SparkFun Forums

[marcusbarnet]

I'm looking for the best and easier solution to control a DC motor (1KW) by using an high-level operating system like Linux on a ARM-based development board.
If possible, i'd like to use this board also to read data from some sonar sensors and to include a GPS module.

I always used Arduino to acquire these kind of tasks and now i'd like to try and use a ARM-based board.
Can you suggest me a suitable board for me, please?

I still have to choose what kind of sonar and GPS module to use because before i want to buy the board.

Thanks a lot.

[rmteo1]

If you want to go with Linux then one of these $120 boards may work Mini35

[marcusbarnet]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion.

Do you think i can use it also to control GPS and GSM module and to read data from a sonar sensor?

Moreover, it is possible to use this to control a DC motor with 1KW of power consumption?

Thanks again,

Marcus

[fll-freak]

I know nothing of the board, but a quick look at the datasheet shows it has 2 SPI, 2 I2C, 3 serial ports, and 34 pins of GPIO. Now nothing will control a 1kW motor directly, this board has enough IO to control the space shuttle. Only thing that is not obvious is if it has any hardware PWM channels. Most ARM based processor has some, but you never know.

What I like is it support Micrium's OS-II. Sweat.

[marcusbarnet]

I was doing some searches and i've found BeagleBoard.
http://elinux.org/BeagleBoard

It seems to be very powerful, what do you think about it?
I can run Ubuntu without problems but i have to see how to connect the modules.

[rmteo1]

I know nothing of the board, but a quick look at the datasheet shows it has 2 SPI, 2 I2C, 3 serial ports, and 34 pins of GPIO. Now nothing will control a 1kW motor directly, this board has enough IO to control the space shuttle. Only thing that is not obvious is if it has any hardware PWM channels. Most ARM based processor has some, but you never know.

What I like is it support Micrium's OS-II. Sweat.

The only reason to use something like that is because the OP wants to go with Linux. Many $5-10 ARM Cortex-Mx MCUs have even more I/O and peripherals (including typical 8-20+ PWM channels).

Also, an ARM Cortex-Mx MCU will easily run Micrium's OS-II/III. One inexpensive example is this $45 development board (shown running OS-II) available on the auction sites.

TEST-6BE.jpg

Ө. 3.2" TFT LCD Module, 320 * 240 resolution, 26 million color.
Ө. Resistive touch screen, with RSM1843 Controller.
Ө. 4 LED light, 2 LED indicatorӨ.
Ө. Two GPIO buttons
Ө. A RESET Button
Ө. Serial communication interface
Ө. 2 mini-type USB socket, support for USB OTG, USB OTG transfer cable with professional
Ө. 1 Micro SD card connector (without SD card)
Ө. USB OTG function, support for external USB
Ө. A JTAG / SWD debug interface (20pin)
Ө. RTC battery
Ө. USB Power Supply

[marcusbarnet]

The problem is that i do not know how to program in Micrium's OS-II/III because i've never used it.

At the contrary, with Ubuntu I can program in C and easily interface with the modules.

I looked for Micrium's OS-II/III information on the net but i found no example in order to understand if it's easy to program it and to interface with the sensors.

[rmteo1]

You don't need OS-II (or Ubuntu) to control those sensors. You can do it like with an Arduino. Since you are already familiar with Arduino, take a look at this http://mbed.org/

It is based on a 100MHz ARM Cortex-M3 (LPC1768) and is available from SF as well as others such Digikey, Mouser etc.

[motopic]

To control 1 motor(relays really?) and a few sensors Linux OS is WAY overkill, and you'll spend a ton of time and effort just getting the OS set.

Arduino or ARM7 are easy to get going. STM32 is a bit harder to setup (fewer examples and such).

How are you planning to control the motor, or does it already have a low voltage control interface?

[marcusbarnet]

To control 1 motor(relays really?) and a few sensors Linux OS is WAY overkill, and you'll spend a ton of time and effort just getting the OS set.

Arduino or ARM7 are easy to get going. STM32 is a bit harder to setup (fewer examples and such).

How are you planning to control the motor, or does it already have a low voltage control interface?

I was thinking to use: http://www.robotsimple.com/Motor_Contro ... _Assembled

The problem is that i have to inclue also a Kinect supporto so i need an high-level operating system to run on the board.