No specific project or need just yet. The price is right.
These are compatible with the Arduino platform with some added software. The Arduino stuff has been around for maybe 10 years and there are hundreds of variants. I have been using a flavor called the Teensy for a couple of years because they stuff a whole lot of processing power into a small form factor.
I have used the mid range and high end Teensys for several audio / music projects and have a nice sounding 1V/octave digital music synthesizer all running inside the Teensy with about 50 knobs (pots) that perform all the usual analog synthesizer functions. I also plan to use them for things like auto bias, housekeeping, and watchdog functions in high powered vacuum tube amplifiers.
The "blue pill" should run most Arduino software by recompiling, and it is form factor compatible with the mid range Teensy. I do not know if it is pin compatible yet. The mid range Teensy is $20 each, these are $3 to $5, so they can be used for simple tasks like reading pots, switches, and encoders and reporting the results over a serial bus like SPI or I2C to the master Teensy, or accepting serial input and running relays and LED's.
I went to college at age 37 and got a degree in computer engineering, taking several software classes along the way. I distilled all the stuff I learned in "C" and "C++" classes down to the minimum needed to do the programs I wrote at work. These were one off programs to run auto testing on two way radios, and test circuits for radio circuits and chips. I jokingly called my new language "C--", and used it until I left Motorola. When the Arduino appeared I discovered that the creators of the "Arduino sketch" had done exactly the same thing. You program the Arduino in a simplified version of "C / C++" but the Arduino compiler will eat the full C and C++ language if you are able and choose to program with it.
I think I searched for "blue pill chip" or "blue pill ARM'. I spent a couple extra bucks to get one shipped from the USA instead of China. It shows up in 3 days not 3 weeks.
The Teensys cost a few bucks more but have better documentation and a support forum much like this one. It's worth reading just to see what people are making with these things. It may also be a bit easier to deal with for a beginner. The Blue Pill may or may not come with any docs, I'll know when mine shows up.
PJRC: Electronic Projects
I have also used Arduino compatible boards from Digilent. They have a big board with lots of I/O. I used them a lot at work for auto testers. The Chip Kit MAX 32 cost $50 but Motorola was paying. It is also an Arduino compatible with a lot of processing power and more I/O than any other general purpose processor board that I have seen.
Their Analog Discovery module is a hockey puck sized test bench. Scope, signal generator, voltmeter, power supply, Arbirtary Waveform generator and logic analyzer, all in one.
Electrical Engineering Store, FPGA, Microcontrollers and Instrumentation | Digilent
The Teensys cost a few bucks more but have better documentation and a support forum much like this one. It's worth reading just to see what people are making with these things. It may also be a bit easier to deal with for a beginner. The Blue Pill may or may not come with any docs, I'll know when mine shows up.
PJRC: Electronic Projects
I have also used Arduino compatible boards from Digilent. They have a big board with lots of I/O. I used them a lot at work for auto testers. The Chip Kit MAX 32 cost $50 but Motorola was paying. It is also an Arduino compatible with a lot of processing power and more I/O than any other general purpose processor board that I have seen.
Their Analog Discovery module is a hockey puck sized test bench. Scope, signal generator, voltmeter, power supply, Arbirtary Waveform generator and logic analyzer, all in one.
Electrical Engineering Store, FPGA, Microcontrollers and Instrumentation | Digilent
Last year I completed my MSc. degree.
The thesis involved using Arduino boards to build a data recorder.
Easy when you check out the volume of stuff on Youtube!!!!!!
Andy
PS I'm 65 and have virtually no computer programming expertise
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I am also a big fan of Siliconix high-current j-FETs. Built a low-noise MC phono head amp from it.
The blue pills have arrived, and as expected there isn't a single sheet of paper or even a web link with them. The picture shows what I got, reasonable for $12. Google may help, but as leadbelly has found there are lots of things called "blue pill."
Side note:
There used to be a DIY fuel injection computer in the 90's called "Megasquirt." NEVER do a web search for this on a company computer! (Big Brother is watching the company net) You will have to clean the computer screen from the inside to get all the nasty off!
It has been almost 20 years since I got my MS in electrical engineering (no programming classes) and 25 years since I got my BS in computer engineering. The PC's of the day ran DOS on Intel 286's and you could program them with Turbo Pascal or Turbo C. Those days are gone.
