Coding for Equipment
-
Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but just a quick (maybe not so easy) question; I know this is mainly a specifically a coding site (hence the name...lol) however, I'm looking for information on coding for machinery or equipment. What equipment/machinery? My own, of my own design. Ambiguous enough? More specifically; if I wanted to develop a mobile device that is not a phone, netbook/laptop, or tablet per se, where would I look for and find information for such a task? Should I be looking into PIC's, embedded design, EPROM's, .... what? Thanks for any assistance! Herb
justluvbug wrote:
I wanted to develop a mobile device that is not a phone, netbook/laptop, or tablet per se, where would I look for and find information for such a task?
Is it a 'mobile expresso coffee machine'?
justluvbug wrote:
Should I be looking into PIC's, embedded design, EPROM's, .... what?
You should also look for boilers, pumps, thermostats. :)
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
justluvbug wrote:
I wanted to develop a mobile device that is not a phone, netbook/laptop, or tablet per se, where would I look for and find information for such a task?
Is it a 'mobile expresso coffee machine'?
justluvbug wrote:
Should I be looking into PIC's, embedded design, EPROM's, .... what?
You should also look for boilers, pumps, thermostats. :)
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
How many are you planning on making? If it is one, or maybe two, then the answer is different to 1000, maybe 2000, and wildly different from the answer for "Lots! And Lots!"
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
-
What if I wanted to make a device to use as an interface or remote and as a standalone computing experience?
justluvbug wrote:
standalone computing experience
Are you a marketing manager? :rolleyes:
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
justluvbug wrote:
standalone computing experience
Are you a marketing manager? :rolleyes:
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]No, you have 2 more questions and the game is forfeit.
-
Obviously, prototyping first, then we'll see.
"A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category." (Wiki[^]) A prototype is the first form on the release item. There is no point in designing a prototype that will be completely different from teh production version - it just wastes your time and money. It can be much (often much, much) bigger, or slower, or contained in a cardboard box (I've done all that) but it needs to share an architecture. :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
-
No, you have 2 more questions and the game is forfeit.
I thought this was 20 questions!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
-
"A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category." (Wiki[^]) A prototype is the first form on the release item. There is no point in designing a prototype that will be completely different from teh production version - it just wastes your time and money. It can be much (often much, much) bigger, or slower, or contained in a cardboard box (I've done all that) but it needs to share an architecture. :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
-
I thought this was 20 questions!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
It seems to going in that direction.
-
No, you have 2 more questions and the game is forfeit.
You can't dictate rules, Mr.
ILostMyIdentity... :)If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
You can't dictate rules, Mr.
ILostMyIdentity... :)If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]I've found my identity and this is my game to dictate how I see fit.
-
Okay, allow me to restate; I would like to build 1 device, a test device.
Then: Embedded design - Yes. Power supply - batteries / charger / power consumtion - Yes. Case / housing - Yes. Eprom - Maybe. If you have erase and program equipment, then these are ok for prototype (though in-circuit programmable flash is nicer to use). Processor: Woo! Big choice. Depends on the task complexity / interface requirements. PIC is very good for small devices, but as things get more complex, you need to look at more sophisticated devices. The big crunch here can be cost: ARM is a lovely processor core, but the development tools are seriously expensive compared to PIC etc. Memory: How much? What type? Volatile? Non-volatile? Hardware Design: Are you good with circuit design? Layout? Are you going to lay out a PCB, or breadboard it, or (shudder) wirewrap? All of these will affect the other: For example, fast RAM will need a good multilayer PCB layout, or it will work badly, or not at all. Processor choice will also affect the layout: some chips are only available in 0.5mm leg spacing SMT, or BGA while others are available in DIL packages. I understand you don't want to reveal too much (I wouldn't either), but the best suggestion I can give is: Talk to whoever will design the hardware, and work with what they know. If you know some of it as well, Great! But don't let them design it without input from you: hardware designers are as lazy as we are when they can be, and will design to make their lives easier, not yours!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
