Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #04672
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Richard Piotter richfile@rconnect.com
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 1999 11:31:21 -0500
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Non-beam: a Mac AVR programmer
WOOO-HOOO!!! (:
What port do you output the data on, and what type of
programmer/adaptores do you use on the Mac?
Ben Hitchcock wrote:
>
> To all mac users:
>
> I have been starting to get into microprocessors, and recently bought a
> couple of them. Unfortunately, there was no way possible to program them on
> my iMac, even running a plethora of PC programs under RealPC.
>
> So, I got the source code for one of those PC programs, and ported it over
> to the mac.
>
> If anyone's interested in getting into AT90S1200's (A pretty cool uP with
> internal EEPROM so your robot can 'remember' where walls are when the power
> cuts out) then check out
>
> http://wollongong.apana.org.au/~ben/macavrpa/macavrpa.html
>
> I don't really think that using a microprocessor is non-beam. For example,
> I could program the chip to have 3 virtual inverters, 2 AND gates, and 1
> NAND gate on it - it sure cuts down on on the chip count. The AT90S1200 has
> 20 pins in the same size package as we're all used to - it looks like a
> longer version of a 74HC245. And to get it to run, you need a power supply,
> a crystal, and two caps. That's it!
>
> I'm starting to think that using a microprocessor doesn't have to be
> non-BEAM because it's the mindset, not the method, that makes BEAM so
> successful. For example, if you program the robot to use a couple of
> different 'rules' that operate in parallel (Such as the light seeking except
> when a touch sensor is triggered) instead of the traditional uP serial
> instructions (go forward, if you hit a wall then reverse, then turn, then go
> forward again). You might even have a uP 'brain' that tells the BEAM body
> what it would like to see happen, but the BEAM body could override the uP
> when it needed to. Just an idea.
>
> Anyway, I just thought I'd let people know about it. I know all too well
> about the multitudes of PC software out there for electronics, and the vast
> chasm where the mac equivalents should be. Perhaps if enough of us start
> doing things like this, we might be able to start to fill that void.
>
> Ben Hitchcock
--
Richard Piotter
richfile@rconnect.com
The Richfiles Robotics & TI web page:
http://richfiles.calc.org
For the BEAM Robotics list:
BEAM Robotics Tek FAQ
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/bushbo/beam/FAQ.html
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