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Smallest/lightest FPC capable processor?
MarkMLl:
--- Quote from: Dimitrios Chr. Ioannidis on August 03, 2022, 01:37:12 pm ---I remembered seeing this here https://github.com/ccrause/freepascal/wiki/Better-support-for-address-spaces-in-FPC#section-support-for-procedures
Maybe it should be in fpc avr wiki ?
--- End quote ---
In any event, it should specify what versions of the compiler support it, i.e. "Requires a minimum of FPC 3.x.y targetting z and t".
MarkMLl
AlanTheBeast:
--- Quote from: MarkMLl on August 03, 2022, 11:32:56 am ---Noted your comment about at least starting off with an Arduino-scale breakout board, but when you say "smallest/lightest" do you literally mean "small" as in some fraction of a mm2 and "light" as in mg?
In any event, even if small etc. should be interpreted as "limited memory and cheap", you are likely to find that your scale is dominated by considerations of how tolerant the MCU chip (and attached peripherals) is to varying supply voltage, whether the chip/board can supply adequate power to supply the peripherals without an external regulator and so on.
--- End quote ---
Language is fun.
I meant "smallest/lightest" as in a little board that will do what I need it to do. Arduino size would be fine. Slightly larger or smaller would be fine.
I'll throw (a) nice power suppl(ies)y at it.
Thx.
AlanTheBeast:
Thanks everyone for all the replies. I'll begin my research. Key thing (which Dimitrios Chr. Ioannidis touched on) is programming it once the image is built...
d.ioannidis:
Hi,
--- Quote from: AlanTheBeast on August 03, 2022, 04:29:00 pm ---Key thing (which Dimitrios Chr. Ioannidis touched on) is programming it once the image is built...
--- End quote ---
All the suggestions above ( arduino uno / nano, esp32, rp pico, etc ), can be programmed "out-of-box", as they aleady have the supporting hardware and/or firmware.
I was talking about the case, you maybe want to use an mcu with your own minimal homemade board i.e. From Arduino to a Microcontroller on a Breadboard.
regards,
MarkMLl:
--- Quote from: AlanTheBeast on August 03, 2022, 04:25:56 pm ---I meant "smallest/lightest" as in a little board that will do what I need it to do. Arduino size would be fine. Slightly larger or smaller would be fine.
--- End quote ---
Waveshare RP2040-Zero or equivalent, AVR-based Digispark clone, or depending on the precise number of inputs you need an Arduino Nano or larger.
If you have two RP2040 boards you can use one as a Picoprobe, which can handle both loading and debugging. Otherwise there's a button that boots the RP2040 chip looking like a disc drive, and you just get your host OS to copy the firmware file onto it.
Most Arduinos (except possibly the Nano) have a USB serial interface and preprogrammed loader firmware. However you have to jump through hoops to get a debugging interface.
Beware of the "Blue Pill" which is normally shipped without a bootloader, so you need either an ST-Link adapter or something else that implements the SWD 3-wire bus (e.g. a Picoprobe, but I've not tried this combination). Also beware that even though it might appear to be good value, there's a vast number of elderly "Blue Pill" boards with a bad resistor in the USB circuit, meaning that you've got to start messing around with a soldering iron before you have any real chance of programming it over USB.
For my money, the Pico+Picoprobe combination takes some beating. But I do have reservations about the RP2040 chip itself, since its USP (apart from price) is its PIO subsystems... which are great provided that you have a use for them (in the same way that the low-level processing hardware on a BeagleBone was great if you had a use for them) but for the vast majority of people will turn out to be a "solution looking for a problem" which they don't have.
MarkMLl
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