Please lets calm down again. We are not too far from each other.
C is not as platform independent as always claimed. So having something that runs on 8 and 32 bit is unrealistic. It might be possible, but it then can not be high performance on both chips. And the bad performance of Marlin is your argument, so this is is a bit unfair. Especially as I haven't seen Teacup run on anything 32bit.
So here we have it. You both agree that faster clocked chips can achieve higher step rates and support more complex setups.
There are two points that not have been mentioned before:
- writing software that performs better than other software on the same processor is harder to do. So being able to do such a thing is something to be proud on. But for the community as a whole it also makes sense to have an easily hackable platform that still has good performance.
- The prices of 32bit chips dropped a lot in the last time. They sell cheaper than 8 bit chips. This is not too important to the single maker but this is still relevant especially for the future. ATmel already stopped working on the 8bit AVR. There will be no more new chips coming from them. So in a few years (ok more like 5 to 10 or more) getting a AVR will become harder with ARM Cortex-M being everywhere,...
Besides I haven't seen any argument why a 32bit chip should be worse than an 8bit.
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Traumflug
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arthurwolf
So are you saying a firmware designed for an 8-bit mcu, running on an 8-bit/16-20mhz mcu, will be as smooth in it's step generation and as precise in it's motion planning and execution, as a firmware designed for a 32-bit mcu, running on a 32-bit/120mhz mcu ?
Exactly. And if your firmware runs on 32-bit only, it has a flaw.
C is not as platform independent as always claimed. So having something that runs on 8 and 32 bit is unrealistic. It might be possible, but it then can not be high performance on both chips. And the bad performance of Marlin is your argument, so this is is a bit unfair. Especially as I haven't seen Teacup run on anything 32bit.
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Traumflug
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arthurwolf
I'm not even sure I understand what you are saying.
Obviously. If you had said 32-bit controllers are faster and allow higher printing speeds on more complex setups, I had even agreed.
So here we have it. You both agree that faster clocked chips can achieve higher step rates and support more complex setups.
There are two points that not have been mentioned before:
- writing software that performs better than other software on the same processor is harder to do. So being able to do such a thing is something to be proud on. But for the community as a whole it also makes sense to have an easily hackable platform that still has good performance.
- The prices of 32bit chips dropped a lot in the last time. They sell cheaper than 8 bit chips. This is not too important to the single maker but this is still relevant especially for the future. ATmel already stopped working on the 8bit AVR. There will be no more new chips coming from them. So in a few years (ok more like 5 to 10 or more) getting a AVR will become harder with ARM Cortex-M being everywhere,...
Besides I haven't seen any argument why a 32bit chip should be worse than an 8bit.