Need help figuring out which xmos chip(s) I need
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:20 pm
Hey everyone, I have no experience with micro-controllers, processors etc. I have a ton of project ideas that could really benefit from electronic control but I am unsure of where to start. I'm not sure what the limitations are of an XMOS chip or how many projects could be handled by a single chip. I'm on a pretty tight budget so any suggestions that save money are welcome. Essentially so far I am envisioning each project being created with it's own controller, possibly combining very similar projects onto one. Then I would like a main controller to interface all of them. This seems a bit similar to one of the layouts I saw here where an L1 was used for the normal functions and an L2 was added for connectivity and interfacing with other devices.
All of these projects are centered around a van that I am converting into a small camper. For example, one project is to use stepper motors to roll up and down shades over the back windows. Another would be the task of controlling a water pump to control the water flow from a small faucet. I would also like to interface the vehicle alarm, power windows, locks, radio, etc. There would be an interface panel inside the van but I would also like to create a wireless handheld device that could control everything like the panel inside the van.
Another project that is fairly important is the power control. I have six deep cycle batteries that I need to be able to recharge. The plan is to build a generator from a small motor and a vehicle alternator. I would like to be able to control the speed of the motor and adjust the voltage and current coming out of the alternator. This would also include monitoring the temperature, voltage, and current of each battery and logging this data. Down the road I would like to add 2-3 solar panels which will need a charge controller also. I would like to mimic an MPPT style charge controller for efficiency.
Some other projects that are less important would be a DC-DC power supply for a desktop computer so that I'm not converting 12DC to fake 120AC then into a standard power supply. Also I would like to build a small table top CNC machine.
Obviously this is a decent list and is biting off more than I could chew right now. The point of illustrating these different projects is to show how much they can vary and how simple or involved they can be. I realize that it is probably unlikely that one chip or even just a few will suffice. I was thinking of designing around the single core XMOS chip with the largest number of I/O's. In the end I want a nice user interface to control all of these things which leads me to think that I might need to implement a micro processor like an ARM to handle the interfacing between all sub-systems, GUI, and interfacing with the wireless controller.
So where do you guys think I should start? What things will dictate how much can be handled by one XMOS single core chip?
I have a general priority list of which projects should be developed first but I don't want to develop something that is hard to integrate with future systems. Right now the more important project would be the battery charge controller.
All of these projects are centered around a van that I am converting into a small camper. For example, one project is to use stepper motors to roll up and down shades over the back windows. Another would be the task of controlling a water pump to control the water flow from a small faucet. I would also like to interface the vehicle alarm, power windows, locks, radio, etc. There would be an interface panel inside the van but I would also like to create a wireless handheld device that could control everything like the panel inside the van.
Another project that is fairly important is the power control. I have six deep cycle batteries that I need to be able to recharge. The plan is to build a generator from a small motor and a vehicle alternator. I would like to be able to control the speed of the motor and adjust the voltage and current coming out of the alternator. This would also include monitoring the temperature, voltage, and current of each battery and logging this data. Down the road I would like to add 2-3 solar panels which will need a charge controller also. I would like to mimic an MPPT style charge controller for efficiency.
Some other projects that are less important would be a DC-DC power supply for a desktop computer so that I'm not converting 12DC to fake 120AC then into a standard power supply. Also I would like to build a small table top CNC machine.
Obviously this is a decent list and is biting off more than I could chew right now. The point of illustrating these different projects is to show how much they can vary and how simple or involved they can be. I realize that it is probably unlikely that one chip or even just a few will suffice. I was thinking of designing around the single core XMOS chip with the largest number of I/O's. In the end I want a nice user interface to control all of these things which leads me to think that I might need to implement a micro processor like an ARM to handle the interfacing between all sub-systems, GUI, and interfacing with the wireless controller.
So where do you guys think I should start? What things will dictate how much can be handled by one XMOS single core chip?
I have a general priority list of which projects should be developed first but I don't want to develop something that is hard to integrate with future systems. Right now the more important project would be the battery charge controller.