Re: dsPIC33F Lua support (Was: Advocating Lua on an embedded systems fair)

[Ralph Hempel <rhempel@...>]

RJP Computing wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am not that familiar with embedded programming, but at my work we are 
> looking into running Lua on an embedded platform we use internally at 
> the company. My question is: Can Lua run on a dsPIC33F micro? If not 
> what is the cheapest and best micro we could use? Any suggestions and 
> help would be great. Thanks.

At least you know what you don't know and are willing to ask
for help before it's too late :-)

Answering this question depends on a LOT of different things, such
as what the application is, must the Lua code running an application
that fail gracefully, is it only doing config and setup
scripts, and so on.

There's also the issue of a separate code/data space and whether
you can run code from data space - this is peculiar to most PICs
and the goofy modified Harvard architecture that's great for
a lot of applications and a complete show stopper for others.

And depending on quantity, cheapest hardware is not always a good
tradeoff if your software guys end up standing on their heads
to jam the application into the device.

You have to trade off a lot of variables such as tool quality,
programmer familiarity, parts availability, "glue" component
cost, and manufacturing cost. The list goes on and on.

I hope that your firm can spend some time looking for a good
out of work automotive guy in the Michigan area that knows
this stuff inside out...

Ralph