Introducing the Micromite MK2 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: matherp
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2015, 05:28:38 pm
content: Hi allHaving used PIC, Picaxe and Arduino for many years, I've recently migrated much of my embedded development across to the Micromite.This is a Basic programmable microcontroller developed in Australia by Geoff Graham using the PIC32MX170 (28 or 44-pin) as the underlying hardware.Unlike Picaxe, which is completely proprietary, Geoff has released the Micromite firmware so that anyone with a PicKit 3 or similar can program up a chip.Seehttp://geoffg.net/micromite.htmlfor details.The Micromite MKII was featured in the January edition of Silicon chip magazine.Like the Picaxe, the Micromite hides all the difficulty of setting up peripheral hardware on the PIC so programs can be developed extremely quickly.However, what differentiates it from Picaxe are things like:Floating pointFull string handling64-bit signed integer arithmeticProper Functions and SubroutinesBut the most important difference for me is that it is possible, very simply, to call C-code compiled using the free XC32 compiler under MPLabX. This means that where necessary the programmer has the full power of a 48Mhz, 32-bit processor available, but where not needed coding is as simple as it gets.I've been using the Micromite to develop a graphics library for the various TFT displays that are now available so cheaply on ebay.This video shows my test code checking out all the graphics and text primitivesfor an SPI driven ILI9341-based display with full touch input.The demo code is available on the support forum on the Backshed Boardhttp://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7355&PN=1I've got no sort of financial interest in Micromite, I just think it is a new option for embedded development which should be known about more widely.To me it is as easy as Picaxe but can be faster (roughly 4x) than Arduino where required and once you have a Pickit programmer, the cost is just the price of a PIC chip.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2015, 09:34:45 pm
content: QuoteThe difficulty with introducing a new thing is to help people justify using it. Why should people use micromite? vs. other alternatives?Based on what I see here, very little.

author: member_xyz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2015, 10:23:50 pm
content: Why use bloated, very slow and inefficient basic interpreter in 2015?Why do you want to hide and restrict use of controller internal peripheral hardware, crazy?What is the development and debugging environment?If you need C code for speed and performance, why do you want any basic interpreted code?Is basic really easier to program than C and more particularly arduino C++?Where are the comparison benchmarks to other popular alternatives, how is it 4x faster than arduino?Does anyone in 2015 want to be locked to 1 dubious closed source developer and 1 product that is based on obsolete technology with no obvious future?

author: Skimask
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2015, 10:28:34 pm
content: Quote from: member_xyz on January 16, 2015, 10:23:50 pmDo you need unbloated, fast, efficient, anything to blink an LED...QuoteDoes 99.999999% of the world even care what is hidden or restricted?QuoteEMACSQuoteWhy use C? Why not go for straight assembly?QuoteIs C/ArduinoC++ any easier than BASIC?QuoteDon't know the answer to that one, but the gut feeling is 4x faster is an understatement.QuoteDoes anyone in 2015 care?How is it dubious?How is it obsolete?How is it obvious?Disclaimer: I've got no ties to the Micromite.

author: DerekG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 06:12:47 am
content: Quote from: matherp on January 16, 2015, 05:28:38 pmYep, I agree that using Geoff's MMBasic is both fast & easy to learn.I've seen many people roll their eyes trying to learn (& master C), so this makes a good alternative.If you want to use a cheaper (8 bit micro) then the Micro Engineering Labs Pic Basic Pro is another good alternative.It sure beats using assembler code!