Getting Started

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Getting Started with Microcontrollers

Microcontrollers are almost everywhere.They are very popular for their low cost, for on-board features that result in low pin count and component count designs and for their programmability. Lets Get Started!

1. Select your Microcontroller

First, you need select a Microcontroller Family. The most common ones to choose from are C51 and PIC and AVRs.

Locate a reliable source for your ICs and other components. Most electronic component shops will have the very common microcontrollers available. You can also checkout various online courses. (RS Components is available in India but is very costly!).

2. Get your IC Programer
After you buy the required ICs and components, you need a programer for your IC. See my programer page for more info.
3. Get a Good Book / Tutorial
I recommend mikroElectronika's PIC microcontrollers book for PIC. The above book is based on PIC16F84. It should be easy to procure. For C51 core, I recommend this tutorial. To learn in detail about the architecture of 8051, see this tutorial
4. Purchase Equipment and Tools
Depending on your budget, requirements and seriousness, you can go for tools and requirements.
5. Get Software Tools

You will need a good compiler for the language you choose: C, C++, Basic and Assembly are the common options. You can choose assembly if you want to (or have to) and is a good option to learn to program PICs. There are a lot of free or commercial compilers too.

For PIC users: HI-TECH PICC-Lite compiler - A freeware compiler with some limitations. Microchip also has compilers available. Their MPLAB is a good option.

For C51: Kiel is a full commercial product. It has its own IDE and compiler. Evaluation version has many restrictions but can be useful for learning microcontrollers. SDCC is an opensource C compiler. It does not have an IDE or Editor. You will have to enter your programmers using Notepad, Edit etc and compile from the command line.

For Atmel's AVR, check out CodeVision, GCC-avr etc.


Equipments for your Lab

Bread Board

Invest in one or two good breadboards. Buy good quality ones that will be slightly costlier. They will be more convinient and you will save lots of trouble later.

Multimeter

You will need a multimeter. Rs. 250 is as cheap as it gets. A descent investment will be more than 1K. Multimeters come with lots of features and quality and you can spend any amount of money on them.

Power Supply

You will need a DC power supply. +5V, 0V is an absolute necessity. You may require more voltages depending on your applications. You can buy ready made power supplies or can build one yourself from scratch.

Oscilloscope

You won't need an oscilloscope to learn microcontrollers but if you are trying to do something serious, an oscilloscope will be very handy. Prices start from Rs. 20,000 for analog 20 Mhz models to Rs. 40,000 for digital ones.