Looking for Ideas/Opinions

S

Swax

Guest
I'm new to microcontrollers, coming from the PC world of embedded
applications. I have an automotive project that could use some
slimming down both in terms of power usage and econcomics.
Microcontrollers seem to offer the best of everything. Is it possible
for a microcontroller to achieve all of the following in one
application:

Read incoming GPS information, read incoming RFID serial data, read an
analog transducer, emit sounds (beeps), utilize an LCD/Keypad
combination for interacting with a user and lastly storing the GPS,
RFID and transducer info onto an SD card (removable storage) or better
yet on two SD cards (redundant backup system).

Could anyone suggest what type of microcontroller would best be suited.
I've been reading up on PIC's, AVR, 8501's, etc.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks,

William
 
"Swax" <swaxolez@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1111553481.869363.194760@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I'm new to microcontrollers, coming from the PC world of embedded
applications. I have an automotive project that could use some
slimming down both in terms of power usage and econcomics.
Microcontrollers seem to offer the best of everything. Is it possible
for a microcontroller to achieve all of the following in one
application:

Read incoming GPS information, read incoming RFID serial data, read an
analog transducer, emit sounds (beeps), utilize an LCD/Keypad
combination for interacting with a user and lastly storing the GPS,
RFID and transducer info onto an SD card (removable storage) or better
yet on two SD cards (redundant backup system).

Could anyone suggest what type of microcontroller would best be suited.
I've been reading up on PIC's, AVR, 8501's, etc.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks,

William
Click to expand...
Almost any microcotroller can do your job with power left to spare, so it
would be hard to make the wrong choice !

I suggest you choose a microprocessor family which you want to add to your
toolkit for general use. Does the family have high end and low end parts ?
Are you comfortable with the part cost ?

Unless you are making 100s of thousands of units and must save every cent, I
suggest picking a family which is modern and has a lot of grunt, so as to
make the programming task easier. If I suggest a family, I will get shouted
down by other people, which just proves choice of family is not critical !

The AVR and MSP430 families are modern and high throughput and popular. I
will duck for cover and say that the 8051 architecture is getting dated and
produces larger code size and slower throughput, even for the souped up
versions. Of course, the 8051 derivatives are enormously popular and keenly
priced !

Roger
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll take a leap of faith here
and begin experimenting with the AVR. It seems to have a lot of
potential.

In terms of redundant storage to two SD cards (or CF cards) - this is
no problem?

Cheers

William
 
Swax wrote:
Is it possible
for a microcontroller to achieve all of the following in one
application:

Read incoming GPS information, read incoming RFID serial data, read an
analog transducer, emit sounds (beeps), utilize an LCD/Keypad
combination for interacting with a user and lastly storing the GPS,
RFID and transducer info onto an SD card (removable storage) or better
yet on two SD cards (redundant backup system).
Click to expand...
I've done much of this with an MSP430F148, with plenty of capacity to
spare. The mspgcc tools are free and good, it's easy to design in, and
very low power (not that you'll be worried about that if your GPS is on
a lot). If 12 bit (with the usual on-chip problems) is good enough for
your transducer, you won't need an external ADC either.

Paul Burke
 
SNIP
Could anyone suggest what type of microcontroller would best be suited.
I've been reading up on PIC's, AVR, 8501's, etc.
Click to expand...
I would avoid PIC's, the compilers are not free,some of them can not link, C
code is not portable and the tools are a bit awkward.
(I am forced to use PICs at the moment as they happen to be on some
evaluation boards) Personally I would prefer AVR which has a good free GCC
comiler.

Wim
 
Swax wrote:
I'm new to microcontrollers, coming from the PC world of embedded
applications. I have an automotive project that could use some
slimming down both in terms of power usage and econcomics.
Microcontrollers seem to offer the best of everything. Is it possible
for a microcontroller to achieve all of the following in one
application:

Read incoming GPS information, read incoming RFID serial data, read an
analog transducer, emit sounds (beeps), utilize an LCD/Keypad
combination for interacting with a user and lastly storing the GPS,
RFID and transducer info onto an SD card (removable storage) or better
yet on two SD cards (redundant backup system).

Could anyone suggest what type of microcontroller would best be suited.
I've been reading up on PIC's, AVR, 8501's, etc.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks,

William

I made a project very similar to your one, also with graphic lcd and
Click to expand...
battery monitor, with an st upsd3233 8051 derivative



--
piero
 
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