On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:25:44 -0500, "lucasvickers"
<lucasvickers@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hello,
>I am looking into potential embedded microprocessors to use for a one time
>project.  About 2-3 units will be produced.  A good software library and a
>solid product are more important than volume pricing.
>
>- Remote programming and debugging is necessary.
>- I am looking for a microcontroller that does not emit much heat.
>- I plan on analyzing the input from 2 cameras at a rate of 2 frames per
>second.
>- Ethernet connection is necessary to upload images to a specified
>location (TCP/IP and FTP protocol support would be great).
>- Thread support (or the likes).
>- File storage is not a huge deal but the easier the better.

We had a similar set of requirements for a building management
system. *Much* to our surprise a PC came out tops! We used an
eBox2300SX running Linux. See late on in
  www.mpeforth.com/ngr.htm

Dirt cheap (~US120), well made, runs DOS, Linux and WinCE or
WinXP (embedded) from a cheap Compact Flash card. The kicker
was that the box and PSU are included. Total power consumption
is 6w and it's fanless. There are a number of Linux-based ARM
systems around around at a higher price, but which may save
you a watt or two.

If you are already a Windows buff, the latest WinCE is dirt
cheap in small volumes, and our Graham ported it in about two
hours. However, I have absolutely no experience with current
versions, so can't comment about reliability.

Stephen


-- 
Stephen Pelc, stephenXXX@mpeforth.com
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England
tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441, fax: +44 (0)23 8033 9691
web: http://www.mpeforth.com - free VFX Forth downloads

Hello,
I am looking into potential embedded microprocessors to use for a one time
project.  About 2-3 units will be produced.  A good software library and a
solid product are more important than volume pricing.

- Remote programming and debugging is necessary.  This is a one time
project that will be installed in New Mexico (I am in NY), and I need to be
able to fix small glitches from home.  This should happen over basic TCP/IP
(not some crazy serial emulator I need to install everywhere).  It is not
practical to dedicate an entire computer towards acting as the host for
this.
- I am looking for a microcontroller that does not emit much heat.  It
will be enclosed in a unit that will be in surrounding temperatures of 100+
(New Mexico).
- I plan on analyzing the input from 2 cameras at a rate of 2 frames per
second.  So 2x2 = 4 frames per second.  A shadow tracking algorithm will be
applied to one of the images.  I am not sure how computationally expensive
this will be but I don’t expect it to be huge. 
- Ethernet connection is necessary to upload images to a specified
location (TCP/IP and FTP protocol support would be great).
- Thread support (or the likes).  I don’t want any network delays to
interrupt the image analysis.
- File storage is not a huge deal but the easier the better.  Any kind of
file system support would be great, as I will most likely dump debugging
information from time to time on the image algorithm.

Again this is low volume and time constrained, I’d rather buy a lot of
pre-working parts.

Currently the best thing I have found is the rabbit processors with the
RabbitLink for remote debugging and programming.  There seem to be various
libraries for downloading images from cameras, etc.  Down side is it is not
ANSI C so I can not port code easily, and I hear it is a little annoying.

Can anyone offer any alternatives?  I have seen quite a few options but it
seems like no one else offers TCP/IP based remote programming/debugging.

Thank you kindly!
Lucas