LB and small PCB-based computers

[neil]

I've become somewhat interested in the growth in recent years in small, one-pcb computing systems like Raspberry Pi etc etc. I know very little about them but they seem to be a very good solution to many control requirements I keep coming across like for instance, wind & solar power charge control.

Most seem to require one to learn a dialect of something fairly unfamiliar to me like C etc.

Are there any that are controllable directly using LB?

[Admin]

Well the kids are having a ball with these boards, new languages not withstanding. The best thing to do is get yourself an experimenters kit and have a play. It isn't that expensive to get started. We cant run Liberty directly on these boards. Perhaps on the Pi when Carl gets LB5 out. If you start with an Arduino we can talk to that. There are threads on the Hardware Interface board that discuss solutions. With an Arduino you can move servos, switch relays, run motors, in fact do everything the Arduino is normally capable of, driven by Liberty code. There are also stand alone boards like the Velleman Experimenters board that Liberty can talk to. Many boards come with a .dll file that allows Windows Serial port control, if they have that Liberty can drive them.

But start simply with an Arduino, they have a huge support community and in some situations you will want the Arduino to be wire free and autonomous so you will need to learn how it ticks.

[neil]

Just seen the code you posted in the hardware interface board in response to another member, it gave me some meaningful insight, thanks - as a beginner do you think purchasing an Arduino UNO R3 would be a good place to start diving in?

Main things I guess I want to do, are monitor widely fluctuating DC voltages and currents on several different channels simultaneously, make decisions via the Arduino sketch code and operate relays & power transistors according to the results in order to route those power streams appropriately.

I'm thinking LB looks ideal for creating a USB-enabled PC-based GUI that can read and display what's going on in the Arduino, and send serial commands to it to modify the sketch operation on the fly (change the setpoints in the sketch code, enable & disable sections of sketch code altogether via flags etc)

Much like in the way, in a former life, I used to run around plugging my telephone engineer's laptop into office phone systems to change the settings for the customer without powering the whole system down

[Chris Iverson]

The Arduino Uno R3 is definitely a great place to start. Maybe even a beginner's kit that comes with one.

If you're worried about accidentally breaking it(which is possible, though unlikely), you can always get one of the cheaper Arduino clones. There's tons of cheaper clones available because Arduino made the specs of their boards open and free; anyone can make Arduino clones and derivatives without license fees, as long as they don't use the Arduino name. The official ones are more expensive, but tend to be better quality, and the money goes to the Arduino team.

I'd recommend picking up an official one at some point, just to support the project.

[neil]

I fully hope to break several. It's the best way to learn!

[fretinator]

A good place to look at Arduino clones and other small computers like the PI is www.adafruit.com. Most of their smaller boards (Metro Express, Teensy, etc) work with the Arduino IDE. They have good tutorials for getting started with their boards also.

[BeeTrap]

Hello, I have several BASIC Stamps from Parallax that are programmed in PBASIC.  If you prefer BASIC then look there.  These microcontrollers are not as advanced as the Raspberry Pi or Arduinos, but there is a lot of support and hardware for them.

[Carl Gundel]

Apr 5, 2018 15:50:30 GMT -5 BeeTrap said:

Hello, I have several BASIC Stamps from Parallax that are programmed in PBASIC.  If you prefer BASIC then look there.  These microcontrollers are not as advanced as the Raspberry Pi or Arduinos, but there is a lot of support and hardware for them.

Yes, those are neat.  We are about to do a promotional giveaway featuring a BASIC Stamp.