Switching to Atmel

Details

Written by Sharon

We recently decided to make the switch from Parallax propellers to Atmel AVR microcontrollers.  Originally, we wanted to use Parallax products because they had generously provided us with their technology to experiment with.  They sent us a selection of their propellers to choose from, and we spent a few weeks learning the Parallax language.  At this point, we have decided that while Parallax presents an interesting opportunity for our team to gain valuable programming experience, the risks from lack of technical support and the time required to learn the technology outweigh the benefits.  We started looking at other potential ways of managing the sensor inputs and outputs.  We had a few criteria for choosing a new management system - it had to be programmed in a usable language and our team members needed to have some experience programming in that language.  This really only left one option: Atmel.  Atmel devices are programmed using C, which is well-supported and well-known by our team, as the Powertrain subteam moved to Atmel microcontrollers and AVR Studio last year for our motor controller's control board.  We also do not have much need for the higher end computing offered by Atmel, so we decided to go with the AVR series.  We recently recieved new Atmel microcontrollers and an Atmel Dragon AVR to program them and are eager to keep pushing forward with our BMS.