EEVblog 1524 - The 10 CENT RISC V Processor CH32V003

[ballsystemlord]

Why so much hype about the CH when the Puya seems way better for the same price?

Part-number? Link?

[ataradov]

Part-number? Link?

https://www.lcsc.com/products/Microcontroller-Units-MCUs-MPUs-SOCs_11329.html?keyword=Puya%20

They are 24 MHz Cortex-M0+ devices. The interest here is RISC-V. There are a lot of cheap ARM MCUs, but nobody here consumes enough of them for the price to matter that much.

From a practical point of view, if I had an actual project, currently I'd go with ARM, but it does not hurt to look at alternatives.

[ballsystemlord]

<snip>
They are 24 MHz Cortex-M0+ devices. The interest here is RISC-V. There are a lot of cheap ARM MCUs, but nobody here consumes enough of them for the price to matter that much.

From a practical point of view, if I had an actual project, currently I'd go with ARM, but it does not hurt to look at alternatives.

Well, even the attiny 13 is ~$0.50 per piece when buying 10pcs (and more for 50pcs, surprisingly, from aliexpress). So, in looking for a lower cost part, a 10 cent one is very appealing. If I buy 10, I'm saving $4, and I'm getting more I/O (which tends to really drive up costs), and other resources for my efforts.

[ataradov]

Sure, why not? It does not hurt to consider all the alternatives. They for sure replace attiny, those things are known to be way overpriced for capabilities.

[chickenHeadKnob]

At the fifty cent level (quantity 10) you have CH32V203C - 48 pin QFP on LCSC.com:
https://www.lcsc.com/search?q=ch32v203

This has great features for the money, 64K flash 20K RAM 2 USB(s)! and CAN. I think this might be the best value for money in the whole WCH portfolio. I don't understand why this part is priced cheaper than some of the other parts like CH32F103 or CH32V103.

[brucehoult]

So, where are these RISC-V processors being sold for $0.10 each? I watched the whole video, looked at all linked content, searched on Aliexpress and ebay. I can't find them that cheap, even in 100pcs (bulk) quantity.

10c each, right here, if you've got US$5 to spend.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005005036714708.html

[willmore]

For those worried about bricking the 8 pin chip by reusing NRST and the SWIO pins/functions, worry not.  There's an un-bricker function in the minichlink progam from ch32v003fun.  If you give it the '-u' option and let the LinkE device control the power for the chip, it can catch it at the right time after powerup to reprogram it.  I've used it a number of times and it's very helpful.  It's almost part of my standard reprogramming routine now that I know I can use those pins safely for other tasks.

This function also is helpful for first time programming on other chips as there have been a few people complaining that the normal programming process doesn't work for them on new chips.  Which is a bit strange, but at least there's an easy solution.

[OZ1LQB]

Hi
does anyone here use them anymore or were they just interesting because they were new and very very cheap that they were interesting

[ataradov]

Define "use". There are lots of hobby projects being published using those devices.

If you mean used in real products, then I doubt it. For people here price difference would not make a lot of difference to justify the change at least initially. But the way you justify the change is by doing test hobby projects.

This is the same way ESP2866 gained adoption. It started with hobby and all the "professional" companies laughed at them, and a couple years later the same companies were writing "fighting guides" for their sales teams.

[OZ1LQB]

yes, I mean both as a hobby but also professionally.
I couldn't resist the temptation and bought a huge pile.
it's just a hobby for me, hence my question
Claus in Denmark

[ataradov]

It would take 2-3 years for professional adoption. This is sufficient time to understand and figure out all the issues of the device and if there is a consistent supply. A lot of those cheap ICs appear and disappear on LCSC and it is very hard to judge if this is something you would be able to get reliably.

WCH is not a complete no-name brand, but they are known to discontinue devices. And when they do it, they basically disappear from retail. I assume big customers can still get them, but it does not help the rest of us.

[OZ1LQB]

Hi again.
yes, I'm aware of that. that's why I bought a supply that can last the rest of my life, this applies to both chips and programmer

[robby.roboter@gmail.com]

Kickstarter compaign to support CH32V003 in EmbeetleIDE https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/embeetle/embeetle-ide-integrating-wch-microcontroller-ch32v003?ref=discovery&term=embeetle

[brucehoult]

WCH is not a complete no-name brand, but they are known to discontinue devices. And when they do it, they basically disappear from retail. I assume big customers can still get them, but it does not help the rest of us.

From talking to their Technical Director Patrick (by voice) a few months ago, I believe they'd always be happy to tell the fab to drag out the masks and run even a single 3000 die wafer.

They also do customised chips in 3000 unit minimum, though in that case of course there would be additional NRE cost.