Customer Reviews

Embedded Systems Design using the Rabbit 3000 Microprocessor: Interfacing, Networking, and Application Development (Embedded Technology)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the two books I keep in my cubicle! This book explains how to use the features of the Rabbit MCU and the software libraries from ZWorld. These explanations alone are worth the price of the book since they explain *why* whereas the corporate docs merely say "do it this way".

The added benefit of the book are the real-world examples. These cover a variety of typical embedded systems tasks and give excellent context and examples of the stuff beyond to CPU module that real applications have to take into account. Snubber circuits, signal conditioning, network communications, etc, are explained in detail.

If you're new to embedded systems, or just want a reference to the Rabbit that's more readable than the data sheet, then buy this book.

I have been using Rabbit microprocessors for years. I started out with the Rabbit 2000 and now use the Rabbit 3000. This book addresses a lot of the problems I came across while developing software and integrating hardware for the Rabbit. I truly appreciate the authors taking the time to put together such a great book. The CD that came with the book includes all of their project's sample code and compiles the first time (unlike other publishers which require modification to compile and run properly). This book is also a great reference and will not collect dust on my bookshelf!

FYI: My last robot was powered by a Rabbit 2000:

http://www.robotdirectory.org/details.cfm?id=194&cat=4

Have fun developing for the Rabbit 3000!

I've read a number of books like this, and this is the only one I've seen with the qualities that it has! It includes overviews and lays down a foundation and provides plenty of background for the reader who's not already doing this kind of work, and it provides a wealth of relevant information, not just confining itself to the embedded microprocessor and interfacing.

Very unusual for this kind of book, it's not dry reading. I felt like I was listening to engineers and technicians sharing information with whiteboards, donuts and coffee, it's written in human-speak. Unlike most books of this nature, you can see that the authors are people just like you.

It's a rare and excellent combination of technical data and friendly discussion, providing the reader with the insight needed to get involved with embedded systems or to develop embedded systems using the Rabbit 3000.

I'd reccommend this for anyone who designs, repairs, maintains, or is otherwise involved with equipment that has an embedded system - which is nearly everything, today!

The book has been written by people with a lot of experience in the industry.... in various sections, it goes beyond just building hardware or writing code and offers practical advice that one gains only after a couple of decades in the industry.

Although the title may lead the reader to think the book is focused only on the Rabbit microprocessor, there is useful and practical advice in there for just about any embedded systems designer.

Excellent reference on all there is to know about the Rabbit 3000. I found the chapters on interrupts and interfacing to the external world especially usefull resources. Overall, the book is well researched and written and enjoyable to read. I wish all technical books were this good.

This book is written with the ease of many engineers in one big book. The book leads you through designs with the Rabbit 3000. It is written with the designer in mind.

I think every person who is instersted in Microprocessor design should own at least one copy of this book.

As a relative beginner to the world of embedded systems I was very pleased with the readability and accessibility of this book. From coding examples provided in so many languages, anyone with coding experience can find one they identify with, to real world usage examples that make sense. This book is a great place to start for anyone looking for information on how to use, integrate, or program for, the Rabbit processor. It's also a great place to start for anyone looking for information about how embedded processors can be used.

It's extremely rare for me to find a technical book that is as captivating as this one. I'm truly shocked at how well written it is and how inspiring the words are. I literally can't put this book down. Strongly recommended.

As a supplemental to the documentation for the Rabbit 3000, I found this book to be useful. In some ways, it is superior to the documentation which comes with Rabbit 3000 development kits. In particular, this book talks about the Rabbit 3000 as hardware, where the standard documentation tends to describe the processor in terms of the ample drivers supplied by Rabbit Semiconductor. The approach taken in this book is clearly more useful if you need to go straight the hardware, which is often required in embedded projects to wring out that extra performance required to make things work. Rabbit Semiconductor needs to make datasheets that document the hardware directly, as do their competitors. This book is a step in that direction.

The thing I liked most about this book is that it contains real nuggets of wisdom that are applicable to any embedded project. The section of real world interfacing alone is worth the price of the book. Any one of the ideas in this chapter could easily save a project or a career. Other equally useful nuggets are scattered throughout the book.

I have two small complaints about the book. First, it seems a little unfocused. Many of the "golden nuggets" I mentioned previously seem almost out of place in this book, as if the authors were attempting to cram everything they knew into this book for fear of never getting to write another. The use of unusual tools (bash and gnuplot to plot ADC characterization data) seem a bit obscure. Most developers stick with the Microsoft paradigm (Excel and/or Visual Basic) for their embedded interfacing needs. My second complaint is about the inconsistency of editing. Some of the writing is fairly crisp, but some could definitely benefit from a reading of Zinsser and a firm application of Hemingway's rule.

Overall, if you're doing a Rabbit 3000 project, this book is well worth the price. If you're a serious embedded engineer who does real world interfacing, this book should still be considered for your library.