Launch pad is under $5 apiece shipped when purchasing from the TI e-store and comes with a USB programmer that also serves as debugger and USB backlink. Only annoyance is a long lead time as they're constantly backordered.. I bought 3 for $14 back in June and received them about 2-3 weeks ago.<br>
<br><br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 11:09 AM, Darcy Whyte <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:darcy@siteware.com">darcy@siteware.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
The Launch Pad thing is less than $5? <div><br></div><div>My arduino was around 30 bucks assembled. </div><div><br></div><div>Wow! Your baby's already getting married?</div><div><br>--<br>Darcy Whyte<br>Darcy@Siteware.com<br>
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</div><div class="h5"><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 10:20 AM, Jean-Marc LeBlanc <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jeanmarc.leblanc@gmail.com" target="_blank">jeanmarc.leblanc@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hey guy,<br>
I been using the launch pad for about a week now. I have not done<br>
that much with it yet, but I have enough to have a few comments in<br>
regards. The first thing I will point out, is that it is not as easy<br>
to use as the arduino. The arduino has its own library that<br>
simplifies allot of things. For example if you want to write to the<br>
serial port with the arduino it is only a matter of serial.open(baud);<br>
serial.print() or similar. On the launch pad, you would need to<br>
figure out how to divide your clock, set an interrupt every X number<br>
of cycles and set the bit manually. Same thing with the analog pins.<br>
That being said if you have used the arduino with simply the AVR c<br>
code, then this is not any thing different or if you used any other<br>
similar processor.<br>
<br>
That being said, if you are ok with the take on programming this is a<br>
great development platform. The thing that has impressed me the most<br>
is the debugger. Normally you would need either an expensive<br>
development board or some JTag. I never ventured into JTag since it<br>
looked expensive and complicated and it looked scary ( I don't know if<br>
it really is though). This though, is 4.61$ and you can debug your<br>
code. you can set break points, you can see the value of you<br>
variables and step threw your code. All you need to do is hit the<br>
debug button the the eclipse IDE and debug it as you would any other<br>
eclipse code.<br>
<br>
The chip it self is not as powerful as the AVR (arduino). These 16 bit<br>
processors, only has 2k Flash program space and 128 byte of ram.<br>
Though for simple projects or drivers these are prefect. They are<br>
cheap and you can even sample some for free. A good use for them<br>
would be for sensor drivers or line drivers. For example you could<br>
have that chip read the temperature convert it to Celsius and then<br>
that to your arduino (kinda like 2 threads). I say this because they<br>
have some neat features like 10 analog pins. Another thing I like is<br>
you can set an interrupt on raising or falling edges or change of any<br>
digital pin. To my understanding AVR only has 2 pins for that (please<br>
correct me if i am wrong).<br>
<br>
As for the documentation, it took me a while to find what I needed.<br>
There is allot of example code with really bad comments so they are<br>
not that helpful. what I found the most helpful was the uses guide<br>
with the data sheet. I think it would be better if there were more<br>
comments or explanation.<br>
<br>
I have managed to send data to the serial port and read my snes<br>
controller. With the new baby and wedding coming up this week end ;)<br>
I have not had time yet to put them all together so that it works. I<br>
hope to have my SNES controller work on my PC by the end of the week.<br>
If any one is interested in the source. I will try to comment it as<br>
much as I can so first time users will understand what is going on.<br>
<br>
P.S.<br>
if you are worried about the small program space, my code is only 64<br>
bytes and 16 bytes ram.<br>
<br>
Jean-Marc Le Blanc<br>
---<br>
<br>
"Do you pine for the nice days of Minix-1.1, when men were men and<br>
wrote their own device drivers?" Linus Torvalds<br>
<br>
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