A few general Picaxe questions?

[pjl83]

Hi All,

I am looking at ordering the Picaxe starter kit as my first entry into robotics. How does the programming software compare to other types of PIC's and software types. I don't want to be in a position where I want to upgrade later on and find that I have to start again with the learning process. I have done a little bit of BASIC programming in the past and I like the simplicity of Picaxe which is why I have decided on their starter package, I just want an opinion on whether you guys think it would give me a good grounding for if I were to move on to more adventurous stuff later on.

**broken link removed**

Thanks
Paul

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

PICAXE isn't REALLY PIC programming - it's a pre-programmed PIC that runs a BASIC interpreter. As such it's fairly slow and limited, but fine for many purposes.

So it's no use if you want to learn to program PIC's, but if all you ever want is to run PICAXE's then it's fine, and a cheap easy solution.

 

[bryan1]

Nigel is 100% spot on the mark here, the picaxe is aimed at schoolkids and people who are too stubborn to learn micro controllers properly. If you've had some experience with Basic then go checkout the special offer on the Oshonsoft Basic as it's over 1/2 the normal price for forum members. The simulator is great for testing your code and you do learn about asm too. There is quite a few external modules for it too available on this forum.

Regards Bryan

 

[pjl83]

Thanks for making the point. I understand exactly what you're saying.

Would I be correct in thinking though that with 0-12 Inputs and 9-17 outputs and 1000 lines of code along with the motor controller, it is still possible to make some pretty cool stuff with the kit and a few extra bits of hardware added to it. I'm think relativley simple stuff like line followers, maze solvers and maybe even adding a few extra actuators and building a real walker?

How limited is the picaxe? Are there any fundamentals that cannot be performed with this kit?

Thanks
Paul

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

PICAXE's are really pretty decent, it's just slow and limited due to the interpreted nature of it compared with a standard PIC, for a robot (where everything runs VERY slowly anyway), the speed isn't any concern, and a PICAXE will be more than fast enough.

 

[pjl83]

Thanks for the honest replies. I will order some parts and see what I can do.

Thanks again
Paul

P.S. I just noticed that you're from Derbyshire Nigel. I'm from Notts. Small world!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thanks for the honest replies. I will order some parts and see what I can do.

Thanks again
Paul

P.S. I just noticed that you're from Derbyshire Nigel. I'm from Notts. Small world!

Yes, I'm not far from the Nottinghamshire border

I'm about the same distance from the cities of Derby, Sheffield, and Nottingham - but Nottingham is my preferred choice, and the one I visit the most (Derby is the least).

 

[4pyros]

Look into programing a bootloader and make your own picaxes. Picaxe's are PIC's with a boot loader. Andy

 

[pjl83]

Sorry but you've lost me

I have no idea what bootloader or boot loader even means, let alone how to programme one ?? I'll have a look around the net unless anybody could explain in non-technical terms for me.

Thanks

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Sorry but you've lost me

I have no idea what bootloader or boot loader even means, let alone how to programme one ?? I'll have a look around the net unless anybody could explain in non-technical terms for me.

Don't worry about it - a PICAXE isn't just a bootloader, it's an entire BASIC interpreter - a bootloader would be of no use to you.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Back in June the OP was looking at a PICkit2, was there a problem with it? IMHO it's a far more flexible solution than the PICAxe.

 

[pjl83]

Back in June the OP was looking at a PICkit2, was there a problem with it? IMHO it's a far more flexible solution than the PICAxe.

To be honest it was the programming language that was putting me off. I looked through a lot of code and I just didn't feel confident that I could get to grips with it without it frustrating me and ultimately me then losing interest. When I looked into the Picaxe stuff (LMR's starter robot in particular), I instantly thought that I'd be able to grasp the language. From this thread it would seem that the Picaxe system is versatile and there are dozens of projects that I've seen on the net that I would be extremely happy if I could make anything like it.

If ever I got to the point where I wanted to build something that wasn't possible with Picaxe, then that would be the incentive for me to learn a more complexed code. By this time I would also have the experience of building smaller projects and using different bits of hardware.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

The free and very powerful, modular Student Edition of Swordfish BASIC for the 18F series PICs has a terrific IDE and has none of the limitations of a PICAxe. BASIC is a very easy language to learn and it should be fairly easy to port code examples from either the BS2 (BOEBOT) or PICAxe.

The SE edition is limited to 256 bytes of RAM but unlimited code size.

 

[pjl83]

Thanks for the idea but I think I'll stick with Picaxe for now. I have since found a uk supplier which will save me a little money on the high postage costs too.

 

[pjl83]

Just to let you all know that I ordered some bits from tech-supplies and have been playing with picaxe for a few days and am finding it to be great.

Thanks again
Paul