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Sweet deal to add DSP


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#1 JonnyBoats

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Posted 23 March 2011 - 01:32 AM

As we all know, different microprocessors have various strengths and weaknesses. I find that often the best solution is to use multiple processors linked together with each doing what it is best at.

For doing high speed digital signal processing, or any other real-time control loops for that matter, an intreprited (sp?) language like the .Net micro framework may not be ideal.

TI is offering a very sweet deal on their Piccolo ControlStick "TMS320C2000™ 32-bit Real-time MCU" for only $11, and that includes free shipping.

See: http://e2e.ti.com/su...73/t/90435.aspx

I ordered one of these and it is a microprocessor on a small board that plugs into a USB port. It can do extremely fast DAC & ADC on multiple channels I2C, SPI, CANbus etc. Truly a lot of power for only $11. I have not interfaced it to my Netduino yet, but it shouldn't be any harder than interfacing any other I2C device.

TI provides a full set of free tools to program the chip, but they are not nearly as Windows friendly as Visual Studio and the .NET micro-framework. TI's tooling is much closer to what the other hardware vendors (Freescale for example) do to support their chips.

To give you an idea, it took me two nights to get a program running to blink the LED. You have to deal with such issues as disabling the on-board watchdog timer while debugging for example. By contrast I had my Netduino running in less than 1/2 hour (much less in fact), but then again I already had Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate on my PC before getting the Netduino.

If you like programming in C# I seriously doubt you would prefer TI's environment. If on the other hand you would like to try a second microcontroller optimized for real-time and digital signal processing I doubt you will find anything this powerful for anywhere close to the $11 price delivered. Heck if you let out the magic smoke of get frustrated with it you are not out much ;-)

#2 Mario Vernari

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Posted 23 March 2011 - 05:19 AM

I have not clear what kind of Piccolo are you ordered for $11. When I have learned on DSPs, I knew the fixed-point ones are *very* hard to program, lot of problems. Have you bought the floating-point one? However, a DSP is a signal-processing specialized chip, while Netduino is a "do-whatever-you-want-in-minutes" specialized board. Jonny is right: using a DSP you need almost a degree, while a N could be programmed even to a child. Why cannot be find a right compromise? I really think this is a great gap on a similar device. Cheers
Biggest fault of Netduino? It runs by electricity.

#3 JonnyBoats

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Posted 23 March 2011 - 10:07 AM

I have not clear what kind of Piccolo are you ordered for $11. When I have learned on DSPs, I knew the fixed-point ones are *very* hard to program, lot of problems. Have you bought the floating-point one?

However, a DSP is a signal-processing specialized chip, while Netduino is a "do-whatever-you-want-in-minutes" specialized board.
Jonny is right: using a DSP you need almost a degree, while a N could be programmed even to a child.
Why cannot be find a right compromise?
I really think this is a great gap on a similar device.
Cheers


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The F28069 Piccolo Controlstick has a 32 bit processor with floating point, so it is probably far more powerful than your fixed point DSP. Here is one bloggers take: http://www.eejournal.../news/20110111/

As you say, DSPs and signal processing in general are not so simple that even a child can do it.

#4 JayEl

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Posted 24 March 2011 - 02:27 AM

I tried to order one today, but the promotional code had expired. It does look like it was a sweet deal, though!

#5 JonnyBoats

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 01:10 AM

I tried to order one today, but the promotional code had expired. It does look like it was a sweet deal, though!


There are actually a couple of different codes out there, try:

PiccoloCS

&

Piccolo11


#6 JayEl

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Posted 26 March 2011 - 02:22 AM

There are actually a couple of different codes out there, try:

PiccoloCS

&

Piccolo11


The PiccoloCS code worked! Thanks a lot!

#7 JonnyBoats

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Posted 26 March 2011 - 03:02 AM

The PiccoloCS code worked! Thanks a lot!


Great! You are most welcome. I believe you will find that everyone here on the Forums is very helpful.

Once you get your Piccolo running you will have to let us know how you use it with your Netduino.

#8 David Moisan

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Posted 06 May 2011 - 01:27 AM

I got the Piccolo board before I got my Netduino and it's a fantastic chip. It's designed for control apps; I had thought about using mine as an RF DSP device (the core component of an SDR) but it doesn't seem made for that use. I'd love to see something in that price range for RF experimentation.




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