I am a non technical person and trying hands on making devices. i have one stupid question. I want to know, is micro-controller development kit can program unlimited microcontrollers (programming will be same for all micro-controller) or we need separate micro controller development kit and separate microcontroller in every device?
You have to read the license for the tool when you buy it, some yes, some no. Often you dont use the developers kit to program the parts, you use a programming tool (which may or may not be part of the same kit) for production. Some tools will program different vendors parts or all the parts within a vendors product list, but in general that is not the case. depending on the device there are a lot of free tools (avrdude for example) that dont have restrictions, but it is vendor/chip specific as to what tool will work for the microcontroller in question.
Simply read the docs on the tool you are interested in to see what it does and doesnt support, read the license agreement to see if there is a limit on the number of devices per software license.
Each type of micro-controller will have its own development kit. That kit works with all the same or similar micro-controllers. But, you will need separate micro-controller for each device.
There are plenty of coffeemakers and washing machines with a microcontroller in them. And clearly the manufacturers of those don't buy microcontroller dev kits by the billions. That would be unaffordable.
Related
I've been tasked to develop an OpenCL application for a specific platform, Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 (UHD Graphics 630). There are two problems for me:
Even having some OpenCL programming experience (not that much though), I wouldn't know where to begin. I have no prior experience with targeting specific hardware before.
The device itself has to be emulated or something, because I don't have it at hand.
Of course, I tried googling information today, but couldn't find anything that could really help me. Guess, it's just because of my lack of experience. So, I'm stumped right now, and asking for help.
It would be really great if I can be helped. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Small note: I'm working on this project under Ubuntu 18.04.
I'm not aware of any emulated environment, and anyway, ultimately nothing replaces access to the target hardware. I see a few workarounds:
Target a similar-enough device. Intel GPUs haven't changed that drastically, so especially if you have an older/lower-spec one around, whatever you end up with should run better on the newer GPU. You can also work with a GPU from another vendor if you have at least sporadic access to a system with an Intel GPU. You don't want to go for too long at a time without testing on your target hardware. (It's generally a good idea to test OpenCL code against different implementations while developing, as it's easy to accidentally rely on implementation-defined or undefined behaviour otherwise.)
Rent a relevant physical device. Places exist that allow you to rent laptops or desktop PCs for a short time period.
Remote access to a target device. Presumably whoever posed the requirement actually has such devices. Ask for remote access to one of them, via the magic of the internet. (RDP, VNC, SSH)
Rent similar hardware in a data centre. There are bare metal hosting companies that rent out physical servers built from commodity hardware. Find one that offers servers with a close enough match to the system you're targeting and rent one there.
As for the skill gap, well, you'll either have to bridge that one yourself by following enough documentation, tutorials, etc. or by finding (hiring…) someone who will give you some degree of hand-holding through the project.
I wonder is it possible to implement new features in existing bios, in other words is there some libraries (like sdk) of motherboard which give you chance to make easy your own bios?
What mean "supported motherboard" - is that include libraries for developing or just mean that you can download latest update if exist?
To be more specific i will like to make in bios feature to wake up my computer if it's off at specific time. My motherboard is asrock. Do i have chance for develop my own timer features, or just can wait for product developer and pray that they make those feature?
Generally, the answer is "no". Most motherboard manufacturers license the BIOS source code from Phoenix/AMI/Insyde, and then tailor it to their specific motherboard implementation. The BIOS gets compiled to a binary, it is loaded into the motherboard flash chip, and that's it.
To modify the BIOS, you would need access to the BIOS source code. The motherboard manufacturer is unlikely to give that to you (they are probably under NDA). You could license the original source code from the BIOS vendor, but that is quite expensive (typically tens of thousands of $$$). Also, the source code from the BIOS vendor will be missing any motherboard-specific customizations.
Now, with the introduction of newer UEFI-based BIOSes, they have gotten a lot more extensible and standardized between vendors. It is now possible to develop pre-boot applications that live in the flash chip alongside the BIOS. However, the timer feature you are looking to implement is rather low-level, so this does not help you.
Here's a candid admission first -- that I know zilch about RTOS or Embedded programming, so folks who know better may help me frame the query more appropriately.
