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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PIC32MZ DA Family
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jman Guru  Joined: 12/06/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 711 |
Now this looks interesting Hackaday PIC32MZ DA Family Guess we have to get Geoff and Peter some samples :) The 176-pin LQFP package is doable for the DIYers Regards Jman |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2294 |
the quiestion/problem with anything beyond an MX170 is: what things can i do with this that i can't do with a RPi zero? the operating current of an MZ DA at 200MHz is somewhere in the region of 180mA (DC22a, table 47-7, pg 721). this exceeds that of a RPi zero. a RPi zero + cheap flash card is cheaper than an MZ DA that is on a PCB, has far more RAM, supports USB peripherals, can drive a whole variety of HDMI displays. the advantages of an MZ DA (or MX470) are: the ability to go into a low-power state with around 100uA current draw, a whole load more onboard I/O pins, quicker startup. * the maximite was cool - a single chip with everything onboard and driving a VGA display, a technological achievement. the micromite MX170 is cool - a computer comperable to a C64 on a single chip that can run off 2x AA cells. * the MX470 running MMbasic is interesting for some applications, but not cheap. * the MZ series processors running MMbasic are a curiosity, though hard to justify when MMbasic is available on the RPi. * a RPi running MMbasic is back into the realm of cool again, as it offers something unique. all just my opinion, mind you! cheers, rob :-) |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
Hooray ! I was wondering when.. Hopefully the display ecosystem provided will enable fast development, that would be a big advantage over wading through proprietary packages etc. I am wondering if there is a generic graphics display subsystem evolving, either embedded or split off to a separate display, like a PC using a display card with a graphics accelerator. At $20 a DA could run something like one of the standard graphics languages and be a drop-in module for embedded systems. |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3027 |
I agree with this, but still wonder if RPI-0-W is ever going to be much more than a tease with one-at-a-time only sales--in North America, available only for in-store pickup at Microcenter (great if you live in one of 25 locations); CanaKit--shipping more than the pi; Adafruit--rarely available and shipping nearly as much as the pi; BuyaPi--shipping nearly as much as the pi. I wouldn't mind paying $12 shipping if I could buy 5 of them, but I can't. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3678 |
It's the kind of wondering that occurred with some of the previous RPi boards - which are now readily available in quantity, so I expect the 0W will be too at some point. John |
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| gumath Newbie  Joined: 25/04/2017 Location: AustriaPosts: 10 |
@ Robert.rozee Hello Robert I can only agree with you in all points! Two friends, Erwin (Rentner111), and Wofgang (PicFan), and I we Discovered the TFT-Maximite a few years ago. We immediately get excited about the possibilities, the Geoffs MM-BASIC allows. Then came the MX150, later the MX170, we use almost only The MX170 with 28Pin, rarely the MX170 with 44Pin. Erwin once used the MX470 in a large project, because the memory of the MX170 with 44Pin was not enough. , Great work that Geoff has done for us all. Wolfgang and I are currently testing MM-BASIC on the RaspberryPi3, the ZERO-W is currently not available. Many greetings from Innsbruck from us three Vy 73 de Guenter, OE7GMT |
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| Frank N. Furter Guru Joined: 28/05/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 815 |
Hi Günter, did you tried buypizero.de ? They deliver very fast!!! (...the cheaper one without header is sold out...) Frank |
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Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3167 |
I like Rob's cool/not cool catalogue. However my view is that the various versions of the Micromites have two roles. The first is that they are an interesting gadget with lots of features and fascinating aspects to play with. You can spend a lot of time exercising your programming skills, experimenting with different displays, etc. Because it is still evolving there are always new features to investigate. The other role is as the basis for some project. It will have a job to do and mundane features like the number of I/O pins available on any one chip are more important than exotic features like VGA or mouse support. There is a lot of mixing between these roles but I believe that the "fun" and "playing" aspects work across the range but particularity with the later, more high end versions. On the other hand, in the mundane "component in a project" role, the MX170 version is by far the most popular with the MX470 trailing behind and the MZ version a distant third. So, if a PIC32MZ DA version was produced it would fall into the first role. Ie, a fun thing to do and play with. This is not a bad thing, it is just that an enormous amount of effort goes into these high end versions (take the MZ for example) and they are used the least. Another consideration is that you cannot keep doing this for ever, for a start there is a limit to the number of features that you can think up! Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| gumath Newbie Joined: 25/04/2017 Location: AustriaPosts: 10 |
@Frank N. Furter Hello Frank, Thanks for the tip, i will order there. Vy 73 de Guenter, OE7GMT |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2294 |
very true, but there is not a limit to the number of different and interesting applications a computing device can be used in. and as you have said before, there is no longer a pressing need to implement a given "new feature" within firmware that can just as well be implemented in mmbasic code or a custom fiunction - i was rather pleased to see some of the less used features (such as DISTANCE()) moved out into external custom functions in order to allow continued maintenance and development of (in particular) the MX170 core code. perhaps MEMORY could be the next one to be made external? my own feeling is that what MMbasic needs, in general, is people out there developing new and interesting applications, and then putting them out on the web as complete projects. alas, SC does still seem to be stuck developing 'drill speed controller' types of projects, very rarely do they come up with something you've not seen (many times) before. cheers, rob :-) |
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