Posted on May 17, 2011 at 15:06Thanks Giving is now behind us, still recovering from all the food, time to start working on my Christmas list.
As the part of my list has items related to STM8S-Discover, I thought it might be a good idea to post them here, hoping that others will contribute to it too.
I’m by no means an expert neither in MCU nor C, but like to get my hands dirty and keep my gray cells exercised. Have some knowledge and skills, time to time get some ideas, and learned to respect and appreciate support from places like this (discussion boards/forums).
As this place looks quite deserted now, my first wish is to
1) Get some traction for this board. Hopefully with sufficient interest to get Discovery it’s own “discussion place� separate from the generic STM8S threads
(Un)fortunately, it seams that some interesting exchanges are happening away from this place (just check some of posts on hackaday.com), and getting them all here would help us all keep an eye on new posts, and hopefully participate and contribute time to time.
My parents missed to teach me moderation, so, as I do with any other wish list, I’m not stopping at one wish, but moving to my wish number
2) Get some (plenty)
a. “user friendly� documentation posted to an existing repository (there are only three documents so far!).
b. Code examples. Code examples.
c. More Code examples.
It’s really NOT easy to get started with Discovery, and that should NOT be the case. Close to impossible is to get the basic information that will get you running, and even worst, to put your hands on (almost any) sample code.
Just try to do anything more then getting the LED blinking! Even to setup the LED project takes hours of searching through the st.com site for proper instructions and tools, then fully focused work on setting up the environment (the source code is very complex, with many includes, and some typos and mistakes in the related manual).
Might be great for seasoned users of ST tool set, but Discovery does not seam to target such MCU veterans.
It’s a shame what ST did – created a nice interest by offering such a great piece of hardware for $7, then opened the doors to an empty home.
Still not too late! And that’s what my next wish says:
3) Create the space for managed and supported Community Effort
That’s what got Arduino going! And PIC running! And some others going! You and me, average users, that time to time go big and provide ROI (Return On Investment) to the company that made it possible. We need someone to channel our spare time and homegrown labs, to help us with our simple attempts, to teach us how to move existing LED to I2C connected external device managed with interrupt controlled code using all kinds of power management and (at least) two timers and WDT :)
I suggest ST bosses consider extending the $7 offer by providing us the home for our efforts. This forum is a good place to start.
Support us by having your engineers become active participants. Let them spend a couple of hours a week answering our basic questions and leading us one step at the time.
We won’t mind a disclaimer that such assistance does not constitute a liability (or whatever legal small print is needed to cover your shareholders).
Have a conscious effort into building the library – better organized manuals, sample codes, tips and tricks, project ideas. Tailor it for MCU professionals if that’s the economic driver, but have a sub space for us that get excited with a SIMPLE CODE that turns the LED on and off (I kind of cooled off after seeing how many .h and .c files got behind the demo blinker :) ).
Get us, small users, motivated and excited. It’s industry proven fact that numbers sometimes generate quality (money).
Help us publish short articles, maybe even a book or two.
4) Maintain the “Wish List�
Apart from my “basic� wishes, I’m sure others will have great ideas that we all (including ST team) can work on. Have an open and MANAGED thread (to filter out distractions) with items that we’d like to see published (by us users primarily, ST team always welcome to contribute). Some items that come to mind (and that were mentioned on above mentioned “other� places) include:
• RS232 extension (hw + sw library) that can get us connected to PC (and other devices)
• Expansion boards (in Arduino world they call them “shields�)
• Fully functional hw modules and code samples (stepper motor control, I/O, I2C/SPI bridge, Ethernet, …)
• Through hole adapters for MCU so we can play away from the Discovery board, in privacy of our proto boards and home made PCBs
• Have I mentioned Sample Code already? :)
Making a List, Checking It Twice…
If you REALLY want your wish to become true, Santa will always help you!
Your turn S(T)anta :)
Miroslav
