Programmable machines?

[Energon]

Does anyone know of any hobby kits that are something like "put a machine together and program it to do something"? I know that Lego put out something like this, but I'm thinking more of a machine with electric parts you really put together and can be somewhat big. Does that make any sense?

[Stuka]

Nuts & Volts (http://www.nutsvolts.com) magazine is devoted to electronics projects, including robots and such. I've looked it over - if you're into building electronics projects, this is a good place to start.

[Energon]

Hm. Cool. I signed up for a sample copy to see what it's like. It looks like there's a lot of really interesting information in there. Do they usually have some article or ad that can give some ideas on what kind of things you can build with such and such amount of money?

[Stuka]

They do talk about budget at times, but I'm not a subscriber, so I can't swear to that. They have plenty of advertisers, and there's a UBB system - a quick scan earlier showed some VERY knowledgeable folks there...they might be able to give you a good idea.

[binaryDigit]

i'd say start by picking a microcontroller.
i'm working on a project with the motorola m68hc912d60.
very nice little microcontroller. a similar microcontroller - also from motorola was used for this cool little project at M.I.T.
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/ants/

you don't have to build it as small as what they did, but it shows what can be done.

also check out: http://www.hvwtech.com/microcontrollers.htm

that will give you a better idea of what's out there. also has some links to microcontroller projects on that site somewhere.

have fun :D

[bwkaz]

I personally like the MC68HC11F1, because as a 6811, it has a bootstrap mode where it automatically, on bootup, downloads 128 bytes of program on its serial pins, then executes it. So you can hook it up to an RS232 line (WITH VOLTAGE REGULATORS!!!), and have a computer program it for very little (unlike most other microcontrollers, which have a special programmer that costs $100-$200 or so). Nice for a small budget.

Then, too, the F1 model is the first (I think...) 6811 with a nonmultiplexed address/data bus, which makes the supporting hardware easier.

Plus, it's an HC model -- high-speed CMOS transistors, not that wimpy TTL stuff. ;) Clock speeds from I think 4-12MHz.

You just need an assembler for it. And I have a port of GCC that compiles for it, unfortunately I don't remember where I got it from :/ Maybe a Google search would help?

Edit: here we go, it's at http://www.gnu-m68hc11.org -- and it's GPL'ed, too. Which makes sense, because it's just patches on gcc.

[ 05 April 2002: Message edited by: bwkaz ]

[binaryDigit]

bwkaz:
i'm glad to see someone else here has worked with the m68hc1x's.
gives me another place to go for help :)

[bwkaz]

Well... I haven't done much other than design with that chip. I was going to make a voice-activated toaster (yeah, I know.. :cool: ), using it as the CPU. I got the design all put together, and working in theory at least, and the interfaces all right, but I never burned the circuit boards.

So I don't have any experience with actually using them, just with the datasheets and Motorola's guides. If that'd help you, though, then feel free to ask.

[Energon]

huh. That site with the microcontrollers has one that you can work with using OOP. If I were to order something from there, what would I do next? That's kind of my problem, I don't know what can be done. I've never had any experience building things like this. :(

[lazy_cod3R]

So I don't have any experience with actually using them, just with the datasheets and Motorola's guides. If that'd help you, though, then feel free to ask.


I always wanted to learn how to program a chip like this, i did comp sci and didnt get much exposure to this so i really want to learn now, where do i get the motorolla guides, what is the style of programming i have to deal with and what kind of hardware would i need to design and learn how to program and make little gizmo's.

TIA

[bwkaz]

Originally posted by lazy_cod3R:
<STRONG>I always wanted to learn how to program a chip like this, i did comp sci and didnt get much exposure to this so i really want to learn now, where do i get the motorolla guides, what is the style of programming i have to deal with and what kind of hardware would i need to design and learn how to program and make little gizmo's.</STRONG>

Most of the time, CS education doesn't get anywhere near into the detail it looks like you want in that type of thing. That's for the EE majors, usually. You get to deal with assembly language, probably. Unless you get that gcc port, then you can at least use C.

Supporting hardware consists of memory (mine was EEPROM because I wanted to be able to erase it electronically, but not have it lose its contents over power-down), other system parts, the mechanical stuff you'll control, etc. Like if you wanted to make a voice-activated toaster, you'd go find a voice-recognition chip, and look at its interface. Then study (multiple times over) the options you have for interfaces on the 6811, and decide how those two chips will talk to each other.

Then move on to the next piece of the system, like the addressable playback chip. Get datasheets for it, and figure out how it can hook up to the 6811. Then move to the motors for the mechanical side (you will NOT be able to drive a motor directly from the 6811, though -- you WILL burn it out by sourcing/sinking too much current -- so use a relay to isolate the motor), and go from there.

The docs for 6811's used to be at www.mot-sps.com (http://www.mot-sps.com) -- but I'm not sure if they're still there, or if that site is even up. Oh yeah, I guess it is.

The page comparing the features of all the microcontrollers in the 6811 family is here (http://e-www.motorola.com/webapp/sps/site/taxonomy.jsp?nodeId=03M0ym4t3ZGM98635), and the page with all the datasheets, application notes, etc., etc., on the 68HC11F1 is here (http://e-www.motorola.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=68HC11F1&nodeId=03M0ym4t3ZGM98635).

Energon, you just have to come up with something that a computer could do, but won't because it'd be overkill. Like a talking, voice-activated toaster, for example ;)

[ 07 April 2002: Message edited by: bwkaz ]