Reviving a thread three months later... A lot has happened in the Arduino world in three months and there are no=20 signs of slowing down. The chipKit Max 32 board is on the scene with support in the IDE. A $50=20 price tag seems a bit much until the board is examined. The tiny work is=20 well beyond my skills. Getting started with the PIC 32 amounts to=20 plugging the board into a USB port, start the IDE (no install needed, it=20 simply runs from an EXE file), select the assigned com port, select the=20 board in the IDE, and start programming in c. Blink a led and then attach more hardware as you like to the header=20 strips. It is running. The limitations of the form factor are a factor=20 and the matter of the 3.3 volt digital interface are new to me, but that=20 is the chip, not the environment. Everything you can reach on the chip=20 is done with Sip & Dip connections. I have not had as much time to work with it as I would like but it looks=20 like a winner to me. The special needs & resources with different=20 micros do make a certain amount of device selections but in general the=20 environment is a big leap forward in the learning experience. I hope someone brings up a PIC 18F module before I really need it... I think my next move is to put my environment on a thumb drive and my=20 project in a box that will fit in my laptop bag! I will back it up to my=20 web space... On 11/17/2011 6:10 PM, doug metzler wrote: > Several groups have gone off and built Arduino physical clones based > on other processors. There's an ARMduino, a clone that uses the .net > compact framework, I'm sure there are several PICduinos but the > massive failing, to my mind, is that each one requires their native > toolchain. Not one of them uses the Arduino user interface and not > one of them will compile and flash from within that interface. > > In this way these people just don't get it. It's not about the > hardware, it's about the integration. > > I looked at all of them but I won't touch any of them until I can fire > up the Arduino user interface, go to Tools.Board and select the board, > and compile and run on the new processor. > > DougM > > On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 2:13 PM, Jim Higgins wrote: >> Mr Moderator... Please add one more vote for a separate Arduino tag >> >> >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ& list archive >> View/change your membership options at >> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist >> --=20 John Ferrell W8CCW Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. - Will Rogers --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .