Thread: Pic vs Picaxe vs ???

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I think I'm ready to get into controllers for my props but I'm not sure what to use. I think I'd rather go for the basic microcontroller over the the more expensive all-in-one units, but which one? What do you all recommend? Are certain chips better for certain types of things?

My needs are pretty basic - the ability to control a servo or three, maybe some lights or a soundboard.

Cost is a factor - usually I prefer to save some money and put in a bit more effort, although if the price is fairly close and the convenience is worth it I'll pay the extra.

I do have at least one desktop (relatively modern) with a serial port so that is an option for programming.

I have programming experience in a wide variety of languages (including C) so getting an 'easier' language isn't a priority.

I had 1 semester of digital circuits in college so I do have a somewhat decent understanding of circuitry and such, but there are gaps in my knowledge (although this forum has been filling in some of those gaps).

I like to figure things out but I don't want to spend hours trying to find a basic command so a decent reference available online would be nice.

I've been leaning towards Picaxe but only because I've stumbled across some nice how-tos for using it, but would the Pic give me more flexibility? I've also seen a bit on the Arduino but it seems to be more expensive. Are there any other options I haven't seen?

Any guidance, links to references/comparisons/etc would all be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

The base model Arduino can be expensive, however the mini and surface mount versions sold on sparkfun.com are less then $15. There is now far more community support for Arduino. A PIC can be dirt cheap, but you will be investing more money into making a pcb for it, and more time programming it.

Another flow cost option is the Ti launchpad system, their dev boards are less then $5!

I've got some of each I've collected over the years...EFX Prop-2, Arduinos and Picaxe boards. The advantage to any of these is that you get a more sophisticated development environment with good forums and good support, and that takes care of a lot of the basics. The EFX forums are stellar, the Picaxe community is full of smart helpful people, and there is a ton of stuff for Arduino. The thing with Arduino is that it's scattered everywhere on the web, so tracking down an answer to a specific problem can sometimes be difficult.

This year I've got all three types running in the haunt, because it got bigger and my whole collection is getting put to use. That's a total of 9 prop controllers plus a Cowlacious talking skull. Most prop controllers have a custom-built daughterboard I made for them as well. Good thing I started early!

As ZapWizard said, you'll spend your time programming the board and building the prop, not setting up the PIC and dealing with all the definitions of pins, etc. I watched a friend of mine struggle with that on a simple project, there is a LOT more work with a regular PIC chip.

Any of these (EFX, Arduino, Picaxe) will work well. The typical prop uses a PIR/motion sensor, a relay or two to trigger motors, or maybe a servo to run, and an mp3 module to play back sounds. This means you don't need a chip with lots of legs - an 8 pin chip will be fine.

If you're price sensitive and can solder, you can get the Picaxe chips from Sparkfun. There are good tutorials here and on the Garage of Evil. The smallest Picaxe 8-pin chip can handle this so your cost for it and the mini board for it is about $7.00. Make sure to look at the VLC Controller, which is the smallest Picaxe on its prototyping board set up to control servos and other stuff: http://www.ipprofessional.com.au/VLC...Controller.pdf Very easy to alter the design to deal with specific situations.

At this point it's getting tight so pick one or two projects, don't make them too ambitious, and buy the stuff for them! Ask here for help, there's plenty of people who can answer questions.

Nebulocity - Well, I hate to do this, but I am a PIC guy and I can go from an idea to a final board in-hand in a matter of hours. I use PICBasic Pro and LOVE it! It is very straight forward and there is lots of help on their forum. I know you were looking for a straight-forward answer, but I just had to throw my hat into the ring. It really boils down to what you are most comfortable with... With PICs, once you get all the up-front stuff in place, it is very cheap from then on. I design a couple hundred boards a year, so this works out great for me... HTH... Jeff

I have never used the PICAXE so I cannot speak about that product line but I am very familiar with PICs - and I would not suggest that as your first step. If you don't have any experience working with microcontrollers it could be confusing and possibly overwhelming. Certainly a PIC will give you more flexibility and once you get going the sky is the limit - but their products come from a single source and the PIC 'community' is not so large and getting up that learning curve could be painful without some help. If you already have experience programming in C then I highly recommend starting with one of the Arduino boards. They are relatively easy to understand, there is a HUGE amount of supporting material available especially for beginners and the starting boards like the UNO are only about $30 and you don't need a separate programmer/debugger like you will with the PIC products. For someone starting out you will almost always be able to find Arduino programs that have already been developed to do what you want. When you download the Arduino programming system it already comes with a huge pile of examples that can walk you through the basic functions like blinking an LED, moving a servo motor and even communicating with a PC. I think the PIC products are awesome and use them every day - but my opinion is that you should go learn on something like the Arduino and if you can understand the concepts and actually enjoy doing that kind of thing then take the next step and invest in a PIC programmer and a demo board and you will be off and running!

You certainly have more experience in programming and electronics than I did when I got started as I could barely solder 2 wires together last year, but I really like the Picaxe. It's cheap, the programmer is free, the Picaxe forum is very helpful and the programming language is easy to learn in comparison to others.
You can check out some of my threads for controllers I've designed to run my haunt. I use it for everything from controlling a micro servo to make my fish move, run blinking bat eyes for our "bat room", control my audio/servo driver for my talking skulls to running multiple props with my complete scene controllers.
The skies the limit with what you can do and the price is right.

Thanks for all the responses! And I don't mind if there's conflicting advice, I really don't expect everyone to agree. After reading through I'm still leaning towards the Picaxe but I'll look up the Ti and EFX stuff as well, I hadn't heard of them before. Arduinos do look nice but 'only $30' is still $30 and I'm cheap Actually, I'll probably just order a couple of Picaxes to get started, I only have a couple of simple projects in mind for this Halloween but the big day is coming up fast. Once I get those going and have a better idea of what to do I'll give the other chips a closer look (and go mad getting ready for next year).

Too bad SparkFun doesn't have a local store, I work in Boulder...

I order my Picaxe parts from http://www.phanderson.com/picaxe/index.html
Good prices, reasonable shipping charge, no minimum order, good selection and quick delivery. Hard to ask for anything more.