[Cialug] New Guy

[Nathan Stien]

Hello Mathew,

On 1/15/07, Matthew Nuzum <matthew.nuzum at canonical.com> wrote:
> My current project was to build a USB accelerometer for my brother's
> performance VW Bug (60HP!) but I realized that I was biting off more
> than I can chew, so I'm stepping back and starting out by building a
> general purpose USB platform that I can add the accelerometer to.

For a general purpose USB interface, I might recommend FTDI's MM232R
module.  It's a nice little easy module to interface to, as it has
simple 0.1" headers coming out of it and a USB type B jack built right
into it.  It has some extra lines which can be controlled in software
for general purpose I/O, even while you're using the RS-232 serial
interface. Best part is, the drivers are already in the mainline
kernel since 2.6.9.
http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/EvaluationKits/MM232R.htm

There is an open source library called libftdi for manipulating the
GPIO lines on USB modules from this company.  Implemented on top of
libusb.  http://www.intra2net.com/de/produkte/opensource/ftdi/

> I'm actually pumped, because in the last two weeks I've perfected my
> home-built circuit board etching process and am getting killer PCBs.

Congratulations; I have never once got a home etched board to come out
right.  My typical modus operandi is to just have a local (well, local
when I was in IL) board house produce a small prototype batch.  A lot
of the boards I have designed have needed very thin traces which I
could not imagine pulling off at home.

> I realize you're probably operating way above the hobby level, but would
> love to hear about your development tools and etc.

For PICs, I mainly use MPLAB to control my ICD2 in-circuit programmer.
 I don't use the IDE so much, except when I briefly did some dsPIC
development.  My most frequent clients demand I use a certain
corporate-approved IAR PIC18F C compiler.  This compiler only runs on
Windows, and it's just not practical to use WINE because they want the
development done with a particular laptop which they loan to me.

For ARM development, I just use ARM cross development builds of gcc
and the GNU binutils.  I have played around with a number of different
simulator packages, but I haven't found one I'm definitively fond of
yet.  Most were open source, although I did try Keil's Devstudio
clone.  It wasn't too bad, and some benchmarks put their compiler 30%
better on code size and speed than gcc for the ARM platform.  But it
is non-free and in the long run is IMHO doomed to improve at a slower
rate than the always-evolving gcc suite.

I also use arm-elf-gcc to compile Rockbox (http://rockbox.org), which
is a replacement firmware for many mp3 players, including most iPods
(my iPod video has two ARM9 cores).  It should be obvious to anyone
who's had a gadget with a clunky interface here why open firmware is
inherently superior on an mp3 player.  (And among other things, the
ability to play ogg vorbis and flac files...)  Though it's a very
configurable and customizable package, I still have a couple of minor
patches I always run against it to get it "just right".  It's a very
active and interesting project to follow.

- nps

--
"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying
to find easier ways to do something." - Robert A. Heinlein