Re: Arduino fail...
Posted: 04 Mar 2018, 17:37
Not right about the 32-bit part Flynn. The 32u4 is still only an 8-bit microcontroller and has similar performance and capability to the 328P we more commonly use. The main difference is that the 32u4 has built in pins for connecting to a USB port and appropriate internal registers that allow it to operate as a USB device.
The 32u4 is good if you need USB connectivity - if you want to design your own USB device based on one - but for "normal" Arduino use it's something of a liability as it makes uploading sketches a bit more awkward.
The 328P on UNOs, Nanos, etc. only has a serial port and if there is a USB port on board the USB to serial conversion is done by a separate dedicated chip (on some Arduino boards this is actually a 32U4, but we don't need to worry about it as that's not the chip we're programming).
Even the Arduino Mega boards that use the more capable 2560 processor are still only 8-bit - but they have more memory, I/O etc. It's only when you get up to boards like the Due or the Zero that you encounter 32-bit processors. The Zero has an Atmel SAMD21 MCU which is based on a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ The Due has the more capable Atmel SAM3X8E which is based on a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3.
The 32u4 is good if you need USB connectivity - if you want to design your own USB device based on one - but for "normal" Arduino use it's something of a liability as it makes uploading sketches a bit more awkward.
The 328P on UNOs, Nanos, etc. only has a serial port and if there is a USB port on board the USB to serial conversion is done by a separate dedicated chip (on some Arduino boards this is actually a 32U4, but we don't need to worry about it as that's not the chip we're programming).
Even the Arduino Mega boards that use the more capable 2560 processor are still only 8-bit - but they have more memory, I/O etc. It's only when you get up to boards like the Due or the Zero that you encounter 32-bit processors. The Zero has an Atmel SAMD21 MCU which is based on a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ The Due has the more capable Atmel SAM3X8E which is based on a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3.