AVR Microcontroller Class 2009

Syllabus, course material, homeworks, photos, etc from an Introduction to Microcontrollers with AVR chips class can be found here.

Also see (and contribute to) Useful AVR Links

Class 0: Introduction and Setup

What the AVRs are, what all the pins do, what they can do for you. Then the toolchain: soldering together the programmer kits, getting the software up and running.

Labs: building the kit and running a test LED flasher. (Almost all lab today, little talk.)

Resources:

• Slides from class: Media:class0.pdf
• ATmega48P Datasheets (get both): ATmega48P Summary Datasheet and The Long ATmega48P Datasheet
• Download the software part of the toolchain: For Mac folks: AVR Mac Pack. For Windows folks: WinAVR. For Ubuntu linux folks: "sudo apt-get install build-essential avr-libc binutils-avr gcc-avr avrdude"
• Programmer and mega48 pinouts:

Class 1: Programmer Hookup and Hello World LED Blinking

Lecture on how the programmer works -- simple serial interface basics. Hook up the programming interface wire-by-wire to the Mega48 chip and flash it with a simple program. The hook up an LED to the output port and watch it blink!

Resources

• helloWorld.zip

Class 3: Inputs: Buttons and Analog-to-Digital conversion (ADC)

Gather data from the world.

Labs: pushbutton organ, light-dependent theremin. Extra credit: something else!

Class 4: Interrupts and Timers

Interrupts call subroutines when certain conditions are true. Timers let you time stuff. Together, they take a lot of the programming burden off your shoulders, and enable really cool stuff.

Labs: Driving servo motors and/or build a better audio synth, use an LED as a light-source and light-sensor. Extra credit: capacitive touch-switch!

Class 5: Serial I/O

Make the micro speak to your computer (and vice-versa). We can also cover other serial protocols (I2C, SPI).

Labs: Basic serial in/out, data-logging light sensor. Maybe SD/MMC cards? Extra credit: ADC + serial output + Python + laptop = ghetto oscilloscope.