Just the Beginning

Just the Beginning

This is the start to my adventure in exploring the world of ARM microcontrollers (I should use the term processors).  Over the past year I have been working with a 16-bit Microchip controller (which I have been very happy with).  I have had such good success with the16-bit controller that I started even looking at the 32-bit series microcontrollers from Microchip.  When I looked into some of the comparisons of different 32-bit controllers I started to gain interest in the ARM architecture.  Over the time I have had the interest in working with embedded systems development, but like everyone, due to time the progress has been slow.  A few months ago my interest finally drove me to investigate in a new ARM development kit to start with.  When doing the research to find which development kit would be best to start with, the start to my adventure almost quickly ended.

If you are truly just a beginner, you will get overloaded with the number of platforms to start with.  So why not ask for advice?  I always think second and third opinions are great to help make decisions.  In this case, you will get a different answer for every different type of manufacturer and platform that is out there.  To me it is almost like asking a group of people what food they like.  Most people will answer with what they themselves are familiar with and comfortable with eating.  It's the same with microprocessors, except of course the eating part.

Up to this point I have purchased three different boards.

1. TI Stellaris Launchpad - EK-LM4F120XL (Now they have the Tiva C Launchpad)
 


2. STMicroelectronics STM32F4 Discovery 



3. Beaglebone Black

The first two on the list are the ARM Cortex M4F architecture (F represents Floating Point).  The Beaglebone is the ARM Cortex A8 architecture.  I originally started using the TI Stellaris Launchpad due to the available literature, videos and inexpensive courses.  I even attended the 1 day course which is just a starter class to get you familiar with Code Composer Studio and the TI line of microprocessors.  The nice thing about Code Composer Studio is that if you are using their development board you are not limited with code size or capabilities.  As I was working with the TI board, I came across the capabilities of the STM32F4 Discovery board including Ethernet, Camera Interface and USB.

So began my adventure with the STM32F4 Discovery (I have not even opened the box to my Beaglebone Black, but I will eventually create a new blog when I do).  I downloaded the following software environments:

1. IAR Embedded Workbench
2. Keil uVision 4
3. Coocox

The first two on the list are very nice environments with a large number of capabilities.  The downfall is the code is either limited in size and/or time.  The code size limitation is 32kb (at least when I loaded them).  I always hate to be limited on code size when the flash on most of these processors is much larger than this.  CooCox, which I just found on Google, is free to work work (who doesn't like free).  For most hobbyists, is not a tough decision.  So going forward, I will be using example code that I have used in CooCox.

My goal going forward with this blog is to not only share what I have found using the STM32F4 Discovery board and CooCox software, but to hear suggestions, ideas and criticism from others (I should say constructive criticism).  From a hobbyist standpoint, I intend to use many of the features available on the Discovery board (approximately $15) and intend on using the Discovery Baseboard (approximately $35) that is now available.  The main reason is to keep the early developments as inexpensive and easy as possible.

For now in my future posts I intend to explore the following on the Discovery Board:

Controlling GPIO
Using Timers
Reading Temperature Sensor
Reading the MEMS Accelerometer
and more
????

Look for my next posts.............................................

Mike