YEY! 18M2 comming soon.

[AndyGadget]

I was just looking at the datasheet for the PIC16F1827 and I take my hat off to Technical (or would, if I was wearing one) for their expertise at turning the spec into something as easy to use as a PicAxe.
The mTouch functionality looks particularly interesting - Will you be implementing that?

 

[fred_b]

Just one question- When?

I know, I was only joking. It will be ready when it is ready. Looking forward to it.

 

[Marcwolf]

*Drools all over his keyboard*

Sorry about that the the possibilities with that beast re the animatronics.. And 4 Programs runnning at once too

Plus it has the high speed serial which will be great working with the $D-Systems SD Card reader.

Awaiting in Annntttiiiipppatttiiiooonnn!!!
Marc

 

[MPep]

Having now had a look at the PIC datasheet, looks great for being able to have I2C and SPI simultaneously.
Love the Capacitive Sensor pad option.

Hope all gets implemented, although we must all remember that they (PICAXE) is generally aimed at Educational use.

 

[Haku]

After looking at the specs of the 18M2 I too am looking forward to it's release, I suspect the pre-orders will be quite high.

Will there be a 28M2 or a 40M2 in the pipeline? Extra IO lines are always welcome


When I first got a picaxe chip it all felt a bit daunting, but after looking at the PDF manuals & trying a couple of programs I wondered why I hadn't taken the chance and bought one years earlier, the manuals are extremely detailed and helpful on how to use commands and if there's something I'm stuck on I can search this forum or ask a question (you're all so friendly!), and programming them is dead easy.

 

[vk6bgn]

If the new 18M2 will now have "Hardware Motor PWM" so the .PDF says, the what was it before in the others, say the 18X or the 08M chip?? Was it software? I'm lost.

"Hammy"

 

[hippy]

@ Haku

There is intended to be a range of M2 devices but what pin-sizes there will be depends on a number of factors. For larger devices it may not make sense to produce an M2 as an existing variant, such as an X2, may already fit the bill better.

@ HamRadioAddict

The 18X and 18M ( and others ) have a 'standard PWM' on-chip peripheral with one output line which is controlled through PWMOUT and PWMDUTY commands.

The 18M2 ( as with the X2's ) will have an 'enhanced PWM' on-chip peripheral with up to four output lines which can be controlled through HPWM and HPWMDUTY as well as PWMOUT and PWMDUTY commands.

 

[Wrenow]

Just curious if there are any updates/milestones on the 18M2 chip. Been pretty quiet for over a month. Yes, I understand that we are all at the tender mercies of Microchip, and cannot commit to a release date for probably dozens of reasons, but a trickle of news from time to time might be appreciated.

Cheers,

Wreno

 

[nbw]

It will be taking a long time to cram all that functionality in there, y'know. I'd like to buy a few for my birthday - still 6 months away - so no hurry!!

 

[inglewoodpete]

I prefer to wait for a couple of revisions of the firmware. I still haven't bought a 20x2/28x2/40x2. The 28x1/40x1 firmware is almost perfect, though!

 

[hippy]

I can't give a specific status report but the 18M2 is progressing though I'm not in a position to give any ETA.

 

[hagie]

mTouch Sensing Module ???

Will the new 18M2 which is based on the PIC16F1827 also have the mToch funtions included ?

Regards
Stefan

 

[Technical]

The 18M2 is a custom part made for Revolution based on the new generation architecture of parts like the 1827. The published information for the M2 features is in the datasheet at the start of this thread. We do not have a specific release date yet.

 

[hagie]

Ok - since there is nothing about the mTouch so it isn't included. My thought was it could be a preliminary datasheet which is subject to change.

Regards
Stefan

The 18M2 is a custom part made for Revolution based on the new generation architecture of parts like the 1827. The published information for the M2 features is in the datasheet at the start of this thread. We do not have a specific release date yet.

 

[Minifig666]

Typical isn't it, I spend ages saving up to get some very cheap tech supplies from 'Tech Supplies' and you go and anounce a new product for me to wait for! This thing sounds great though, just hurry up and get it done!!! Lol
Bagsy on the beta testing!!!
A pre beta test improvement: the pin 1 indentifier dent should light up when powerd on, or on serial data transmission, mabie even a bi clolur led for battery life!!! PICAXE: The posibilities are just about endless.

 

[Wrenow]

Just wondering if there was any new news on the 18M2?

Cheers,

Wreno

 

[jmumby]

Will this support 1-wire?

 

[Andrew Cowan]

I assume so - most existing picaxes do.

 

[BeanieBots]

I'd predict similar functions to the "M" series rather than the "X" series as it's a 18M2

 

[manuka]

Let's hope that "M" doesn't indicate "Mars ready", as Obama has 2025-2030 in mind for that quest!

 

[jmumby]

Yeah, good point. Only seems to be X parts with one wire, although 18X does not which complicates things a bit. I'll have to wait for the 18x1/2. I have a project that is in production and there are 100's of boards out there. The project now needs 1-wire so I was going to start from scratch again with a 20x chip. If the 18M2 supported 1-wire this would be a perfect solution.

