The opening line of Groucho Marx song in "Animal Crackers," I wanted to share
that I'm putting my MSP430 stuff in storage. I throughly enjoyed the part,
the EZ430, but time as moved on and I have adopted a different microcontroller
family, Arduino, not to persuade others but to share why.
Friday, I was starting a new project but needed some 'glue' logic,
power supplies to provide both 5V and 3.3V to operate an "H" controller and the
MSP430. But the last electronics store closed in January so I went to Digikey,
Amazon, and finally Ebay to find the switching regulator I needed. I found it
only to discover the seller was also handling Arduino Nano and I started to look
at the specs.
The power consumed is higher than the MSP430 but being able to buy a fully
integrated, daughter board with several times the number of I/O and analog pins
changed my mind. Then the chip itself has nearly an order of magnitude more RAM,
flash, and even EEPROM, good deal. I am a fan of using table lookup to handle
complex logic and control problems. Then I found the additional controllers I
can add to the Arduino including SD cards, my conversion was complete.
I am throughly thankful for my past association with the MSP430 and it has a
very important role in the small power end of microcontrollers. Systems that use
energy harvesting and narrowly focused on low power, no problem. But time is
money and the 50 ma vs 2 ma are several orders of magnitude smaller than the
power and battery systems I'll be using.
I have no doubt there will be new challenges in the Arduino family. But Arduino
documentation, an active user community, and reasonably open architecture and
moving away from a Windows IDE, these are key technical aspects that made this
an easy choice.
GOOD LUCK my friends and thanks for the excellent insights shared in the
past.
Bob Wilson
ps. I'll drop my membership the end of the month. If someone wants my
MSP430 inventory, send me a PM with a shipping address.
Hello, I must be going . . .
Started by ●March 22, 2014
Reply by ●March 22, 20142014-03-22
On Sat, Mar 22, 2014 at 6:40 AM, wrote:
> The opening line of Groucho Marx song in "Animal Crackers," I wanted to
share that I'm putting my MSP430 stuff in storage. I throughly enjoyed the
part, the EZ430, but time as moved on and I have adopted a different
microcontroller family, Arduino, not to persuade others but to share why.
Arduino is not a microcontroller family, it is a framework built using
(typically, but not exclusively) the AVR microcontroller family.
-p.
> The opening line of Groucho Marx song in "Animal Crackers," I wanted to
share that I'm putting my MSP430 stuff in storage. I throughly enjoyed the
part, the EZ430, but time as moved on and I have adopted a different
microcontroller family, Arduino, not to persuade others but to share why.
Arduino is not a microcontroller family, it is a framework built using
(typically, but not exclusively) the AVR microcontroller family.
-p.
Reply by ●March 23, 20142014-03-23
I just did a project using the Arduino Uno My take on this
hardware/development environment is it is geared to folks who wished to be
shielded from the details of the hardware; basically programming for
non-technical people. Too limiting for me, the only debugging option was
printing out of serial port. No breakpoints, no call stack, no register
inspection, no memory view etc. I actually enjoyed using it, but would
never consider this as something to use in a complex design.
-Bill
hardware/development environment is it is geared to folks who wished to be
shielded from the details of the hardware; basically programming for
non-technical people. Too limiting for me, the only debugging option was
printing out of serial port. No breakpoints, no call stack, no register
inspection, no memory view etc. I actually enjoyed using it, but would
never consider this as something to use in a complex design.
-Bill
Reply by ●September 4, 20142014-09-04
I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses the
MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was wondering why
we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance on the Windows-based IDE.
Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to extend functionality.
I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance on the Windows-based IDE.
Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to extend functionality.
Reply by ●September 4, 20142014-09-04
On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 10:40 AM, k...@gmail.com [msp430] <
m...> wrote:
>
> I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses
> the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was
> wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>
> I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and
> software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that
> instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a
> hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as
> an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>
> However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the
> MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general
> purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance
> on the Windows-based IDE.
>
> Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this
> impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a
> Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used
> very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to
> extend functionality.
>
Sounds like you're talking about something like Energia ( http://energia.nu/
). From the website:
"Energia is an open-source electronics prototyping platform started by
Robert Wessels in January of 2012 with the goal to bring the Wiring and
Arduino framework to the Texas Instruments MSP430 based LaunchPad."
m...> wrote:
>
> I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses
> the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was
> wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>
> I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and
> software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that
> instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a
> hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as
> an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>
> However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the
> MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general
> purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance
> on the Windows-based IDE.
>
> Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this
> impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a
> Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used
> very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to
> extend functionality.
