 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : What's the best processor to use
| Author | Message | ||||
lew247 Guru  Joined: 23/12/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1702 |
I want to make some micro stepper motor gauges., ideally I'd like to run them on battery power if possible and obviously I'd need the lowest voltage/current to make it last as long as possible What's the best cpu using basic to use to achieve this? Micromite Armite or something else? |
||||
| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3378 |
Armmite L4 is optimized for battery usage, but not much has shown up about it on the forum lately. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
||||
hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 719 |
Not much about any Armites . ( Nor is there a web presence ) my site |
||||
vegipete Guru Joined: 29/01/2013 Location: CanadaPosts: 1132 |
What is the data to be shown on the gauges? Voltage based? Serial data? VU meters? How much processing power will be needed? Will the steppers hold the desired position when de-powered? Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs. |
||||
| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3378 |
Two "m"s -- Armmite. Search the forum for "Armmite" in the subject. ARMMITE F4 - alternate ? 2020-08-03 18:11:18 ARMMITE F4 SD card file problems 2020-08-02 22:42:43 The Maximite/Micromite/ARMMITE/Pi-cromite Story 2020-08-01 13:41:50 tetris for ARMMITE F4 2020-08-01 01:04:31 Minimum requirements for a basic ARMMITEF4 2020-06-27 12:14:03 ARMMITE text command at bottom of screen - bug? 2020-06-01 15:54:19 Help needed with SD on ARMMITE F4 2020-05-30 08:57:37 Slightly Enhanced: Geoff's DDS Signal generator for ARMMITEF4 2020-05-10 22:08:36 ARMMITE F4: use external SD Card socket? 2020-02-23 20:36:34 ARMMITE F4 Distance Measurements 2019-11-10 20:51:49 ARMMITE H7: 5.05.11: 4096 byte battery backed RAM 2019-11-10 04:05:44 ARMMITEH7: V5.05.10 - USB keyboard and editor improvements 2019-11-08 04:02:06 Curious behaviour of ARMMITEL4 2019-10-29 03:18:45 ARMMITE H7 - Unexpected ADC behaviour 2019-10-14 17:19:49 ARMMITE F4 line command - thickness problem 2019-10-13 15:52:54 ARMMITE F4: File Access Issue 2019-09-23 14:23:18 ARMMITE F4: BLIT Read / Write not working 2019-09-21 10:43:10 ARMMITE SSD1963_4_16,p causes system lock 2019-09-15 16:58:41 ARMMITE F4 - Memory Usage 2019-09-10 18:01:26 Xmodem Receive fn$ bug on MMBasic (ARMMITE F4) using MMedit File Mgr 2019-09-05 12:47:48 ARMMITE H7: 5.05.09, MOD file playback 2019-09-05 02:01:28 ARMMITE F4 - ARC command, extra pixels 2019-08-13 16:04:44 ARMMITE F4: SSD1963 adapter 2019-08-02 04:37:18 ARMMITE H7 V5.05.07: 480MHz support 2019-06-25 23:30:13 SPI3 on ARMMITE H7 problems 2019-06-16 16:07:13 Nodemite "48mini" + ARMMITE L4 firmware 2019-06-04 21:35:03 ARMMITE F4: programming the firmware 2019-04-26 21:52:06 ARMMITEH7 V5.05.06: MP3 playback 2019-04-25 04:08:46 ARMMITE vs MicroPython performance 2019-04-15 22:31:56 Attempt to port ARMMITE mmBasic to F446RE 2019-04-06 05:21:24 ARMMITE roadmap and other Micromites 2019-04-01 23:57:56 Random ellipses: MMX or ARMMITE H7 2019-03-22 01:28:24 ARMMITE L4: 5.05.09 with DOCUMENTATION! 2019-03-20 23:05:46 ARMMITE H7: V5.05.04, Turtle graphics 2019-03-15 05:58:45 ARMMITE L4 Series Pinouts 2019-03-07 15:11:44 Just ordered: ARMMITE L4 will support 2019-02-23 00:09:59 BLIT on ARMMITE H7 - flashing 2019-02-19 19:09:52 Getting started with STM32L476 ARMMITE 2019-02-15 15:06:53 ARMMITE L4: 5.05.07, Release candidate 2019-02-12 04:56:20 ARMMITE L4: MM2 compatible PCB 2019-02-10 06:07:37 ARMMITE Status 2019-02-05 12:22:12 ARMMITE F7: One off version 2019-02-03 23:54:41 ARMMITE L4: Experiments with low power 2019-01-26 19:32:45 ARMMITE L4: 5.05.05: Arcs & displays 2019-01-10 20:56:46 ARMMITE H7: V5.05.03, Arcs and curves 2019-01-10 19:49:07 Check your ECG with the ARMMITE H7 2019-01-10 04:01:23 ARMMITE L4: 5.05.04 STM32L476 support 2019-01-03 04:28:11 ARMMITE H7: V5.05.02: 1.5MHz ADC 2018-12-19 04:56:02 ARMMITE L4 PCB design for comment 2018-12-15 21:23:44 ARMMITE L4: V5.05.02 - 64 pin support 2018-12-06 08:57:11 Or "Armmite L4" in the subject and "All" selected. Edited 2020-10-27 04:10 by lizby PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
||||
| lew247 Guru Joined: 23/12/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1702 |