 

[Wrenow]

The data sheet listed earlier indicates i2c, but does not indicate 1w.
You could always use a 20X2 with two legs amputated....

Cheers,

Wreno

 

[hax]

Will the elapsed time commands on this chip be able to count milliseconds? That would be a great feature for stop-watches, scoreboards, game timers, etc.

The datasheet says elapsed seconds, but my fingers are crossed for millisecond accuracy if you use it at 32Mhz.

 

[inglewoodpete]

The word on the Australian agent's website is July: MicroZed

They actually say 2010!

 

[slimplynth]

Reminds me of the pre-20X2 release build-up.. hope it is July this year, am sure people are already musing projects around it.

Was wondering if the 18M2 could be used in my little Bot... in terms of the Touch functionality, could this be used to have a nicely presented bot with concealed proximity/contact detection?

 

[hippy]

Microchip's touch sensor hardware is 'capacitive sensing' in detecting how the presence of a body on the end of a finger affects oscillation in a circuit to tell if the finger is there or not.

Proximity detection for a robot probably would work if what it's detecting has the same sort of influence.

 

[manuka]

jmumby: Rev. Ed say the 18M2 replaces all of the 18/18A/18M/18X, so you hence may be in luck!

 

[Technical]

The 18M2 has everything an 18X has (e.g) readtemp/readowsn, but not owin/owout. You would need an X2 part for that (e.g. 20X2).

Our delivery date for bulk quantity of this new part has been put back numerous times, so these delays are beyond our control. The 18M2 chip will be made available when we actually get stock...! We still do not have an exact date at present.

 

[slimplynth]

Microchip's touch sensor hardware is 'capacitive sensing' in detecting how the presence of a body on the end of a finger affects oscillation in a circuit to tell if the finger is there or not.

Proximity detection for a robot probably would work if what it's detecting has the same sort of influence.

Cheers Hippy, I had an inkling that it would be object/body dependant but it it sounds like a potential wow factor to add - can't wait to try it.

 

[BeanieBots]

What are you waiting for slimplynth?
Try it now! (assuming "it" refers to proximity/contact detection)
It's the features unique to the 18M2 that I'm awaiting with eager anticipation such as multi-tasking.

 

[slimplynth]

my bot has a spine comprising two breadboards, stuck back to back (one side just for the relays/motors) the other for the 'brain'.

Real estate is (was) becoming an issue, now I have a setup that works perhaps I should have a go at making my own PCBs.

 

[Dippy]

Real Estate?
You mean you've filled your house and garden with Birthday presents?
You lucky thing

Oh, board space.... why didn't you say..... one less syllable too

 

[Andrew Cowan]

Simplynth - I know the feeling. My robot is almost out of room for more boards - so far there are 17 boards over two layers!

A

 

[slimplynth]

What coffee do you drink Dippy, I want some too

How many Andrew? 17!!! did you make the PCBs yourself?

Looking at mine on the desk now thinking.. "perhaps too early to be thinking about it.. i like the breadboards because they're easier to correct mistakes and knowing me there will be several at least. Plus there's something about the BB's that seem to give the little guy a quirky character. That said I really hope I get the chance to make my own anodised/dye'd amouring.

If it's exterior is all shiny then definitely, the PCBs will have to be made can't believe how long it's taken to get this far, simply put I don't spend/have enough time 'doing'.

 

[Andrew Cowan]

I've made all the PCBs myself over two years. I've worked on the robot for a long time - possibly around 1500 hours total. The simplest PCB is a switched voltage regulator (~8 components), the most complex is one of the sensor boards (one of the PCBs has 2x08Ms, 2x14Ms, 1x20M, darlington drivers, motor H bridges, relays etc).

A

 

[hwholmes]

May I infer that multitasking will enable hserial and hi2c to run simultaneously with out interupting each other?

If so I may use it for an rs232 interface between my computer and i2c master to a collection of 40X2's if I can control the sharing of the scratchpad between the two.

 

[MartinM57]

May I infer that multitasking will enable hserial and hi2c to run simultaneously with out interupting each other?

we can hope - but my money is on a fairly simplistic PICAXE Basic level of apparent concurrency. I don't believe that it will magically make any number of separate hardware subsystems run absolutely simultaneously.

 

[hippy]

I'm not sure how you mean by "without interrupting each other". As far as I am aware It should be possible to use HSERIAL and HI2C together with current PICAXE, but you'll likely have scratchpad management issues with those and the M2.

The M2's multi-tasking capability won't be a universal panacea as it's still a single core processor at heart, can only do one thing at a time, so things that clash with each other on existing PICAXE's won't magically work on the M2.

In the PICAXE software sense multi-tasking will deliver what it promises; take a loop which toggles a LED with a pause and it works, add the same loop again for a different LED and a different pause and it too will work, running (apparently) simultaneously with each other, each LED toggling at its own rate.

For background hardware it's still the same single processor running the show, just as before it cannot do two things simulataneously.

 

[Dippy]

Thats a nice description.
People often get true multitasking (and background tasking) muddled with clever use of interrupts and time-slicing.
I guess some people were expecting a 3 quid do-it-all-for-me propellor?

 

[slimplynth]

Often have to tell my boss that I can't multitask and that it's never been stated on my CV.