Logic gates versus other chips question

[fredy]

do you guys even think that making a robot using logic gates as its brain is a good idea or should i use something elese besides a microcontroller, I don't want to go throught that big programing mass

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Microcontroller for sure. Cheaper, lower power, reprogrammable. A decent programmer will help avoid JDM grief.

 

[fredy]

but what else could i use besides a microcontroller to controll a robot

 

[dknguyen]

Not much. You can do what BEAM robots do- they hardwire the circuits in but are only capable of very simple behaviours. You then need to understand electronics very well though.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Logic gates alone will only give you a very primitive robot brain.

 

[fredy]

what do you mean by primitive

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Grab some logic gates and see what you can come up with...

 

[crutschow]

what do you mean by primitive

Think slug.

 

[wombweller]

Hi

Lots of Robot builders use the PICAXE method for what you call the "robots brain". Avery useful tool even at beginner level and the Various Picaxe chips are easily programmed using very little equipment.You will find lots and lots of info on this subject on the net.

A good start is the Forum-

PICAXE Forum - Powered by vBulletin

I think once you read through the many PICAXE files provided you will realise it's much better than simple "Logic gates" and in fact I think you will find it much much harder going down that route!!

If you choose this route you can download the PICAXE prog editor free of charge with a very comprehensive guide.

You will find all the brains you require in a simple format by following this up.

But having said all that it's just my oppinion.

Hope this helps!!

 

[shimniok]

well, in one of your other dozens of threads (sigh) we talked about behavior along the lines of steering forward until an object is detected and turning left until it isn't. That's pretty primitive behavior. A microcontroller would give you gobs more flexibility -- determine what distance at which to turn... or make the speed of the turn proportional to the distance... randomly turn right or left. Or use two detectors, pointing 45° right and left and turn away from the object, or turn totally around. And that's super simple stuff. You could make it quite a bit more complicated than that yet.

Michael

 

[tony ennis]

Originally Posted by fredy View Post
what do you mean by primitive

Think slug.

Optimist!!!

 

[1y5zdzjy]

You could do it using dosens of individual transistors, resistors and capacitors, and it could potentially be faster and have lower power consumtion than a PIC.

 

[shimniok]

or lots of tubes...

 

[mneary]

You could do it using dosens of individual transistors, resistors and capacitors, and it could potentially be faster and have lower power consumtion than a PIC.

I'd like to see any significant logic circuit with dozens of transistors, resistors, and capacitors that consumes less than 175µA like some 10F PICs do.

 

[1y5zdzjy]

I'd like to see any significant logic circuit with dozens of transistors, resistors, and capacitors that consumes less than 175µA like some 10F PICs do.

I have made several logic circuits like this. Of course they use less power consumption; just use MOSFETs and 10M reststors and it uses virtually no power. I am using such a circuit in my house as we speak and it's been running off a 9V PP3 battery for over a year.

 

[Hero999]

Use an FPGA and program the logic gates to be connected up in the desired configurtion.