Predictable Designs Podcast · 4 Jan 2023 · 18m
Host John Teel explains how to select the right microcontroller for electronic products, warning against mid-project changes and emphasizing the need for 'room to grow' in GPIO and performance. He categorizes microcontrollers into 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit families, detailing specific architectures like the 8051, PIC, AVR, MSP430, STM32, and ESP32. Teel compares their costs, peripherals, and development ecosystems, noting that 32-bit chips like the STM32 and ESP32 have become cost-competitive with 8-bit options while offering superior features.
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Hosts Alicia and Christopher White discuss listener questions regarding BASIC, C++ automatic destructors, and microcontroller selection. They detail the criteria for choosing microcontrollers, such as cost, power, and peripherals, and compare ARM Cortex-M processors with 8-bit architectures like PIC and Atmel. The conversation also covers programming paradigms, including object-oriented, functional, and procedural styles, and addresses ethical dilemmas in engineering.
Jay Carlson, an electrical engineering PhD student and embedded consultant, explains his methodology for comparing 21 microcontrollers priced under $1 at 100-unit quantities. He details the empirical testing of performance, power consumption, and development toolchains for architectures including AVR, PIC, ARM Cortex-M0, and 8051. Carlson highlights how flash prefetching and compiler quality significantly impact real-world performance, often contradicting datasheet specifications, and recommends specific debuggers like the J-Link and ST-Link for different use cases.
Jay Carlson, a PhD student and electrical engineer, explains his methodology for comparing 21 microcontrollers under $1, covering architecture, performance, and tooling. He details the significant impact of flash prefetching on execution speed and power, and critiques the poor compiler performance of Keil C51 compared to GCC. Carlson also evaluates various debuggers and IDEs, recommending the J-Link for ARM and criticizing Microchip's MPLAB and PIC toolchain.
Hosts Carl and Corey discuss the newly announced Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller, analyzing its performance metrics, instruction set architecture, and market positioning relative to the Cortex-M4 and application processors like the Raspberry Pi's ARM11. They compare STMicroelectronics' STM32F7 series, which implements the M7 core, against Microchip's PIC32MZ series, noting the latter's lower performance and significant silicon errata issues. The conversation highlights the blurring line between microcontrollers and microprocessors, with the M7 offering high performance suitable for complex IoT and embedded applications, though potentially at the cost of power efficiency compared to lower-end M0/M4 parts.
Andreas Eieland, who runs flash microcontroller product lines at Atmel, explains the origins of the AVR processor, its Harvard architecture, and why it became the foundation of the Arduino ecosystem. He details how Atmel’s strategy of providing cheap, easy-to-use silicon and supporting open-source communities like AVR Freaks drove organic adoption by makers and students. The conversation covers the technical trade-offs between 8-bit AVR and 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ architectures, focusing on power consumption, cost, and the transition from prototyping to production. Eieland also highlights Atmel’s recent SAM D20 Xplained Pro development kit and the company’s expansion into Wi-Fi connectivity to support IoT applications.
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