Microcontroller - PIC or Arduino/AVR?

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1

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

FSF member #9429
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mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

2

For me it an AVR would be the default choice. I started using PICs in
the early 2000s with MPLAB, but when AVRs came along with avr-gcc and
programming tools that worked under Linux I switched to those. The PIC
situation might have improved since then, but I haven’t found any
reason to go back to them yet.On 26 October 2015 at 20:58, Michael Dorrington michael.dorrington@member.fsf.org wrote:

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

–
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mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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3

I’d choose the microcontroller that best suited the project (in my
opinion). That is normally arrived at by setting some design criterion and
then working things out.

The criterion usually is made up of the following:

Time - How much time will this take if I use a microcontroller I’m familiar
with over one I’d have to learn…

Cost - What is the overall budget and can I justify spending more money on
a known microcontroller over something cheaper

Functionality - Does the microcontroller have the functionality required or
will I need to add extra circuitry to achieve the required result.

Ease of use and assistance - How hard is it to develop with the
microcontroller and is there a large community associated with it that can
provide assistance when needed.

To be frank, there is no single correct microcontroller for every project
and like there is no single tool that’s perfect for every job. Pic and
arduino microcontrollers have their strengths and weaknesses just like
everything else. Choosing which micro to use comes down to the skill of the
engineer when assessing the requirements of the project.

Cheers

AlexOn Mon, 26 Oct 2015 8:58 pm Michael Dorrington < michael.dorrington@member.fsf.org> wrote:

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

–
FSF member #9429
http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=9429
http://www.fsf.org/about
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide
mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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4

Pics have improved considerably and often have slightly better electrical
characteristics over avrs but the community behind avrs is huge and because
of that and a lack of free compilers and open source stuff in the beginning
avrs have slightly got the edge…both are good though and it depends on
what you are trying to achieve that should drive the decision…

AlexOn Mon, 26 Oct 2015 9:49 pm Alexander Lang alexanderlang1980@gmail.com wrote:

I’d choose the microcontroller that best suited the project (in my
opinion). That is normally arrived at by setting some design criterion and
then working things out.

The criterion usually is made up of the following:

Time - How much time will this take if I use a microcontroller I’m
familiar with over one I’d have to learn…

Cost - What is the overall budget and can I justify spending more money on
a known microcontroller over something cheaper

Functionality - Does the microcontroller have the functionality required
or will I need to add extra circuitry to achieve the required result.

Ease of use and assistance - How hard is it to develop with the
microcontroller and is there a large community associated with it that can
provide assistance when needed.

To be frank, there is no single correct microcontroller for every project
and like there is no single tool that’s perfect for every job. Pic and
arduino microcontrollers have their strengths and weaknesses just like
everything else. Choosing which micro to use comes down to the skill of the
engineer when assessing the requirements of the project.

Cheers

Alex

On Mon, 26 Oct 2015 8:58 pm Michael Dorrington < michael.dorrington@member.fsf.org> wrote:

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

–
FSF member #9429
http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=9429
http://www.fsf.org/about
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide
mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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5

You forgot Cortex-Mx ARM devices.

I would put the answer into several parts:

Firstly, there are now PIC devices that are easier to interface to USB.
They have inbuilt oscillator, so you need about three caps to make them
work (I have built a veroboard PIC16F1459 which happily talks to a USB
connector). So the first criteria is which peripherals do you want/ease of
construction.

The software state is that the PIC still really need the MPLab IDE (which
does work under Linux) but it isn’t something I really like. The AVR gcc
port installs nicely and avr-gcc seems to work out of the box so you can
just write makefiles if you need.On 26 October 2015 at 20:58, Michael Dorrington < michael.dorrington@member.fsf.org> wrote:

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

–
FSF member #9429
http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=9429
http://www.fsf.org/about
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide
mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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Ben Dooks, http://www.fluff.org/ben/ bjdooks@googlemail.com

6

Humph,

I thought my first email was nice and generic. I wasn’t going to mention
specifics until Jim did and then I felt compelled to!

Arm Cortex MX devices are also coming along nicely particularly with the
mbed stuff. However I stand by my statement of it depends on what the
designer wants to achieve etc etc

AlexOn Tue, 27 Oct 2015 5:49 pm ‘Ben Dooks’ via Hackspace Manchester < hacman@googlegroups.com> wrote:

You forgot Cortex-Mx ARM devices.

