Dennis' Popular Hobby Controller Comparisons

Since the question "I'm new and I wonder what robot controller is best to use..." seems to come up fairly often I decided to put this up as a FAQ. I've used all of these controllers and really wrung some of them out. I'm not saying I'm not biased, everyone is biased in some way, this is just my opinion - hopefully it is useful to you.

The Controller
The comments

Parallax Stamp

Arrick Robotics

HVW Technology

Peter Anderson

Just about everyone

 

Pros:

  • Very solid, very stable, very easy to use.
  • VAST amount of support and example code and user code base.
  • Very simple access to complex digital I/O
  • Very good support and documentation, including books written for it.
  • As I see it, the most reliable product out there for beginners.
  • Newer versions have good I2C and Dallas 1-Wire support as well polled events.

Cons:

  • Can be expensive for the hobbyist ($49-$99 + devel board cost)
  • Not multitasking
  • Limited hardware I/O (no A2D or PWM)

 

68HC11

SRS

Mr. Robot

New Micros

Handyboard

Pros:

  • Lots of software examples in C and Basic (SRS Speciality)
  • Very flexible, many languages (most freeware) available
  • Many good hardware I/O options (A2D, PWM, Counters, etc.)
  • Several good books written, Karl Lunt and the MIT folks, Jones and Flynn especially
  • Wide range of costs for boards and wide availability of kits and full products
  • Lots of user group support.

Cons:

  • Need LOTS of hardware knowledge to use.
  • Often need to build the board or expansion for a board.
  • Can be more expensive, $50-$300 depending on the board.
  • Not as easy to use as the Stamp and documentation usually not as clear as a Stamp

BasicX

Peter Anderson

 

Pros:

  • Full Multitasking capability
  • M$ Visual Basic "look alike" to program
  • Lots of good hardware I/O options (A2D, PWM, SPI, I2C)
  • Newer product on very fast AVR processors
  • Very good networking capabilities

Cons:

  • Kind of Expensive? $39-$49 for chips, boards are extra
  • Compiler not forgiving of poor programming habits.
  • M$ Visual Basic "look alike" to program
  • Not as easy to use as the Stamp, documentation is not as easy as the Stamp

OOPic

Acroname

BG Micro

Pros:

  • Nifty OO virtual circuit design for event programming
  • Can use VB, C or Java "like" syntax
  • Pretty inexpensive ($39 for a board)
  • Multitasking in Virtual Circuits
  • Good I2C networking and lots of hardware I/O (A2D, PWM, servos, etc.)
  • Very flexible

Cons:

  • Compiler is not perfect, new versions coming out.
  • Documentation is not for the faint of heart/new hobbyist
  • Not very fast code execution speed (VCs are fast though)

Atmel AVR chips

Dontronics

BASCOM/AVR

CodeVision/AVR

Futurlec

Pros:

  • FAST, fastest of all listed here
  • Many inexpensive boards and kits
  • Two very good free/cheap compilers BASCOM/AVR and CodeVision/AVR
  • Good hardware I/O support (A2D, PWM, servo, serial I2C, SPI, etc.)

Cons:

  • Documentation is not simple for the new hobbyist
  • Parts can be hard to find.
  • Usually need to assemble your own boards
  • Pretty new stuff, not much code examples out there


CAVEAT EMPTOR: I've used these and like them all in one way or another. Your Mileage may vary (YMMV). I'm into hardware and have been a programmer for over a decade, I'm jaded in some ways. I've left out the neato Java JRE's for the HC11, C, C++, Forth and other compilers, the variety is endless. What I see as a weakness others may not, and Vice versa. I recommend that you check out their respective websites for more data. I've also left out the PIC options, they simply require a great deal of hardware knowledge to use well and have an infinite variety of compilers, assemblers and programmers available at every price you can imagine. Enjoy,

Dennis (DLC)