#2111

[@TheOwlman]

As an embedded systems engineer I used a particularly nice Z80 variant made originally by Hitachi, the HD64180. It put a lot of the support functions onto the chip so it had a clocked serial port, multiple async serial ports (though we often ended up with a couple of SCN26xx chips, either duarts or octarts to add the channels we needed), multiple timers and an MMU allowing mapping into an external 512K memory space. All that together with an enhanced instruction set that included an 8x8 multiply that made it so much better than a standard Z80. It is just a shame that its register limitations didn't allow efficient embedded C like the H8 did, though I happily programmed it in assembler for years! The H8 was nice to use though 😁

[@IanScottJohnston]

Entered the professional world of electronics with the Z80A in 1984....then moved to the Z280, the 16bit version. Great fun back in the day.

[@KeritechElectronics]

Getting into 8 bit microcomputers... Nice! 8080, Z80, 6502 - the big three that ruled the day, and the Z80 was discontinued last year, after almost 50 years of it being produced. This only shows how successful and stable a design it was.

[@henrikstenlund5385]

The 8051 family was at some point leading the sales in control circuits in the industry.

[@jimomertz]

Gee, I wonder if the next video is going to be about the ATTiny814 🤔

[@jcisn]

Reminds me of the COSMAC Elf I built from parts. Aside from the fact that I didn't know how to do machine code it was fun.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

Started on the RCA 1802, in battery projects. Then moved over to 8080's and 8086 you got used to having to build a computer in to every design. Used the 8086 for quite a few years as it was i think available in mil spec. open our kit and there would not be plastic chip in sight. Ceramic being the construction of choice for mil spec components. Brings back memory's, even to the point of dual port ram, and the strange chip that was both ram and eeprom. at power up the eeprom data was loaded into the ram, and at any point you could force the ram contents back in to the eeprom. but you did not get a lot of write cycles.

[@JanJeronimus]

The old RCA1802 CPU had some build in I/O and if i remember well there was even a 1802 variant with some internal memory ( 1804 ? ).

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

best chip ever, where else could you write SEX all over your program. "Set X" in long hand. being fully static you could just stop the clock for long delays.

[@jms019]

There are devices on the edge like the 186 and yes I’ve used a Hitachi 64180 too.

[@hachikiina]

are the microcontrollers usually on one die or is it multiple dies in one chip?

[@jms019]

They’re only a few thousand gates so always one !

[@IMSAIGuy]

these days it will be one chip, in the old days it might be multiple. microcontrollers like the STM32 are large dies with >100K gates

[@bobdoritique7347]

Merci.

[@mx.olydian2111]

anyone know of any interweb places i can go to learn to use microcontroller chips without them perhaps being so intimidating? i'm trying to step up from arduinoland into hobby embedded stuff and all the information i can find goes waaay deep waaay fast

[@ralphj4012]

Personally, I would look at the various evaluation / starter boards available (depending on your micro of choice). Many include well-documented sample code to get you started. Stuff on the interweb can be overwhelming and a large proportion is rubbish.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

Look for the chip datasheets and learn to read them, regarding the internals and how they interact. This will help far more than just looking at example code etc. I would pick a chip, find a dev board, an integrated development environment IDE (which could be Arduino based as they are quite cheap and easy to get)

[@andymouse]

If you have outgrown "Arduino land" then you should be able to answer this yourself, as arduino IS hobby electronics stuff. You know Platform IO, you quite happy to use the bare chip say the 328p-AU ? then just pick a chip, get it's datasheets and study it, that will keep you going ..good luck have fun :)

[@henrikstenlund5385]

I have used many cpu's, like 68HC11, 68HC16, several DSP's, PIC24 and now PIC32 families. The funniest of all is PIC10 which lives in a SOT23-6 and has 512 bytes of ASM code and 12 words of SRAM. It is so small that if you drop it on the floor, it is a waste of time to start searching for it. It can for instance create simple logic into a circuit, act as an analog comparator and timer. It has reconfigurable legs for I/O. Due to its size it can easily find its place on the board if some simple repeatable operation is needed releasing the main cpu for something more intelligent. My latest chip of the day is CC2652RB which has a lot of functionality and actually, four cpu's inside for specialized tasks, all in micropower.

[@obsoletepowercorrupts]

Seeing how the lines between microcontroller and CPU have been blurred for a while _(not just with SoC),_ such as how IEEE serial inclusion in the instruction set _(or parallel IEEE1284),_ some newcomers might be helped by remembering the microprocessor's tendency to work with glue logic (take for example a Motorola 68K series) and the expectations of the registers. Amidst the confusion of similarities, those can help to be keywords that draw the mind back to what is the microprocessor _(generally consider CPU)_ versus the microprocessor and what can be thought of going on with the interrupt request cycle, when there are different buses. My comment has no hate in it and I do no harm. I am not appalled or afraid, boasting or envying or complaining... Just saying. Psalms23: Giving thanks and praise to the Lord and peace and love. Also, I'd say Matthew6.