What would be the minimal FOSS RTOS (or any OS for that matter) with support for TCP/IP, SSL, USB and some basic file-system for low-end ARM devices like Cortex-M3's ?
Have not ruled out something like ARM9/ARM7TDMI, so an RTOS that has "optional" MMU support, may be a major plus. We are at present dabbling with few uncertainities like precise processor, MMU/no-MMU, running completely head-less (no display), however I wanted to start a little ramp-up.
Would gladly answer counter questions to clarify the requirement.
I believe that eCOS has support for all you need and is scalable.
Alternatively you could build from a self-selected kit of parts; choosing independent RTOS, filesystem, USB, etc. From different sources, and integrating them yourself.
All
I've a Good Command over C++, But I've never done anything anything on device programming. I've some basic understanding on Digital Logic Design. But I am complete Noob in Electronics. Currently I am getting huge interest on microcontroller Programming.
Where To Start ?
I don't think one really needs to have huge amount of knowledge on electronics to run a program on a microcontroller.
I am using Linux. and I've downloaded Keil. never tried to run it through Wine. I've ran it in Windows. But how the code works is not completely clear to me. though I can understand Logic as its written in C. But Its still like a Fog to me.I Just need a Quick Kickstart.
SO is not the best site to ask this kind of question. There's really a large distinction between programming for a PC and programming for an embedded system, other SE sites specialize in physical computing. I got this email from Robert Cartaino on Tuesday:
...Barring any last-minute interest from
[chiphacker.com], we will be launching [electronics.stackexchange.com]
either tomorrow [Wednesday 9/22] or
Thursday.
So, go commit to electronics.stackexchange.com here, and browse chiphacker.com while you wait. Take a look at these questions on Chiphacker:
How to become an embedded software developer?
Steps to learning Arduino Programming
PIC Programming
What are the best beginner project[s] using an arduino
There are a few things you should consider when planning your entry path to embedded systems programming.
What do you want to do?
What do you know how to do?
How fast are you comfortable learning?
I've outlined a few options in the following paragraphs.
You tagged your question linux-device-driver, does this mean that you want to make a custom device to use in Linux? If you meant embedded-linux, then you're into a larger class of microcontrollers. I suggest that you look at the BeagleBoard, also look at this Chiphacker question for some other options. If you want to do embedded linux, and want to build your own board, you'll first need to build up some experience in simpler levels of embedded systems design.
You also tagged your question avr, which is a popular microcontroller class made by Atmel (check out the avrfreaks forum for more info). I started learning embedded systems on the ATmega324p; they really have great documentation, are easy to use, and there are more sites online for the avr than most any other processor.
If you want an easier learning curve, I suggest taking a look at the Arduino environment. It uses Wiring, which is very similar to C/C++, and the Arduino can be enhanced with 'shields', which are modules that can be plugged into the Arduino main board to add functionality. This is your Quick Kickstart.
A good learning path would be to get familiar with the Arduino, then build your own AVR board (possibly a Linux device, like a joystick), then work with an ARM-based development kit, and finally move on to to building your own embedded linux board. You can skip a few steps if you don't mind a steep learning curve, or stop at any point along the way if a given level's capabilities satisfy your needs. You don't necessarily need a "huge amount of knowledge on electronics to run a program on a microcontroller", it's true, but you should understand some basic things like voltage and current before you try to light an LED or connect two devices.
Finally, you said in your question that you've installed the Keil IDE. While this is a fine and rather popular IDE, I'd suggest that you learn using a gcc-based command line toolchain. There are a staggering number of ways in which things that can go wrong when working with embedded systems, and an IDE adds a layer of magic on top of everything that happens. While this can be nice, I'm a strong advocate of minimizing the magic when trying to learn the system. You need to understand the low-level stuff when things don't work automagically. This advice doesn't apply when using the Arduino, which is designed to (and does) make all of the automagical stuff work well.
sparkfun.com has a lot of boards, arduino family and other. I recommend the armmite pro, the lillypad instead of the arduino pro because there is no soldering involved, for either you will need/want the correct usb to serial/power. The mbed2 costs a little more, the blue leds are brutal on the eyes, but easy to use. For none of the above are you required to play in their sandbox, you can use the canned environment, etc but not required.
if it is linux development you are after I recommend the hawkboard.org over the beagleboard.org, to make the beagleboard useable costs about twice as much as the board itself, the hawkboard is usable by only buying something to power it. But you can just learn linux drivers on your desktop/laptop and dont need to mess with embedded necessarily.
