My Journey of MCU Development (VIII)

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My Journey of MCU Development (VIII) [Copy link]

"The wind is whistling, the horses are neighing!" Although I don't have to face other people's cold faces because of my low technology in recent years. But the fierce winds and waves in the world also make me tremble with fear! Time and time again, the wave of technology has almost buried me in the belly of fish. In 2006, friends in the circle around me were discussing the transition from direct plug-in packaging to surface mount packaging. But no one had done it before and was afraid of affecting production. That summer was also scorching hot like in previous years. One day I went to the electronics market to make PCBs under the sun. A good friend in the market was an agent for a PCB board factory. At that time, PCBs were made by going to the agent to place orders. At that time, it was very expensive to make PCB samples. Generally, larger PCB factories do not accept proofing. Unless you are their big customer. Because of this friend, I can save 60 yuan in proofing start-up fees every time. This money can be used to drink many bottles of soda with friends! Don't despise me, I don't think you will be more generous than me! When chatting with friends, I met a customer who came to pick up PCB boards. When he heard us talking about microcontrollers, he did not leave immediately and joined the discussion. I saw that his PCB was basically full of surface mount packaged devices. I immediately asked him how to solder surface mount packaged devices. When I heard him say that surface mount packaged devices on PCBs do not need to be soldered in the factory, but can be soldered manually, I was shocked. Because before that, I thought that surface mount packaged devices were all soldered in the factory. He also introduced the soldering process in detail. After that, we became friends. After returning home that day, I found a scrapped SMS modem board and blew off the surface mount MAX202 on it with a hot air gun. Later, I bought two surface mount MAX202 from Beijing and replaced them. The board was revived. Since then, I have started using surface mount components. Maybe everyone thinks this is not a big deal, but it has opened up a smooth road for me. I entered the industry because I learned how to solder PCBs, and I grew up because I could solder surface mount components. The biggest problem I encounter now is the problem of manually soldering BGA and QFN packages. I hope I can cross this "long ditch".
Between 2006 and 2007, the devices were switching from 5V to 3.3V. This process was also the process of my understanding of ARM cortex M. Due to years of accumulation, 5V devices have become the industry standard. Most designs are based on 5V power supply. Some friends in the circle can even memorize the various package pin functions and circuit topologies of power supply chips such as LM7805 and LM2575. They are also familiar with some typical conditioning circuit parameters. When ARM cortex M was launched, many engineer friends were not "cold". Even today, some friends are still using 5V circuits. Even the cortex M core chip uses Nuvoton's wide-voltage chip. For a worker, there is no need to take unnecessary risks! In addition to technical risks, there are also some "man-made disasters!" In some companies, there are some intricate connections between some middle-level leaders, individual technicians and suppliers. Even in some companies, adjusting technical solutions is a taboo. If you can't control your bad mouth, you'll be "out of here" soon (Note: Crows are very smart and moral birds!). Here's a friendly reminder: "Do not enter without permission!" Remember the teachings of the saints: "Do not look at what is not proper, do not listen to what is not proper, do not say what is not proper, do not do what is not proper." It's better to be careful than to be safe. Always "knock on the door" when entering the boss's office. I'm not asking you to be complacent. With the current development environment, you can still be "very happy" at home. Why do you have to take the risk of "exposure"? One morning in the late winter of 2007, the sky was gray. I went to meet a few friends who looked gray and unlucky. There was a gloomy and terrifying compound not far from where they lived. The high walls around the compound were densely packed with electric fences. Armed police wearing helmets and bulletproof vests stood guard at the door. Including me, we all walked around carefully and walked quickly. We were afraid that a bullet would fly out from somewhere and shoot you in the head with a sniper. This mysterious compound has no nameplate, so no one knows what it is. But I found out that day that this is the famous "Mint of the People's Bank of China". It was this factory that made my friend's boss, and my friend also "rose to the sky" and followed the dog shit. He developed a banknote detector. This is a licensed product, no matter how jealous you are, you can't pirate it! So you can also have a meal if you follow the right boss. The theme of the "banquet" that day was: denounce unscrupulous capitalists, eliminate warlords and make revolution. At the end of the meeting, everyone clenched their fists, and vowed with high morale: We must firmly follow the revolutionary path of "job hopping"! The cause of the incident was: at the beginning of the year, the boss said that their income was linked to the cost of the product, and the income distribution plan was calculated based on the proportion of the product cost reduction. When these people heard this plan, they immediately became excited and worked overtime. They tried every means to reduce product costs. They dreamed of buying a house and a car every day. At the end of the year, the financial abacus, the boss's eyes narrowed, and the security guard's eyes glared, and the two rabbits were caught in vain. So don't be too obsessed with the big cake that the boss painted for you. The night is long, and you may encounter ghosts on the night road! The reserve of strategic materials was inevitably discussed at the meeting. Among them was the ARM cortex M core microcontroller. However, since this microcontroller is powered by 3.3V, I didn't pay much attention to it, but it made me know that there is such a "killer" in the world that integrates such a rich peripherals. The degree of complete peripherals can be called "luxury". I saw the real thing in 2008. Several of my colleagues kept buzzing in my ears. I bought a development board called "Red Bull" STM32F103. This board is a bit like a microcontroller, and even a bit like a PC104 industrial computer. And it has more peripherals than the PC104 industrial computer. The uC/OS+uCGUI demonstration program on the board opened my eyes. It also made me truly appreciate the enchanting charm of embedded operating systems. Although unrequited love is also a mental illness, I still have to endure this painful separation! The company I work for is one of those companies with a strong institutional atmosphere. There was no hasty upgrade design plan. It was not until the end of 2009 that I used LPC1768 to do a "digital acquisition instrument" project. Since then, I have switched to the development of ARM core microcontrollers. Before doing the "digital acquisition instrument" project, I also considered using the STM32 solution, and the STM32 solution is cheaper than the LPC1768 solution. STM32 also provides a rich software library. And the information on chips on the Internet is also relatively rich. The main reason for not using it is the scars left on me by the IIC bus in my early years. When I think of the IIC bus, I think of my schoolbag full of IC cards of various formats! The past of carefully plugging and unplugging the "chip". These experiences will never be forgotten! All the heartaches come from "using 51 software to simulate IIC!" When most people heard that the IIC module of STM32 has defects, they used software simulation, which scared them so much that their legs trembled. So they are more resistant to STM32.

chenbingjy

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pxh316

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huangwarrenus

Haha, I happened to see the title of your article on the homepage and clicked in to read it. Very interesting story! I only read eight today, I have to find time to finish reading the previous stories.

Just because the OP has typed so many words, I have to give a thumbs up.