RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: CAM Software Advice for Shopmaster CNC, ARM7, USB

Hi Jon, Wayne,

Heard you on AT91SAM7 list! The Atmel demo board for the AT91SAM7S256 board
is nice, if pricy. I've designed a controller board (industrial laundry)
using the chip, and interfaced an APA LCD (128 x 64), a few keys, and 16
inputs and outputs (via SPI), as well as RS485. Also USB Host and Device.
This is a very well supported chip!

I've got my eye on it for possible inclusion on a hexapod robot. One could
implement quite a lot on this uP for CNC as well. The SAM7X part has
Ethernet, I'm told. With -S you get USB Device.

If you want a cheap (tiny) platform with the uP on it, Spark Fun has the
Olimex SAM7-H256 "header", complete with a USB connector and regulator. Now
THAT would make a good USB dongle!

Alan KM6VV

> > <snip>
> >
> There are also chips from Atmel, NXP and others that have an
> ARM7 CPU, flash memory, RAM, serial and Ethernet MAC on chip.
> The chips run from $7 to 14 in low quantity, and there are some
> off-brand demo boards for not much more than that ATmega board.
> The chip maker's and dev system maker's demo boards are around
> $100 - 150. These have a 10/100 Mbit Ethernet. You can get
> 128, 256 and even 512 KB of flash and 64 K or RAM on these.
> They run 50 -72 MIPS on the ARM CPU. The ARM7 is a 32-bit CPU.
>
> Jon
>