>
Sounds like you're talking about something like Energia ( http://energia.nu/
). From the website:
"Energia is an open-source electronics prototyping platform started by
Robert Wessels in January of 2012 with the goal to bring the Wiring and
Arduino framework to the Texas Instruments MSP430 based LaunchPad."
Reply by ●September 4, 20142014-09-04
KFalconer
Take a look at Energia: http://energia.nu
Cheers
J.I.Serafini
2014-09-04 11:40 GMT-03:00 k...@gmail.com [msp430] <
m...>:
> I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses
> the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was
> wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>
> I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and
> software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that
> instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a
> hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as
> an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>
> However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the
> MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general
> purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance
> on the Windows-based IDE.
>
> Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this
> impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a
> Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used
> very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to
> extend functionality.
>
>
>
Take a look at Energia: http://energia.nu
Cheers
J.I.Serafini
2014-09-04 11:40 GMT-03:00 k...@gmail.com [msp430] <
m...>:
> I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses
> the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was
> wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>
> I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and
> software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that
> instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a
> hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as
> an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>
> However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the
> MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general
> purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance
> on the Windows-based IDE.
>
> Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this
> impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a
> Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used
> very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to
> extend functionality.
>
>
>
Reply by ●September 4, 20142014-09-04
Arduino RAM and Flash ROM footprint is a big issue when you're designing
fast applications, if you're thinking in professional applicatons then you
need to write your code in C or in native machine code (even if you want to use
atmel microcontrollers).
Arduino is a good tool to build concept tests, but it is not adequate to professional solutions.. ok.. that's my point of view...
On Thursday, September 4, 2014 1:06 PM, "John Porubek j...@gmail.com [msp430]" wrote:
On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 10:40 AM, k...@gmail.com [msp430] wrote:
>I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance on the Windows-based IDE.
>
>Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to extend functionality.
Sounds like you're talking about something like Energia ( http://energia.nu/ ). From the website:
"Energia is an open-source electronics prototyping platform started by
Robert Wessels in January of 2012 with the goal to bring the Wiring and
Arduino framework to the Texas Instruments MSP430 based LaunchPad."
Arduino is a good tool to build concept tests, but it is not adequate to professional solutions.. ok.. that's my point of view...
On Thursday, September 4, 2014 1:06 PM, "John Porubek j...@gmail.com [msp430]" wrote:
On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 10:40 AM, k...@gmail.com [msp430] wrote:
>I think this is very fascinating. I am just starting a class which uses the MSP430 (Physics 324 - Instrumental/Computer Interfacing) and was wondering why we are learning this microcontroller over the Arduino.
>I use a Mac, and I have been exposed to the various projects (hardware and software) on the Arduino platform, so I would have liked to use that instead. Just as the Arduino is easy to learn and make modular as a hardware platform, the MSP430 is powerful in being low-power and useful as an educational/demonstration tool for showing how a microcontroller works.
>However, I'm also wondering if someone has not already tried to make the MSP430 more like the Arduino in the sense of making it more general purpose, i.e.: masking the hardware complexities and removing the reliance on the Windows-based IDE.
>
>Is there anything in particular about the MSP430 which would make this impossible? I am just barely scraping the surface of the MSP430, but as a Computer Science major, I imagine that it might be as simple ("simple" used very loosely) as extending the TI C++ libraries and headers in order to extend functionality.
Sounds like you're talking about something like Energia ( http://energia.nu/ ). From the website:
"Energia is an open-source electronics prototyping platform started by
Robert Wessels in January of 2012 with the goal to bring the Wiring and
Arduino framework to the Texas Instruments MSP430 based LaunchPad."
Reply by ●September 5, 20142014-09-05
What platform do you use for development?
Created by: pkjohnston
Windows https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189460 OS X https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189461 Linux https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189428 + Add Options https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421
If the IDE seems daunting, then for initial learning purposes wouldn't GRACE be a good place to start?
Grace – Graphical Peripheral Configuration Tool - GRACE - TI Software Folder http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
Grace – Graphical Peripheral Configuration Tool - GRACE... http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE For more information, visit the Grace Wiki - Fully harness MSP430 MCUs integrated analog and digital peripherals with Grace Software Enable and configure ADCs,...
View on www.ti.com http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
Preview by Yahoo
As far as MAC vs PC for development IDE platform. Macs are for graphic artists, videographers and Photoshop pros. PCs are for people that have real work to do (Windows or Linux). Windows just happens to have a larger following. That's just life as we know it. :^)
Created by: pkjohnston
Windows https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189460 OS X https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189461 Linux https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189428 + Add Options https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421
If the IDE seems daunting, then for initial learning purposes wouldn't GRACE be a good place to start?