The motors will be these apparently they'll run direct from a 5V pin on a pic but I don't intend to do that. The end result will be a dial about 11 inches diameter, appx 280mm with the main dial showing outdoor temp at the moment and other dials showing indoor temp, min/max temp and chance of precipitation and connect to my weather station to easily see the weather at a distance I'll probably have a dual shaft one with min and max temp as one of the dials, main dial will be outside temp, also one showing indoor temp not decided yet tbh I have no knowledge whatsoever about stepper motors at all at the moment so it will be a learning curve The motors I chose are from a car dashboard and have limit stops that limits shaft rotation to 315 degrees I don't need 360° for this application so they are ideal more information about the stepper including suitable driver here Just an idea I'm thinking about at the moment but I found a source of the steppers and I've ordered some and the needles will stay in place and be updated at set periods between 1 and 15 mins, not decided yet Data will be received by IR I think from a transmitter on my Pi I have displaying the weather data but I could include an esp8266 or similar but I think IR will use less current than an esp using wifi Edited 2020-10-27 05:39 by lew247 |
||||
| circuit Senior Member  Joined: 10/01/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 277 |
The lowest energy PICs that I use that are programmable in BASIC are the 8-bit PICAXE processor range. The clock speed can be varied dynamically, the chip can sleep at incredibly low consumption levels and the authoring software is free. Very versatile, nowhere as powerful as the 32-bit Micromite or Armmite, but probably would suit your purpose very well indeed. PICAXE PICs are available in 8, 14, 20, 28 and 40 pin versions depending upon your requirements; both through-pin and surface mount versions are available. All are based upon Microchip PICs. I find that PICAXE is very effective and the derivation of BASIC is pretty close to that of Micromite. I use both Micromite and PICAXE according to the complexity of the application. See here: https://picaxe.com/ |
||||
NPHighview Senior Member Joined: 02/09/2020 Location: United StatesPosts: 203 |
As much as I am loving the mmBasic ecosystem, I can't help but recommend that you look at the ATtiny85 - a <$2 8-pin IC that can be programmed with the Arduino IDE. Here's an Instructable on driving steppers with an ATtiny85. Live in the Future. It's Just Starting Now! |
||||
| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5089 |
hi lew247, What a great idea. I never knew these steppers even existed. Good thing about the forum !!! About the microcontroller: If you want to go infra red, I suggest a PICAXE. It has the SONY 12 bit protocol build in (being it fixed to device ID 1 (TV remote) but 127 key options). The PICAXE can go into sleep, consuming very little power. The stepper motors (if you use full steps, and not microstepping) will hold position without energy. The IR sensor however draws constant current. You will have to "time slice" that. The same IR protocol is supported in MMbasic, so you can use IR to communicate between Micromite/Maximite and PICAXE. i.e. if you update every 1 minute, power the IR sensor after 59seconds, take the message, and then switch the sensor off...then go to sleep. One thing to look into is the weight (inertion mass) of the hands of your indicators. If this is for car application the hands are typically short (2 inch?) so any weight in a 11"/2=5 inch may be critical, and exceed the force the motor can supply. Regards, Volhout P.S. the basic for PICAXE is VERY simple, integer only, no string handling (you don't need that in this case). This project complexity is very do-able in these microcontrollers (if you use a 18M2 you can even multitask). Edited 2020-10-27 20:10 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
||||
| lew247 Guru Joined: 23/12/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1702 |
Thanks for all the suggestions so far, they have been great I've been trying to find needles for the motors but I can't find any suppliers at all The only thing I can find is clock hands which isn't what I want Anyone know what they are actually called? if I search for needles it comes up with sewing needles, gauge needles and it comes up with car gauge needles which are way too small something like the needles on this  I'm not going to use IR, I'll use a wireless module as it can be turned on at set periods and turned off after doing a valid reading then the micro can go to sleep for another 5 mins or so Edited 2020-10-27 21:24 by lew247 |
||||
| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5089 |
Maybe buy 3 sets of these, and only use the seconds hand hands PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
||||
 Print this page |
 |
The Back Shed's forum code is written, and hosted, in Australia. | © JAQ Software 2025 |
