Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Laser mouse based DRO - Stand Alone ?

Hi Steve,

The AVRs are interesting chips! Inexpensive, very powerful, compilers
available. We considered it on a project that's starting, but limited time,
familiarity with PICs and their compilers dictated that we continue to use a pic
for this project as well.

Yeah, there are some peculiar instructions in the PIC instruction set, but I'm
normally writing in C, so I don't mind!

I do believe that MicroChip goes all the way out to make it easy to try PICs.

The Tach Jr. kit is based on an Atmel chip.

http://dsgnspec.0catch.com/

Small package, tach works good for spindles!

Alan KM6VV


Stephen Wille Padnos wrote:

> Alan Marconett wrote:
>
>
>>Hi Art,
>>
>>I fully agree! And I've ran the DRO chips on an old PC myself! OK, I
>>didn't have encoders on the axis of a machine, but I ran the encoders!
>>
>>PICs are a LOT of fun! They are simple enough that you can get around the
>>whole job. Learn a little C, learn a little micro processor an electronics,
>>a really good project for learning. And they can be quite powerful
>>solutions for commercial products as well (my new job).
>>
>>Hi-Tech has a FREE "lite" compiler for a few selected PICs. So do some
>>other compiler suppliers.
>>
>> http://www.htsoft.com/
>>
>>CCS is another compiler; cheaper, probably affordable for many hobbyists
>>(Hi-Tech is pricy).
>>
>>Alan KM6VV
>>
>>
>
> Art,
>
> Not really CNC-related (except for the fact that you can generate step
> pulses or make DROs with a microcontroller), but here's my two cents.
>
> Unless you're required to use a PIC (ie, the chip is already a part of
> the design, and the customer won't change it), try the AVR from Atmel.
> The cost of the chip is similar (AVRs used to be more expensive, but now
> they're less than a PIC in many instances), but I find the instruction
> set to be *much* better. There are little things, like the fact that
> the PIC has no add-with-carry instruction, to big things like the AVR
> having 32 registers. The AVR also has a bunch of C compilers available,
> like the PIC.
>
> One hardware advantage to the AVR is that in-circuit programming only
> requires a 5V supply (some even program at 3V, I think), whereas the PIC
> needs a 12V line to get into programming mode. The PIC has an advantage
> in that it only takes 5 wires, and the AVR needs 6 (both including power
> and ground).
>
> Either one can be used for some fun projects, and the flexibility of
> these chips is pretty amazing.
> Just an opinion from someone who's been writing microcontroller code for
> the last 15 years or so :)
>
> - Steve
>