From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BASIC Stamp

The BASIC Stamp is a microcontroller with a small, specialized BASIC interpreter (PBASIC) built into ROM. It is made by Parallax, Inc. and has been quite popular with electronics hobbyists since the early 1990s due to its low threshold of learning and ease of use (due to its simple BASIC language).

Although the BASIC Stamp has the form of a DIP chip, it is in fact a small Printed Circuit Board that contains the essential elements of a microprocessor system:

• A Microcontroller containing the CPU, a built in ROM containing the BASIC interpreter, and various peripherals
• Memory (a serial EEPROM)
• A clock
• A power supply
• External input and output

PBASIC, the BASIC Stamp language, incorporates common microcontroller functions, including PWM, serial communications, I²C and 1-Wire communications, communications with common LCD driver circuits, hobby servo pulse trains, pseudo-sine wave frequencies, and the ability to time an RC circuit which may be used to detect an analog value.

The end result is that a hobbyist can connect a 9V battery to a BASIC Stamp and have a complete system. A connection to a PC allows the programmer to download software to the BASIC Stamp, which is stored in the onboard memory device. This memory stays programmed until it is erased and reprogrammed (the memory remains intact even when the power is removed).

There are currently three variants of the interpreter, BASIC Stamp 1, BASIC Stamp 2, and the Javelin Stamp. The Basic Stamp 2 variant has seven sub-variants:

• BS2
• BS2e
• BS2sx
• BS2p24
• BS2p40
• BS2pe
• BS2px

These sub-variants feature more memory, faster execution speed, additional specialized PBASIC commands, extra I/O pins, etc, in comparison to the original BS2 model. While the BS1 and BS2 use a PIC, the remaining BASIC Stamp 2 variants use an SX processor.

The third variant is the Javelin Stamp. This module uses Sun Microsystem's Java programming language instead of Parallax's PBASIC.

Many companies now make virtual "clones" of the BASIC Stamp with additional features, such as faster execution, Analog-to-digital converters and hardware based PWM which can run in the background. However, many use the same pin out as the BASIC Stamp, to allow BASIC Stamp users to plug in their products in a design that already uses the BASIC Stamp.

• BasicATOM
• Arduino
• C Stamp
• OOPic
• PICAXE
• Parallax Propeller
• ARM based Stamp

• Parallax, Inc. – Corporate website
• Basic Micro, Inc. – Basic Stamp Alternative
• A-WIT Technologies, Inc. – C Stamp
• Coridium Corp. – ARM based Stamp
• Parallax Forums – Discussion Forum
• "Comparing PBASIC 2.5 control structures to the old PBASIC" – By Tracy Allen, EME Systems, 2003
• "Independent review of the Scribbler Robot, a programmable intelligent robot utilizing the BASIC Stamp 2 Microcontroller" – By Andy Kaiser
• "Il BASIC Stamp® 2 - Un microcontrollore dalle dimensioni di un francobollo" – By Giuseppe Francesco Indelli, published in the Italian language as an introductory article to the BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller.

This microcomputer/microprocessor-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.