[Lab] Launch pad

Darcy Whyte darcy at siteware.com
Mon Sep 20 12:28:48 EDT 2010


is it DIGY.com?

On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Jean-Marc LeBlanc <
jeanmarc.leblanc at gmail.com> wrote:

> DIGY Key has some available now though
>
> Jean-Marc Le Blanc
> ---
>
> "Do you pine for the nice days of Minix-1.1, when men were men and
> wrote their own device drivers?" Linus Torvalds
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Jean-Marc LeBlanc
> <jeanmarc.leblanc at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Yeah I bought mine on the second day and received it last week.  If
> > you order one of these I would order it right from the TI store and
> > not a retailer.
> >
> > check out their wiki.
> >
> http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_LaunchPad_%28MSP-EXP430G2%29
> >
> > if you have only used the arduino, keep in mind that the launch pad is
> > a little bit more complicated to program than the arduino.  But
> > nothing you can't learn.
> > If you are interested in my code though let me know.  Ill try to leave
> > more detail comments than in the example code.  You can get an Idea of
> > how it works
> >
> >
> > Jean-Marc Le Blanc
> > ---
> >
> > "Do you pine for the nice days of Minix-1.1, when men were men and
> > wrote their own device drivers?" Linus Torvalds
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Tom Burns <tom.i.burns at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> 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.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 11:09 AM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at siteware.com>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> The Launch Pad thing is less than $5?
> >>> My arduino was around 30 bucks assembled.
> >>> Wow! Your baby's already getting married?
> >>> --
> >>> Darcy Whyte
> >>> Darcy at Siteware.com
> >>> 613-563-3634
> >>> Ottawa, Canada | N 45° 25'03.1" W 75° 42'21.4"
> >>>
> >>> Inspirational Flying Machines:
> >>> http://www.rubber-power.com
> >>> MAAC 23153
> >>>
> >>> Social Media, Interaction, SEO
> >>> www.generalSocial.com
> >>>
> >>> Software services since 1988
> >>> Web, Database, LAMP
> >>> www.Siteware.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 10:20 AM, Jean-Marc LeBlanc
> >>> <jeanmarc.leblanc at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Hey guy,
> >>>> I been using the launch pad for about a week now.  I have not done
> >>>> that much with it yet, but I have enough to have a few comments in
> >>>> regards.  The first thing I will point out, is that it is not as easy
> >>>> to use as the arduino.  The arduino has its own library that
> >>>> simplifies allot of things.  For example if you want to write to the
> >>>> serial port with the arduino it is only a matter of serial.open(baud);
> >>>>  serial.print()  or similar.  On the launch pad, you would need to
> >>>> figure out how to divide your clock, set an interrupt every X number
> >>>> of cycles and set the bit manually.  Same thing with the analog pins.
> >>>> That being said if you have used the arduino with simply the AVR c
> >>>> code, then this is not any thing different or if you used any other
> >>>> similar processor.
> >>>>
> >>>> That being said, if you are ok with the take on programming this is a
> >>>> great development platform.  The thing that has impressed me the most
> >>>> is the debugger.  Normally you would need either an expensive
> >>>> development board or some JTag.  I never ventured into JTag since it
> >>>> looked expensive and complicated and it looked scary ( I don't know if
> >>>> it really is though).  This though, is 4.61$ and you can debug your
> >>>> code.  you can set break points, you can see the value of you
> >>>> variables and step threw your code.  All you need to do is hit the
> >>>> debug button the the eclipse IDE and debug it as you would any other
> >>>> eclipse code.
> >>>>
> >>>> The chip it self is not as powerful as the AVR (arduino). These 16 bit
> >>>> processors, only has 2k Flash program space and 128 byte of ram.
> >>>> Though for simple projects or drivers these are prefect.  They are
> >>>> cheap and you can even sample some for free.  A good use for them
> >>>> would be for sensor drivers or line drivers.  For example you could
> >>>> have that chip read the temperature convert it to Celsius and then
> >>>> that to your arduino (kinda like 2 threads).  I say this because they
> >>>> have some neat features like 10 analog pins.  Another thing I like is
> >>>> you can set an interrupt on raising or falling edges or change of any
> >>>> digital pin.  To my understanding AVR only has 2 pins for that (please
> >>>> correct me if i am wrong).
> >>>>
> >>>> As for the documentation, it took me a while to find what I needed.
> >>>> There is allot of example code with really bad comments so they are
> >>>> not that helpful.  what I found the most helpful was the uses guide
> >>>> with the data sheet.  I think it would be better if there were more
> >>>> comments or explanation.
> >>>>
> >>>> I have managed to send data to the serial port and read my snes
> >>>> controller.  With the new baby and wedding coming up this week end ;)
> >>>> I have not had time yet to put them all together so that it works.  I
> >>>> hope to have my SNES controller work on my PC by the end of the week.
> >>>> If any one is interested in the source.  I will try to comment it as
> >>>> much as I can so first time users will understand what is going on.
> >>>>
> >>>> P.S.
> >>>> if you are worried about the small program space, my code is only 64
> >>>> bytes and 16 bytes ram.
> >>>>
> >>>> Jean-Marc Le Blanc
> >>>> ---
> >>>>
> >>>> "Do you pine for the nice days of Minix-1.1, when men were men and
> >>>> wrote their own device drivers?" Linus Torvalds
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >
>
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