Smallest/cheapest possible Python platform?

[TheSeeker]

On Saturday, May 26, 2012 10:34:19 AM UTC-5, Roy Smith wrote:
> What's the smallest/cheapest/lowest-power hardware platform I can run 
> Python on today?  I'm looking for something to use as a hardware 
> controller in a battery-powered device and want to avoid writing in C 
> for this project.
> 
> Performance requirements are minimal.  I need to monitor a few switches, 
> control a couple of LEDs and relays, and keep time over about a 30 
> minute period to 1/10th second accuracy.  Nice-to-have (but not 
> essential) would be a speech synthesizer with a vocabulary of maybe 50 
> words.
> 
You might take a look at the work being done by Dean Hall (with others) on the python-on-a-chip project:
http://code.google.com/p/python-on-a-chip/

Many platforms have been ported to, including Arduino Mega, RedBee EconoTAG, Teensy++ 2.0, Microchip PIC24/dsPIC, among others

This route may be more work than others, but considering budget may be attractive.


> The Rasberry Pi certainly looks attractive, but isn't quite available 
> today.  Can you run Python on an Arduino?  Things like 
> http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7250 are 
> more than I need, and the $129 price probably busts my budget.



On Saturday, May 26, 2012 10:34:19 AM UTC-5, Roy Smith wrote:
> What's the smallest/cheapest/lowest-power hardware platform I can run 
> Python on today?  I'm looking for something to use as a hardware 
> controller in a battery-powered device and want to avoid writing in C 
> for this project.
> 
> Performance requirements are minimal.  I need to monitor a few switches, 
> control a couple of LEDs and relays, and keep time over about a 30 
> minute period to 1/10th second accuracy.  Nice-to-have (but not 
> essential) would be a speech synthesizer with a vocabulary of maybe 50 
> words.
> 
> The Rasberry Pi certainly looks attractive, but isn't quite available 
> today.  Can you run Python on an Arduino?  Things like 
> http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7250 are 
> more than I need, and the $129 price probably busts my budget.



On Saturday, May 26, 2012 10:34:19 AM UTC-5, Roy Smith wrote:
> What's the smallest/cheapest/lowest-power hardware platform I can run 
> Python on today?  I'm looking for something to use as a hardware 
> controller in a battery-powered device and want to avoid writing in C 
> for this project.
> 
> Performance requirements are minimal.  I need to monitor a few switches, 
> control a couple of LEDs and relays, and keep time over about a 30 
> minute period to 1/10th second accuracy.  Nice-to-have (but not 
> essential) would be a speech synthesizer with a vocabulary of maybe 50 
> words.
> 
> The Rasberry Pi certainly looks attractive, but isn't quite available 
> today.  Can you run Python on an Arduino?  Things like 
> http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7250 are 
> more than I need, and the $129 price probably busts my budget.



On Saturday, May 26, 2012 10:34:19 AM UTC-5, Roy Smith wrote:
> What's the smallest/cheapest/lowest-power hardware platform I can run 
> Python on today?  I'm looking for something to use as a hardware 
> controller in a battery-powered device and want to avoid writing in C 
> for this project.
> 
> Performance requirements are minimal.  I need to monitor a few switches, 
> control a couple of LEDs and relays, and keep time over about a 30 
> minute period to 1/10th second accuracy.  Nice-to-have (but not 
> essential) would be a speech synthesizer with a vocabulary of maybe 50 
> words.
> 
> The Rasberry Pi certainly looks attractive, but isn't quite available 
> today.  Can you run Python on an Arduino?  Things like 
> http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7250 are 
> more than I need, and the $129 price probably busts my budget.