I would put the answer into several parts:

Firstly, there are now PIC devices that are easier to interface to USB.
They have inbuilt oscillator, so you need about three caps to make them
work (I have built a veroboard PIC16F1459 which happily talks to a USB
connector). So the first criteria is which peripherals do you want/ease of
construction.

The software state is that the PIC still really need the MPLab IDE (which
does work under Linux) but it isn’t something I really like. The AVR gcc
port installs nicely and avr-gcc seems to work out of the box so you can
just write makefiles if you need.

On 26 October 2015 at 20:58, Michael Dorrington < michael.dorrington@member.fsf.org> wrote:

If you were doing a project that required a microcontroller would you
consider using a PIC or Arduino/AVR? Perhaps something else? If you
wouldn’t use a PIC normally then what situation would make you use a PIC?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

–
FSF member #9429
http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=9429
http://www.fsf.org/about
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide
mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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7

Arm Cortex MX devices are also coming along nicely particularly with the
mbed stuff. However I stand by my statement of it depends on what the
designer wants to achieve etc etc

Any idea what the current status of the open source mbed toolchain is?
Or do you still have to use that online IDE?

Alan Burlison

8

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.On 27 October 2015 at 18:29, Alan Burlison alan.burlison@gmail.com wrote:

On 27/10/2015 17:55, Alexander Lang wrote:

Arm Cortex MX devices are also coming along nicely particularly with the

mbed stuff. However I stand by my statement of it depends on what the
designer wants to achieve etc etc

Any idea what the current status of the open source mbed toolchain is? Or
do you still have to use that online IDE?

–
Alan Burlison

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9

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.

Shame, because the board itself is quite nice.

Alan Burlison

10

The Cortex M3 is awesome and coupled with build in USB and ethernet and
CANbus etc makes the Mbed LPC1768 one of the best development boards
about. Definitely a shame not being able to easily use it offline.On 27 October 2015 at 19:52, Alan Burlison alan.burlison@gmail.com wrote:

On 27/10/2015 18:32, Alexander Lang wrote:

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.

Shame, because the board itself is quite nice.

–
Alan Burlison

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11

You can program it directly, its just an ARM, mbed is just to make it easier

The Cortex M3 is awesome and coupled with build in USB and ethernet and
CANbus etc makes the Mbed LPC1768 one of the best development boards
about. Definitely a shame not being able to easily use it offline.On 27 October 2015 at 19:52, Alan Burlison alan.burlison@gmail.com wrote:

On 27/10/2015 18:32, Alexander Lang wrote:

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.

Shame, because the board itself is quite nice.

–
Alan Burlison

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12

Agreed but it’s the mbed libraries which make it usefulOn 27 October 2015 at 19:55, Kimball Johnson kimball@bowerham.net wrote:

You can program it directly, its just an ARM, mbed is just to make it
easier

On 27 Oct 2015, at 19:54, Alexander Lang alexanderlang1980@gmail.com wrote:

The Cortex M3 is awesome and coupled with build in USB and ethernet and
CANbus etc makes the Mbed LPC1768 one of the best development boards
about. Definitely a shame not being able to easily use it offline.

On 27 October 2015 at 19:52, Alan Burlison alan.burlison@gmail.com wrote:

On 27/10/2015 18:32, Alexander Lang wrote:

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.

Shame, because the board itself is quite nice.

–
Alan Burlison

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13

https://developer.mbed.org/handbook/Exporting-to-offline-toolchainsOn 27 October 2015 at 19:56, Alexander Lang alexanderlang1980@gmail.com wrote:

Agreed but it’s the mbed libraries which make it useful

On 27 October 2015 at 19:55, Kimball Johnson kimball@bowerham.net wrote:

You can program it directly, its just an ARM, mbed is just to make it
easier

On 27 Oct 2015, at 19:54, Alexander Lang alexanderlang1980@gmail.com wrote:

The Cortex M3 is awesome and coupled with build in USB and ethernet and
CANbus etc makes the Mbed LPC1768 one of the best development boards
about. Definitely a shame not being able to easily use it offline.

On 27 October 2015 at 19:52, Alan Burlison alan.burlison@gmail.com wrote:

On 27/10/2015 18:32, Alexander Lang wrote:

It can be used offline now…absolute ball ache to get working though.

Shame, because the board itself is quite nice.

–
Alan Burlison

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