-
Then: Embedded design - Yes. Power supply - batteries / charger / power consumtion - Yes. Case / housing - Yes. Eprom - Maybe. If you have erase and program equipment, then these are ok for prototype (though in-circuit programmable flash is nicer to use). Processor: Woo! Big choice. Depends on the task complexity / interface requirements. PIC is very good for small devices, but as things get more complex, you need to look at more sophisticated devices. The big crunch here can be cost: ARM is a lovely processor core, but the development tools are seriously expensive compared to PIC etc. Memory: How much? What type? Volatile? Non-volatile? Hardware Design: Are you good with circuit design? Layout? Are you going to lay out a PCB, or breadboard it, or (shudder) wirewrap? All of these will affect the other: For example, fast RAM will need a good multilayer PCB layout, or it will work badly, or not at all. Processor choice will also affect the layout: some chips are only available in 0.5mm leg spacing SMT, or BGA while others are available in DIL packages. I understand you don't want to reveal too much (I wouldn't either), but the best suggestion I can give is: Talk to whoever will design the hardware, and work with what they know. If you know some of it as well, Great! But don't let them design it without input from you: hardware designers are as lazy as we are when they can be, and will design to make their lives easier, not yours!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
Aha! I see how this works now, the more specific my question, the more specific your answer! (kidding) I should have thought of that earlier, but as you surmised, I want to be somewhat vague. Your answer is very helpful and now I am going to be even more specific. (By the way, thank you for your time) I am good at design and implementation, I am good with circuit design, and am an electronics hobbyist. In-circuit programmable flash sounds much more fun than using an Eprom since I don't have equipment for it. Processor: Definitely would like to use ARM because of its availability and general hobbyist base, although I don't know enough about other processor types and functionality to decide. I see pricing for some ARM7 controller kits and one-board PC design, which seems to muddy the waters for me with respect to "What can it do?" and "Will it meet my needs?". I guess maybe I should start out with a micro controller hobby board and go from there? That would technically be 'embedded', right? That fits my groove. Would probably be nice to have a JTAG interface as well? Memory: Probably not more than 512mb, non-volatile. Hardware Design: I am good at circuit design and am in the process of building a PIC controlled CNC for circuit board builds and fabrication of the 'product'. No wirewrap, some breadboard, mostly PCB. Thanks again, Herb
-
Aha! I see how this works now, the more specific my question, the more specific your answer! (kidding) I should have thought of that earlier, but as you surmised, I want to be somewhat vague. Your answer is very helpful and now I am going to be even more specific. (By the way, thank you for your time) I am good at design and implementation, I am good with circuit design, and am an electronics hobbyist. In-circuit programmable flash sounds much more fun than using an Eprom since I don't have equipment for it. Processor: Definitely would like to use ARM because of its availability and general hobbyist base, although I don't know enough about other processor types and functionality to decide. I see pricing for some ARM7 controller kits and one-board PC design, which seems to muddy the waters for me with respect to "What can it do?" and "Will it meet my needs?". I guess maybe I should start out with a micro controller hobby board and go from there? That would technically be 'embedded', right? That fits my groove. Would probably be nice to have a JTAG interface as well? Memory: Probably not more than 512mb, non-volatile. Hardware Design: I am good at circuit design and am in the process of building a PIC controlled CNC for circuit board builds and fabrication of the 'product'. No wirewrap, some breadboard, mostly PCB. Thanks again, Herb
ARM is a lovely core to work with, but check: 1) Does the controller kit come with software development tools? Last time I looked, ARM were charging around £5K per user... 2) Be careful which ARM processor you decide on: I have chosen one (SAMSUNG) in the past only for it to go out of production after a total life on six months. OK for a one off, but a PITA for production. 3) If you talk to the importers, processor samples can be available. (A box of chocolates can help here!) Since I normally figure that something is going to go catastrophically wrong with the first built sample, I like to have three or more of every device handy. Normally it doesn't, but I've been burnt by only having one device before. Literally, as it happens... :laugh: 4) JTAG is definitely a goodie. If nothing else, it defines a way to get the data into the in-circuit programmable devices! Good luck!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
