Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: Ronin316 on September 02, 2013, 02:30:47 PM

Title: Novice needing help
Post by: Ronin316 on September 02, 2013, 02:30:47 PM
I was wondering what the better micro controller was for building an autonomous wheel based robot with a sizeable sensor pack. I've looked at Propeller and Ardruino. I've been told that bother have there pro's/Con's, so I thought I would ask here which one is preferred or if there is another one that I'm not aware of?
Title: Re: Novice needing help
Post by: jwatte on September 02, 2013, 03:05:58 PM
The preferred one is the one you feel more comfortable with, and that achieves your performance objectives.

Propeller performs well, but has much weaker resources on the web if you don't know the particulars of whatever you're trying to do.

Atmel AVR8 (Arduino Uno and friends) has a little less raw performance, but is a robust chip and there are tons of tutorials on the web for anything you'll want to do.

ARM 7 (Raspberry Pi) is another option, it has a lot of performance (for things like image processing etc) and some amount of digital I/O, but doesn't have as many timers/PWM/peripherals as the Arduino. Also, it is 3.3V (like the Arduino Due) instead of 5.0V (like the Arduino) for I/O.

Title: Re: Novice needing help
Post by: waltr on September 02, 2013, 04:23:49 PM
I agree with jwatt. I'd like to add that the R-Pi is not a good choice if the processor must do precision timing for things like PWM motor speed control or timing Sonar pulses. The R-Pi is goo for video and high level decisions.

If you are new to micro-controllers then the Arduino is a very good choice for all the reasons jwatt stated. It is surprising have much a simple processor like used in the Arduino can do.

I use PIC processors but since I have used these for many years I am familiar with hoq they work and how to write code for them.
Title: Re: Novice needing help
Post by: Ronin316 on September 06, 2013, 06:46:46 PM
Thank you guys I really appreciate your inpute. I think I will give the Arduino a try for my first attempt.