I played with small boards and even made a few myself with Motorola 68HC11 chips and Microchip PICs through the 80's and 90's. They were not very powerful and most programming was done in assembler.
When I first found the Arduino stuff I was amazed at how easy they were to use, interface, and program. Even with limited use of the C language over the 20 years since school, I picked it up with the tutorials I got on the Arduino site and YouTube. The PJRC and Digilent sites both have forums where you can get answers and the world is full of code for examples or direct use. Some of the user submitted code may suck though. I will get something working, then go back and fix or replace the "kamikaze code." (That's what one of my teachers called my coding style).
Side note:
There used to be a DIY fuel injection computer in the 90's called "Megasquirt." NEVER do a web search for this on a company computer! (Big Brother is watching the company net) You will have to clean the computer screen from the inside to get all the nasty off!
It has been almost 20 years since I got my MS in electrical engineering (no programming classes) and 25 years since I got my BS in computer engineering. The PC's of the day ran DOS on Intel 286's and you could program them with Turbo Pascal or Turbo C. Those days are gone.
I played with small boards and even made a few myself with Motorola 68HC11 chips and Microchip PICs through the 80's and 90's. They were not very powerful and most programming was done in assembler.
When I first found the Arduino stuff I was amazed at how easy they were to use, interface, and program. Even with limited use of the C language over the 20 years since school, I picked it up with the tutorials I got on the Arduino site and YouTube. The PJRC and Digilent sites both have forums where you can get answers and the world is full of code for examples or direct use. Some of the user submitted code may suck though. I will get something working, then go back and fix or replace the "kamikaze code." (That's what one of my teachers called my coding style).
Attachments
I should have said that my MSc was in Applied Marine Geoscience rather than computer science.
I do not have a BSc either just went straight in to the masters.
Andy
I have also bought a lot of Arduinostuff from the smallest ATtiny85 boards to the Uno. As you say - easy to program and also downloading sketches (as the programs are called) and remodelling for your own purposes. A lot of "drivers" for standard parts like LCDs, stepper motors etc are available everywhere.
OH SH*T, just ordered 40 tube boxes and suddenly I found a small box of some more. Maybe they will be enough anyway.
OH SH*T, just ordered 40 tube boxes and suddenly I found a small box of some more. Maybe they will be enough anyway.
Could be. I haven't investigated yet.
One minor (OK could be major) detail I forgot to mention. The original Arduino and most of the clones ran from 5 volts and could eat 5 volts on all their inputs. Many of the newer Arduino compatibles can NOT tolerate 5 volts on some or all of their inputs. Applying 5 volts can, and usually will fry that input, or fry the whole board!
This is usually well documented, at least on all the name brand boards, but the blue pill and most of the cheap knock-offs have NO documentation. Sometimes all you need to do is look up the docs for the chip that is on the board. Many of the new higher powered boards use a 3.3 volt or lower supply voltage to the chip. The board outputs will be at 3.3 volt logic levels. Sometimes the inputs are 5 volt tolerant, sometimes not, and sometimes mixed (analog not tolerant, digital is). If you can't find out, or don't understand this, use a board from a name brand that IS well documented. This is a big issue on the 32 bit boards like the blue pill.
The older Teensy 3.2's are 5 volt tolerant, the 3.6's are not, and I believe the 3.5 are mixed. This is documented on their web site, yet people still blow boards.
I found the docs here. It is NOT a maple mini board, but very similar.
Blue Pill - STM32duino wiki
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My satellite dish saga continues. Now the round dish I bought off ebay came...and it's a rip off. It's slightly elliptical and not 33" but is a 30" equivalent. I've already communicated with seller and can tell this will be a hostile return for item not as described. Any tips to make sure I get all my money including return shipping refunded?
I don't believe any of the STM32Fxxx series are 5V tolerant. We use the 103 and 205 and I verified in the datasheet that they are not 5V tolerant.
Here is the link to both ST 103 manuals.
Electrical specs:
http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00161566.pdf
functionality details:
http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00171190.pdf
leadbelly, I have never experienced a hostile return, so I can give no advise. Good luck.
Here is the link to both ST 103 manuals.
Electrical specs:
http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00161566.pdf
functionality details:
http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00171190.pdf
leadbelly, I have never experienced a hostile return, so I can give no advise. Good luck.
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