Where and what to start with.

It depends on what you want to do or learn.

The Arduino is better if you want the easiest way into embedded micros and jsut want to get something simple working.

If you want to dig much deeper then something which is based on an ARM Cortex processor is a good way to go. I wouldn't pick the Stellaris LM4F120 Launch Pad because I think that (unless you have  a very specific application in mind) the STM32F4Discovery is better. (2009276, £10.64 from Farnell).

(The ST processor has a lot more RAM, a lot more flash and clocks at twice the speed.)

The TI kit is £0.70 cheaper but I doubt if that will matter too much.

MK

Ok. Thanks for the answer.

I have already bought the Stellaris. But now I may buy the STM32F4Discovery after your recomendation.

The Discovery did not have a LED as the Stellaris has but they are both ARM and I am learning this so I start with the Stellaris for now.

Also the tutorial I am following has the Stellaris in the video.

Thanks alot for the great help.

So my question is if this is the right LaunchPad to start with or should i start with an Arduino.

What is the big difference between these?

First of all, the Arduino Uno is not ARM. Whether that matters to you is up to you to decide the Arduino Due IS an ARM board.

If you want to learn programming microcontrollers, and want to go further than making some 'interaction design'  (i.e. designs that only have a few in- and outputs and do not require ms-precise timing, no concurrent actions) I would not take the Arduino, since you can't easily look at the low level stuff.

The STM32F4Discovery is a very nice board, but why start at the most complicated board? I've had much fun with the STM32F0Discovery, and also with the FRDM KL25Z. Both are CortexM0(+) development kits. It'll give you less computing power, but also less complications....

Hi Alexander,

The Stellaris Launchpad is a nice powerful MCU.

I would suggest that you use the ENERGIA freeware development software and purchase the Launchpad Education board so that you have some I/O devices to learn on.

The IDE is very simple and they have a lot of features that let you learn about the launchpad and its software.

Energia also supports the MSP430 launchpads in addition to the Stellaris.

You can get Energia at http://energia.nu/

You can also find a lot of helpful people on the TI engineering websites. 

There are a number of tutorials that explain how the Stellaris functions under software control.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to ask the Element 14 community for help.  There are a lot of talented people who can assist your learning experience.

DAB

Much as I hate to disagree with DAB I must urge caution re. the use of the Energia software. The common langauge of ARM Cortex is C, the Energia software makes everything look like an Arduino and uses Wiring and sketches - these are OK for simple stuff but crippling for serious use of the power of the ARM processors.

Since you bought the ARM chip with 32 bits and floating point rather than an Arduino I'm guessing you want to do more than twinkle LEDs - there's  a slightly bigger initial hump to get over to do stuff in C but it's worth it.

(small print: I know you can do harder stuff (than twinkle LEDs) with Arduinos and Wiring but its usually dependent on the serious stuff being written in C or assembler under the hood).

MK

Ok. Now I am using the IAR Embedded Workbench. This have support for many MCUs.

Is this overkill to use this? It has a nice debugger and thing like that.

Nothing wrong with IAR EW as far as I know. I use the Keil tools for ARM myself but I know others who are very happy with the IAR.

If you move on to projects too big for the free versions of IAR and Keil you will need to decide between the cheaper (for the tools) GCC route and the expense of the commerical compilers.

MK

Hi Mike,

I agree with your view for long term use.

I just thought that Energia would be a good place for a newbie to get started.

If you have experience with IAR, by all means continue to develop your skills on the ARM family.

From my perspective, as long as you spend the time to learn how to fully use a development tool, you usually cannot go wrong with which ever one you choose.

Each person needs to assess if the tool meets their needs.

DAB