On 12/16/05, Alexander Finch (sent by Nabble.com) wrote: > > I'm pretty new to the whole buying-my-own microcontroller and I'm not sure what > will be suitable for my application. So I'm looking for some ideas or pointers (or even > someone to yell "What the hell? You can't do *that*" ;) ) > > I've got a small C program prepared that does some image recognition. Naturally, > this is pretty intensive stuff, and I need a pretty meaty device in terms of processing > power. The other thing is that it needs to be able to buffer in the memory two images > that will be wored on - each a monochrome 300 by 300 bitmap, which fits nicely in > about 200kbits - which is significantly more that most devices I've seen (with only a > few hundred bytes). These images are delivered via the BT656 video interface, a > 8-bit serial communicator. The output ideally would be 16-bits parallel but I'd > settle for something serial if we're lacking pins. > > Lastly, what sort of device would I need to load my program on to such a device? > I'm guessing I'd get it from the microcontroller manufacturer? What other system constraints do you have? What physical size? How much power is available? Are you going to be doing this as a "one-of" project, or is this for a large production run? What is your budget? Could you do this with an old desktop PC? If you want go the microcontroller route, my first impulse would be an ARM chip, such as the Philips LPC2119, LPC2106, or LPC2138 (see the table at http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/products/microcontrollers/32bit/index.html) For a low-cost prototype/development system for this chip, see the futurlec ARM-STAMP boards (http://www.futurlec.com/ET-ARM_Stamp.shtml and http://www.futurlec.com/ET-ARM_Stamp_Board.shtml). You might also want to look at the Atmel MEGA AVR chips. http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=607#760 and check out www.avrfreaks.com for lots of user support info. If you need a lot of floating point processing, I'd look at a DSP. But I'm not familiar with those chips, so I can't really point you to anything specific. Bill -- Psst... Hey, you... Buddy... Want a kitten? straycatblues.petfinder.org -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist