Society of Robots - Robot Forum
Software => Software => Topic started by: vidam on February 28, 2008, 06:01:55 PM
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Are there advantages to program your micro-controller via UART vs. the AVRISP Programmer?
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via UART you need a bootloader. (less space for programs, has to be initially programmed)
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To program it with the uart, you are likely to need to pre - program it properly with a boot loader anyway.
Once a bootloader is installed, the advantages are quite clear, first off you can use usb to serial adapters to make it easier to use on new computers. You can also use bluetooth to serial. You can use easy radio modules and most other radio modules to program with. So realistically you can program your robot wirelessly if you have the correct hardwares meaning that it is a lot easier. When I have a new program to load onto any of my robots, I usually have to load it on, disconnect it to test then reconnect it download modified code, disconnect it, test it, reconnect it, download modified code, diconnect it, test it, etc... etc.. It is a lot easier if you dont have to physically connect you robot to download new code. ps. i learned my lesson and invested in some radio modules
The downside is losing a bit of programming space for the bootloader to reside in
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Here is my latest related issue/questions posted here: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=3583.0
I think this tutorial might be the answer I needed for setting up UART with Robostix in standalone mode: http://www.societyofrobots.com/bootloader_50_robot.shtml
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Bootloaders are slower than programmers.
If you plan to do a lot of code tweaking, a programmer makes it much faster.
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my programmer can burn the program in a matter of seconds but in case of a bootloader it will take much more time
aand also the program size cant be high
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So what about a JTAG programmer? Why does it cost so much and how is it better than avrisp or uart?
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JTAG has usefulness in debugging . . . just google it up for specific details.