Emulators are a good start. Qemu is good stuff, emulates a number of processors, great for emulating virtual linux systems, learning linux driver development, etc. But getting visibility into what the (virtual/emulated) processor is doing is not the goal. I find it useful to have visibility. gdb includes a few emulators as well. mame is loaded with them, but like qemu designed for fast emulation and not for education. visual boy advance is good. Emulation is never perfect, so eventually you want to run on hardware, but emulators and compiler tools are free and you can learn quite a bit before you have to buy hardware. There is a considerable amount you cannot learn from an emulator though, loading your programs into flash/ram, debugging using jtag or other interfaces. i2c, spi, etc.
I want to be able to build my own small electronic device that just has a few buttons, and stores each keypress inside a memory.
I am a pretty experienced programmer but I have no idea where to start regarding hardware, or what to search for on google.
Please give me any info that can help me out.
Arduino boards are inexpensive and the platform is wildly popular. I buy stuff like that from sparkfun.com in the developer area down the left side of the page. At sparkfun you will also find many other similar eval boards from various vendors. I like the lillypad over the arduino pro mini only because it has the programming pins already soldered. You will want the ftdi usb serial board thing for power and programming. I am a fan of the armmite pro, which is arm based. the mbed2 is real easy when you plug it in it shows up like a thumb drive, you copy your .bin file to it and press the button and it loads the program and runs it. The blue leds give me migraines but that was solved by replacing with green leds. I have a number of the header style olimex boards, good stuff, have never used the ones with displays and buttons though. Going to other sites the ez430 msp430 is a good starting platform but no buttons which you are interested in using, the stellaris cortex-m3 based family is good I would skip the 811 board and go for maybe the 1978 or something in that range, the 811 is too easy to brick.
Most of the ones mentioned above (not the olimex boards) have sandboxes for you to play in safely (turn key development environments), but at the same time you are not locked into those environments, you can do your own thing if you like, use different toolchains, flash programmers, etc. I personally would avoid the lpcxpresso for that reason, painfully tied to both windows and their sandbox.
the sam7-h256 for example, an olimex board, is powered by the usb, and a program called sam-ba is used to load your programs into the chip. That particular board does not have buttons but boards in that family are also programmed the same way. basically one usb cable for power and programming. And like the AVR (arduino and avr butterfly are based on the avr micro) the at91sam7s is an atmel part. Atmel seems to have that edge over competitors for better documentation and support. At least my belief is that contributes to the popularity of the avr (the avrfreaks website existed before the avr butterfly and the arduino), and it certainly makes me like their arm based products.
short answer, start with http://www.sparkfun.com along the left side click on Development Tools, and there are many solutions. You want to find something like the arduino, armmite pro, mbed, that either standalone or with a ftdi based usb thing you both power the board, and have an interface for programming. There should be links on the page to websites with development tools, compilers, etc, and tools for actually doing the loading of the program on the board. I recommend trying the arm, avr, and msp430 micros, as well as different vendors (many different arm based solutions with their own pros and cons for example).
The arduino platform is a cheap and easy option.
search for arduino and netduino
What language do you program in?
Arduino uses a C like language.
Netduino uses C#.
You can get a NXT kit (yes, LEGO) and use RobotC.
I can only advice how I started:
Get a bread board and some ATMel microcontrollers (ATMega16 is perfect for beginners).
You can either buy an STK500 or you use the In-System-Programming feature, and ask someone that can build you a programmer (I recommend USBasp). When you use Linux, use AVRdude and the gccavr toolchain. Under windows, you can use the WinAVR studio.
And buy some components, like resistors, capacitors, probably a quartz crystal to make simple circuits.
That's how I started anyway.
Arduino is based on Atmel AVR, so the same Arduino or STK500 board can be programmed with AVR Studio + WinAVR combination, which is nice if you already have experience in GCC. For all additional info and tutorials take a look at http://www.avrfreaks.net