Grace – Graphical Peripheral Configuration Tool - GRACE - TI Software Folder http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
Grace – Graphical Peripheral Configuration Tool - GRACE... http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE For more information, visit the Grace Wiki - Fully harness MSP430 MCUs integrated analog and digital peripherals with Grace Software Enable and configure ADCs,...
View on www.ti.com http://www.ti.com/tool/GRACE
Preview by Yahoo
As far as MAC vs PC for development IDE platform. Macs are for graphic artists, videographers and Photoshop pros. PCs are for people that have real work to do (Windows or Linux). Windows just happens to have a larger following. That's just life as we know it. :^)
Reply by ●September 5, 20142014-09-05
I think the OP was grumbling about his perceived state of MSP430 support on the
Mac. For non-Windows users MSP430 (and ARM) support has been somewhat
unsatisfactory until lately. It's still a bit of a challenge to locate all
the resources available. The web gets out of date quickly. For the 430 this is
made more difficult by some gcc for 430 efforts which have been abandoned and
TI's decision to put more resources into support for gcc for the MSP430.
I'm confused myself about what to use on Linux. But at the moment I'm
playing w/ ARM based boards, so I've not been concerned. A Usenet style
monthly FAQ posting about MSP430 toolchain support would certainly be helpful to
non-Windows users.
As was pointed out previously, Energia provides an Arduino style programming environment on Unix (at least the Linux and Mac flavors). There's also the traditional compile-link-load command line interface using mspgcc, mspdebug and gdb. In addition, there is Matthias Koch's excellent Mecrisp which provides a standalone forth environment for both MSP430 and ARM devices. A couple of years ago the toolset was sufficiently poor that I gave up for a while. I wanted to play, but not enough to use Windows. I did give up on Solaris though. I got the 430 gcc toolchain working. But for ARM that was a bridge too far, so I built a dedicated CentOS box for MCU work.
As to the OP's question about why the instructor chose the MSP430 there are many possible reasons. Exposure to YAM (yet another MCU) is certainly a good reason. It might also be personal experience (the instructor may not have time to learn a processor just to teach a course) or resources provided by TI. Just in the limited stuff I've done I've encountered the "I can't use that device because it doesn't have xxx." I suggest that the OP ask the instructor and report back. Since he reported being familiar w/ the Arduino, it would be interesting to hear how he thinks Energia stacks up in comparison. The limited foray I made w/ Energia and the G2553 & F5529 LaunchPads made a good impression on me once I fixed a few minor issues. But I don't have any Arduino experience.
Back in the '90's we had the workstation wars. Now we have the dev board wars. May the battles continue. ;-)
Have Fun!
Reg
Posted by: Reginald Beardsley
As was pointed out previously, Energia provides an Arduino style programming environment on Unix (at least the Linux and Mac flavors). There's also the traditional compile-link-load command line interface using mspgcc, mspdebug and gdb. In addition, there is Matthias Koch's excellent Mecrisp which provides a standalone forth environment for both MSP430 and ARM devices. A couple of years ago the toolset was sufficiently poor that I gave up for a while. I wanted to play, but not enough to use Windows. I did give up on Solaris though. I got the 430 gcc toolchain working. But for ARM that was a bridge too far, so I built a dedicated CentOS box for MCU work.
As to the OP's question about why the instructor chose the MSP430 there are many possible reasons. Exposure to YAM (yet another MCU) is certainly a good reason. It might also be personal experience (the instructor may not have time to learn a processor just to teach a course) or resources provided by TI. Just in the limited stuff I've done I've encountered the "I can't use that device because it doesn't have xxx." I suggest that the OP ask the instructor and report back. Since he reported being familiar w/ the Arduino, it would be interesting to hear how he thinks Energia stacks up in comparison. The limited foray I made w/ Energia and the G2553 & F5529 LaunchPads made a good impression on me once I fixed a few minor issues. But I don't have any Arduino experience.
Back in the '90's we had the workstation wars. Now we have the dev board wars. May the battles continue. ;-)
Have Fun!
Reg
Posted by: Reginald Beardsley
Reply by ●September 5, 20142014-09-05
[msp430] An existing poll has been modified, check it out.
Enter your vote now! https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421
What platform do you use for development?
Created by: pkjohnston
1. Windows and Linux https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189486 (added by: bfrolik . September 5, 2014)
Thanks!
Enter your vote now! https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421
What platform do you use for development?
Created by: pkjohnston
1. Windows and Linux https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msp430/polls/poll/3198421#22189486 (added by: bfrolik . September 5, 2014)
Thanks!
