Parallax propeller microcontrollers are a bit different that we are used to. They are build using different concept of embedded electronics. Propellers are multicore microcontroller that can run tasks parallel.

Parallax Propeller can be programmed using GCC C language what makes easy transition to this pretty exotic MCU. If you are new to C and especially yo Propeller microcontrollers then there is a C tutorial available to get started with simple programs. SimpleIDE makes things even easier to build and upload your first program. If you are more advanced embedded developer, then you probably will miss some libraries that are already quite polished in Spin or Propeller PASM languages.

Playing chess is like a gym for your brain. But how does electronics hobbyists play chess? Well it appears they try to do this in more complicated way. Take a look at CarlsenBot – voice controlled chess game platform. Ben Yeh have built it as final project for his Georgia Tech ECE 4180 class.

The project consists of three “smart” parts – an mbed controlled xyz platform that moves chess figures and computer where the actual game is running. Third part is also mbed controller which takes care of speech recognition. Recognition is done using EasyVR module which can be trained to recognize words. So the quality of recognition practically relies on this module. Things gets really messy when mechanics is involved. This is much same as building CNC that has to be aware of heads position and all other that comes with it. But finally prototype works like a charm and there as always is much to polish.

If you are just a starter in microcontrollers or consider yourself a bit advanced, things can go complicated if you haven’t used command line. There are lots of stuff that are wrapped with Graphical User Interface (GUI) and in most cases everything works just fine. Even many open source tools already come with graphical interface. Anyway eventually you get stuck in some specific situations where some knowledge of command line is required. If not in windows, then in Linux it becomes necessity.

jokkebk noticed that many enthusiasts get caught by by command line mystery which actually isn’t that hard at all. Instead of explaining things individually he decided to put a series of tutorials on how to use and understand command line. He starts with simple things like how to navigate through disks and folders, open and view contents. How to understand error messages and so on. And then how to run make command which compiles the AVR code using WinAVR tools. If you don’t feel strong or confident with this stuff you may take a look and learn something new.

No matter if you are a hobbyist or professional, it is important step to select microcontroller for a project. Many just take big enough MCU to be sure, other stick with their favorite. But this isn’t the best way of doing things. Selection should be rational so you could save on cost and on design. In EDN post there is a great list of 10 things to go through before you decide which microcontroller to chose.

It takes through the following criteria like determining required hardware interfaces. Then analyze software architecture to be used. Depending on project complexity you should decide architecture – is it an 8, 16 or 32-bit. We all know that ARM is cheap now, but do we always need such power and complexity. Tiny micros sometimes can save development time. When you already have a micro in your head, it is good to check its availability. It happens that at present moment suppliers cannot guarantee the amount you might need. If your design is going to be battery operated or so, then power is also important factor. Probably every design engineer or hobbyist has its own criteria when selecting parts. This list may be a refresher or add new things to consider.