Best way to get started with microcontrollers

[Neyolight]

Ok so through out my engineering undergrad I have been running away from microcontrollers. Only I know how i managed to pass my one and only micro controller paper :evil:

But now I cant run away from it anymore and have decided to learn micro controller programming from the scratch. :-D

Any ideas on how I should get started. As I read stuff on the net I realize that those articles are for people with some experience with micros ( even thought the article title says " PIC for beginners" 8-O )

 

[czxtzh]

Recently someone told me about Arduino. Though I have not used it, I think it's meant for robotics or people who wants start a mechatronics project without going too deep into micro-e. You can check it out at Arduino - HomePage

PIC is quite difficult for self learners/first timers IMO.

 

[Neyolight]

Recently someone told me about Arduino. Though I have not used it, I think it's meant for robotics or people who wants start a mechatronics project without going too deep into micro-e. You can check it out at Arduino - HomePage

PIC is quite difficult for self learners/first timers IMO.

oh thanks , I have a mechatronics engineering degree ! Everyone around me is an electronics or computer system engineer and have been using PIC for years. They suggested me to start using PIC ! :shock:

 

[cubanflyer]

PIC is quite difficult for self learners/first timers IMO.

I do not feel that working with PIC's is hard work (I am self taught, and I am still learning), but you need to decide how you wish to program whatever chip you select. I preferred to go down the road of assembler, using MPLab, which is free from Microchip.

There are lots of other good chips out there, and some people will always say, some are better than others.

Best to start with what you can easily obtain, chances are you will damage the odd one.

HTH

 

[czxtzh]

Advantage of PIC is a large range of chips available, free libraries.

Since you've studied mechatronics, it will enable you to learn quicker. Go for pic then, in the future you can learn different interfaces, or even use 16, 32 bit without relearning since they use the same language and IDE.

 

[xxtigerxx]

PIC assembly is difficult.

I think the most easy is to start with Atmel and GNU c compiler.

Also proteus is a very good tool to understand and simulate a mcu.

 

[ujjwol77]

I think Arduino would the best way to go. For beginners it has a got many libraries and an easy development environment. As you get more experience there is possibility of using Ardiuno using Low Level Languages to achieve anything you want!! Best thing about Arduino is Rapid Development

 

[bigdogguru]

Each microcontroller (MCU) family has its strong and weak points. I incorportate Microchip, Atmel, Silicon Labs, TI and other manufactures MCUs in my commercial embedded systems development and base my choice of a particular MCU on several factors including desired features/peripherals, price point, availability, etc.

The Microchip PIC is as good as any MCU to beginning learning embedded systems design and programming. Both Assembly and C language programming have their place and I would strongly urge you to study both languages. The PIC16F midrange family of MCUs have only 35 different instructions, so learning the purpose of each instruction in the case of a RISC MCU like the PIC is not a daunting challenge. To achieve some tasks like accurate time delays and high optimized routines still require the use of Assembly language, while the balk of the coding can be done in C language.

The best tutorials I have found online are the following:

**broken link removed**

The cover both the baseline and midrange PICs using both Assembly and Hi-Tech C. They are very professionally done and very informative, much more so than most books on the subject. Each lesson is in PDF form with the required source coded available for download as well. Best of all they are entirely free. Both the Microchip Assembler and Hi-Tech C Compiler are installed by default with the Microchip MPLAB IDE installation.

You can either purchase an inexpensive development board from Microchip or simply breadboard the lessons using just a few various PICs.

Hope the info and insight help,

BigDog