Microcontrollers

[ZapBrannigan]

Hey all,
at work I program some Micro's and have been finding that the MSP430 range have been absolutely fantastic to work with.
I cannot say the same about the PIC's I have had to deal with.

When I get decided upon what type of robot I am going to make, I am thinking that I will use an MSP430 myself to act as the brains of the unit.

Only trouble with the ones we use at work, is that they are surface mount and are thus a little harder to prototype with.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of Micro's to use for the job?

[Squeeze]

I was told the PICAXE is very good
cheap..... oatleyelectronics.com/componts.html
easy to program.
can do anything.

[Dingo]

That is an awesome link Squeeze!

I've added it to the link section - thanks

[Squeeze]

well if u think that chip is the way to go you should have a look at this site....
www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/
I've gone off the lego mindstorm idea and am reading about the picaxe.....also got the Robot building for beginners book on order and plan to pull my old RC car out of storeage for my first project.

[Dingo]

Good to hear!

I'll edit my post in the suggestions board to include where I bought the parts I used for that book from.


BTW David Cook's first book is a great starting point but doesn't cover microsontrollers at all - his second book does though

[Dingo]

Just placed an order at MicroZed for a couple of 18X picaxes. These look pretty interesting as they overcome some of the limitations of the 18 and the 18A. Has anyone used the 18X before?

EDIT: These chips do rock as a first step into microcontrollers. Highly, highly recommend them