) and keep it to the smallest possible size.

I was going to use Pico-ITX but its fucking expensive, got reccomended Raspberry Pi but i will need to mod a lot, got told to make my own but it will take forever because it will be my first, also got told to use audrino but i really dont want to use prototyping boards.

Any ideas OP??

[That info guy !DEGUyWiNfo No.14189]

Where is OP?

>OP get back in here!

[Anonymous No.14215]

>>11757
This.

CS - enjoy your algorithms and lambda calculus shit
CompE (me) - enjoy 4 calc, 1 diffeq, calc-based E&M physics, quantum physics, and a bunch of EE stuff that relies on the E&M. If you aren't friends with integrals, don't even look at comp eng.

[Anonymous No.15002]

>>10974
>>10974

Ooh, very nice !

The BeagleBoard does run embedded Linux, yes ? Is that difficult to deal with ? That seems like overkill for my application.

Or are there any other boards without embedded Linux that have analog inputs, pwm outputs (I2C and USB too), and comparable processing power to the mbed and Maple ?

I heard that some people have put Ice Cream Sandwich on a BeagleBoard but that's still too much bloat for me (pic related)

[Anonymous No.15038]

I'm studying network engineering at university, but we never really learn about hardware, aside from how to configure and use it (but that's pretty much all software-related). We learn a little bit about hardware standards when covering the physical/network access layers, but not very in-depth. My classes focus more on *what* the hardware does rather than *how* it does it... but that's what I want to learn more about.

Because I already have a separate major, I'll probably have to study hardware on my own.

Anyone got any tips on where to start? Should I buy a breadboarding kit, or maybe an Arduino or something?

Any fun projects I could do which relate to computer networking? Like maybe building a router or switch, embedded firewall, or a signal repeater.

[Anonymous No.15059]

To the OP
Still not sure if you would be familiar with all this, buut, anyway.

I have two laptop screens (literally, just the screens) with that flat brown video cable (plus a few others) hanging off it.
How would I go about soldering on a WGA or DVI connection from that?
I want to mount it on the wall, but have no idea how to go about having the cabling working.

pic related, but not mine.

[Anonymous No.15064]

>>15038

Well this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQm2B6BqU1I&feature=player_embedded
almost sold me an mbed board in 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

Only problem for me is the "online-only" compiler, which definitely turns me off tho.

The board itself has lots of different interfaces you cans screw around with (see >>10132).

Arduino is very nice, I started with an Arduino Inventor's Kit (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9646)), very good starting point. BUT the Arduino is limited in horsepower. The kit does come with a breadboard, a bunch of basic sensors and outputs, and a nice project guide. Pic related.

[Anonymous No.15073]

>>15059
I'm not the OP, but I can answer your question:

Short answer: you can't do it.

I was thinking about using some old laptop screens as monitors a while back too, but I did some research on it and realized that they're not the same as monitors. I don't remember all the details, and I'm no expert on this subject, but apparently laptop displays lack a certain feature (a video driver or something) so you can't just solder on a VGA/DVI input and expect it to work. The part which enables the display to work is on the laptop's mobo. It's not the same as desktop mobos and desktop monitors. And the parts required to make them work as standalone monitors are almost as expensive as new monitors, so it's not really worth your time.

[Anonymous No.15089]

>>15064
That board has a USB port, but do any have RJ45 ports?

[Anonymous No.15095]

>>15089
Wait, nevermind, just watched the video and apparently it has an RJ45 socket.

[Anonymous No.15099]

>>15089

The interfaces are provided for, but not the jack. You can use a breakout board like in the video http://mbed.org/cookbook/Ethernet-RJ45

Pretty nice platform if you ask me BUT DO keep in mind that the IDE (editor AND compiler) are online only !!!

[Anonymous No.15107]

>>15099
>the IDE (editor AND compiler) are online only !!!

[Anonymous No.15131]

>>15107
Ya i know.

So what I'm looking at right now is more along the lines of the LeafLabs Maple :
http://leaflabs.com/devices/maple/

As easy to program than the Arduino, and some of the Arduino shields are actually compatible with it :

In terms of interfaces it can do
ADC
External Interrupts
FSMC
GPIO
I2C
JTAG
PWM
SPI
Timers
SysTick
USB
USART

And on board it has

Microcontroller: STM32 F103RB
Clock Speed: 72 MHz
Operating Voltage: 3.3V
Input Voltage (recommended): 3.0V-12V
Digital I/O Pins: 39
Analog Input Pins: 16
Flash Memory: 128 KB
SRAM: 20KB
64 Channel nested vector interrupt handler (including external interrupt on GPIO’s)
Integrated SPI/I2C and 7 Channels of Direct Memory Access (DMA)
Supplies up to 800mA @ 3.3v
Support for low power and sleep modes (<500uA)
Dimensions: 2.05″x2.1″

Me likes.

[Anonymous No.15408]

Hi, does anyone have any sugestions of a low cost board to start learning ARM (preferably cortex, but any arm will do).
The idea is eventually make my own video game design (I know it sounds silly) and I don't want to go with kinda slow 8051 and atmegas. The problem is that I want to work (at least on the beggining) with the low level hardware and boards like the beagleboard don`t seem to make easy to access the I/O with baremetal softwares. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Any thoughts on this, or suggestions?

[Anonymous No.15457]

>>15408

If you know electronics and it's just a learning aid, design your own. It's easy and it won't cost too much.

Beagleboard has a JTAG connection, so you can probably program whatever you want to it. I'm not sure, though, I haven't used it.

[Anonymous No.15532]

>>15408
>>15408

It seems that you are looking for more or less of the same kind of hardware than this guy (me) :
>>15131
>>15131

Follow the dialogue for two ideas of boards you might like : mbed and Maple

[Anonymous No.15568]

>>15457
I didn't want to spend 1 week to just get a single program to run on a simple ARM core with a power regulator

I know I can program almost anything, the problem is that it seems to be a pain to get a simple baremetal program (without any OS) to work with the inputs and outputs

I need to buy my arm board at max after tomorrow. So I was thinking in a simple and low cost board just to start learning and eventually I try to get one pandaboard or beagle or anything more powerful
I'm just lost, what should I buy

[Anonymous No.15578]

>>15532
thanks!
I'll take a look on these

[Anonymous No.15775]

The big down side of the mbed is the online compiler

[Anonymous No.15846]

>>15775

+1000

That's why I'm looking at the LeafLabs Maple for now.

But still, are there any comparable platforms out there ? Like a direct competitor to the Maple ?

[Anonymous No.15936]

>>11101
Having someone fab ASICs is fucking exprnsivr. Best you can do as a hobiest is FPGAs. They're programmable, reconfigurable digital logic devices, so you can do digital design to your hearts content. Schematic in, hit program, hardware out.

[Anonymous No.16003]

>>15846
I'm thinking in buying any simple arm cortex m3 evaluation board from any manufacturer

[Anonymous No.16078]

Some if the ST kits are looking promising
http://www.st.com/internet/evalboard/subclass/959.jsp

[muon No.17718]

Back from work if anyone has any more questions.

[Anonymous No.18256]

Any of you guys knows where I can easily get a ZMS board (if that is even possible to the non-companies mortals like some of us) ?

One different question, is there any good source of information about graphics ic design?
I found some things, but the information is spread in tiny pieces all over the net

[Anonymous No.19125]

>>17718

see

>>12320