4 ms·

Some STM32 chips can go below $0.50 (?). Not chips like in the article, though. Quick Digikey search came up with $0.83 for STM32L011F4U6TR (32 MHz Cortex M0+,

Some STM32 chips can go below $0.50 (?). Not chips like in the article, though. Quick Digikey search came up with $0.83 for STM32L011F4U6TR (32 MHz Cortex M0+, 16 kB program memory, 2 kB data RAM, 512 bytes EEPROM). Atmels ("Arduinos") were a bit cheaper in general, but then again it's hard to compare MCUs without application requirements in mind. Like if I needed 32 MHz Cortex M0+ class performance, comparable Atmels would be more expensive (I think). The conclusion is, either one can be cheaper. Depends on the requirements.

tyingq 7y ago
I'm assuming other needed BOM parts. You can do the Arduino thing with very few parts. A low end STM32 with KB of ram isn't going to boot Linux. The cost comparison of "STM32 that can reasonably run Linux" vs "Atmel that can reasonably run Arduino" is a chasm.
benj111 7y ago
I was talking dev boards not bare chips. If you're going with an MCU that's uses Linux because you don't want to learn another platform you aren't the demographic to be buying bare chips. Can you even get bare stm32s in hand solderable form factors???
- vardump 7y ago
  > If you're going with an MCU that's uses Linux because you don't want to learn another platform you aren't the demographic to be buying bare chips. Say, you have an existing prototype running on Linux and production ready (or nearly) hardware. Porting it to another platform might delay the launch and make you go out of business. Just playing devil's advocate.
  - tyingq 7y ago
    The other choice is SOC setups that are already proven with uCLinux, like the various chips used in home routers. Also minus MMU, etc, but with dev boards that already have reasonable amounts of RAM and proven field success. That's why I'm confused with this project. FriendlyARM, for example, already has cheap uCLinux proven boards with a bundled display, which seems to be what this is trying to be. I'm assuming this project was just a personal "itch to scratch", which is cool, but doesn't make it generally useful.
    - vardump 7y ago
      Yes, there are "better" choices, but perhaps not within product budget. Or perhaps missing some I/O feature, like high frequency ADC channels. Or any other parameter you need to optimize for. When you're making 100 000 gadgets, you really have to think about BoM. > ... uCLinux proven boards with a bundled display, which seems to be what this is trying to be. I don't see any reason to think that's what this projects tries to be? Just because some dev board happened to have a display? > I'm assuming this project was just a personal "itch to scratch", which is cool, but doesn't make it generally useful. Now, I don't see a need to personally use this project in production. But I don't either think it's outlandish if someone else does. In the end, nothing is generally useful in the embedded space, it's all just smaller and smaller niches.
  - benj111 7y ago
    The conversation is about STM32 v Arduino. Linux doesn't run on Arduino, except that guy who wrote an arm emulator, but I'll let you watch the video of it booting before you decide whether that's a valid exception.
- photojosh 7y ago
  > Can you even get bare stm32s in hand solderable form factors??? Yeah, TQFP is fine to hand solder. We're starting to use as we move on from AVRs. But no, definitely not running Linux.

tyingq 7y ago

I'm assuming other needed BOM parts. You can do the Arduino thing with very few parts. A low end STM32 with KB of ram isn't going to boot Linux. The cost comparison of "STM32 that can reasonably run Linux" vs "Atmel that can reasonably run Arduino" is a chasm.

benj111 7y ago

I was talking dev boards not bare chips. If you're going with an MCU that's uses Linux because you don't want to learn another platform you aren't the demographic to be buying bare chips. Can you even get bare stm32s in hand solderable form factors???

vardump 7y ago
> If you're going with an MCU that's uses Linux because you don't want to learn another platform you aren't the demographic to be buying bare chips. Say, you have an existing prototype running on Linux and production ready (or nearly) hardware. Porting it to another platform might delay the launch and make you go out of business. Just playing devil's advocate.
- tyingq 7y ago
  The other choice is SOC setups that are already proven with uCLinux, like the various chips used in home routers. Also minus MMU, etc, but with dev boards that already have reasonable amounts of RAM and proven field success. That's why I'm confused with this project. FriendlyARM, for example, already has cheap uCLinux proven boards with a bundled display, which seems to be what this is trying to be. I'm assuming this project was just a personal "itch to scratch", which is cool, but doesn't make it generally useful.
  - vardump 7y ago
    Yes, there are "better" choices, but perhaps not within product budget. Or perhaps missing some I/O feature, like high frequency ADC channels. Or any other parameter you need to optimize for. When you're making 100 000 gadgets, you really have to think about BoM. > ... uCLinux proven boards with a bundled display, which seems to be what this is trying to be. I don't see any reason to think that's what this projects tries to be? Just because some dev board happened to have a display? > I'm assuming this project was just a personal "itch to scratch", which is cool, but doesn't make it generally useful. Now, I don't see a need to personally use this project in production. But I don't either think it's outlandish if someone else does. In the end, nothing is generally useful in the embedded space, it's all just smaller and smaller niches.
- benj111 7y ago
  The conversation is about STM32 v Arduino. Linux doesn't run on Arduino, except that guy who wrote an arm emulator, but I'll let you watch the video of it booting before you decide whether that's a valid exception.
photojosh 7y ago
> Can you even get bare stm32s in hand solderable form factors??? Yeah, TQFP is fine to hand solder. We're starting to use as we move on from AVRs. But no, definitely not running Linux.