Hey guys, while I am working on confirming the most suitable date to kickoff the Online Lab Series for MikroElektronika, I am currently working on the content for the first 3 lab sessions starting in the later half of April. Well, the title makes it quite obvious ain't it. This part of the series will cover mostly introductory lab sessions. However, in case you are still catching up, the goal of this whole entire series isn't about covering the theory, so before the whole series begins, let's talk about some of the assumptions that I have about you:
You are not entirely new to electronics or the concept of embedded systems. Which also means you have played with Arduino Uno at some point.
You have gone through some introductory videos explaining some of the "nuts and bolts" of the ATmega328P microcontroller but beyond the theory, you asking yourself this question, "So, what can I actually do now?".
You have came across the EasyAVR full-featured development board on MikroElektronika's product catalog and decided to get it, and right now, you are thinking to yourself, "What am I going to do with this?"
You might have bought the product for awhile now and after some time, you start to wonder, "Have I really made the most of this development board? Or is there more that I can do with it?"
You might be someone from an educational institution or lab, surveying for the right kind of development products your students can use in your labs.
Whichever is the case, my hope is that in the first 3 sessions of this series, you will get some of the answers that you are looking for.
AVR: The Basics of Embedded Development
If you have actually done your own search on Google, looking for videos and tutorials on ATtiny85, or ATmega328P, you might find a lot of content that is already pre-recorded. No offence to those that have done it, but some of those videos are so long ago. Most of the softwares they are using in their videos are from a few years ago and as with any technology, things always change with time. By now, the interface you are using might look quite different and maybe some features that the person is talking about in the video probably don't exist anymore.
Sorry about sidelining there, but you get my point. Anyway, AVR is really the basics of embedded development. I'm not speaking about it from a theoretical concept perspective. But speaking from a more practical, real-world applications' perspective, I can tell you that in my observations and speaking to other experienced embedded engineers through the years - AVR is really the most basic you can get. When it comes to serious embedded systems development, AVR is the foundational level that you can start with if you are new to this whole gig.
Clearly, there must be a better way for me to research, learn and develop with the AVR microcontrollers.
I started learning about AVR development back in 2015, almost a year after I started playing around with Arduino Uno. I remembered thinking to myself back then, "Clearly, there must be a better way for me to research, learn and develop with the AVR microcontrollers." After a few months, I came across MikroElektronika's products. I began reading about their products and research more and more into it. But sadly, at that time, I was just starting to pursue my passion in UX and Telerik, and I really didn't have a stable income, which meant that I couldn't afford the products as well.
Again, I will not lie, as a Singaporean, living in a city that has one of the highest GDP per capita, the cost of living is also quite high, which means that eventhough I might earn a bit more than others, in reality I am really not making a lot too. I will admit that the MikroElektronika products are honestly not on the cheap-end. When it comes to research & development of microcontrollers, I will classify MikroElektronika towards the higher-end of the spectrum.
Because they honestly invest excellence into the creation of their products. They really pay attention to the details and they understand what developers, students and educators need.
That said, I still strongly believe in the brand, the products they have created, the community that they have going. Why? Because they honestly invest excellence into the creation of their products. They really pay attention to the details and they understand what developers, students and educators need. It might cost more, but I think that their products are really worth that investment. Make it even better, their mikroC, mikroBasic, and mikroPascal compilers are lifetime licensed, which means that you only need to pay for it once and you are done. Their development boards are extremely useful as I will share in my coming sessions.
Following Along with the AVR Lab Sessions
I want to just take a quick moment to talk about some of the items that you are going to need as we get started with the AVR Lab Sessions in April. If budget happens to be your concern, I have shared a special discount code at the end of the article which you can use for the entire month of April. Also, I will let you know what are the essentials you will need. Lets get started!
Recommended Lab Components:
1. mikroLAB kit for AVR (most recommended for newbies)
Price: US$471.00 + US$25.00 (shipping)
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/mikrolab-avr
If you are serious about following along in the whole lab series (going beyond the introductory lab sessions), I would recommend that you invest in this entire mikroLAB kit. It will consists of every single basic component we will cover & use during out lab sessions.
2. DC Motor 8 Click Board
Price: US$18.00
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/dc-motor-8-click
No lab session will ever be complete without the use of some click boards. I've specifically chosen the DC Motor 8 click board because it is one of the most recent and newest motor control click boards available. I loved it so much that I actually bought 2 of them straight on the first purchase I made. The click board will not be used in the very first session so you can put it in your Cart and leave it there and get it later if you like.
3. Stepper 7 Click Board
Price: US$17.00
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/stepper-7-click
As with any new electronics kit, there will always be 2 most basic motors, the standard DC motor as well as the servos. So, for this lab series, if you are keen to explore the AVR series, I would recommend that you get this. Because in the later part of this 3 introductory sessions, I will actually be explaining the use of the Stepper 7 Click Board.
4. RN4871 Click (BLE)
Price: US$33.00
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/rn4871-click
The BLE capability is a sister of the much more complex Bluetooth capability, but with one significant advantage - low power. Like with any project, sometimes you might want to be able to communicate with your devices and send them some kinds of commands so that they will perform a certain action. For example, the moment I step into my room and the device detects that my phone is at a certain distance, it will automatically broadcast a "Welcome Home Sherman!" message. It might not seem like much, but you will eventually come out with much better ones. I would strongly recommend getting it for the Lab series.
5. ATmega328P-PU
This is the best place to get started with the AVR MCUs (short for microcontrollers). I will be using the short form a lot throughout my series and companion articles. If you are a electronics hobbyist and you have an Arduino lying around, you probably already have one of these lying around. But just in case you don't, you can get them from any of your local radioshack stores, or local electronics distributors. A few of the brands that I have previously bought items from includes: Mouser, Element14, DigiKey, RS Online. There could be more options available in your country/city.
Budget Constraint?
If you still feel that budget is a constraint, let me make a recommendation. At least for the very first 2 Lab Sessions, you just need to get the following items to follow along:
1. EasyAVR v7
Price: US$149.00 (not including shipping)
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/easyavr
Of the entire 3 Lab sessions, this is the most basic item you will need if you are looking to get some hands-on experience with developing AVR microcontrollers with EasyAVR v7.
2. mikroC for AVR
Price: US$249.00
Get it here: https://www.mikroe.com/mikroc-avr
You can't exactly develop and write coding if you do not have a proper IDE for you to do your job. I recommend looking at the mikroC PRO for AVR. For a lifetime license model, I will say that the price of the compiler is actually a steal! Just imagine, you'll probably only be paying a few cents or pennies per day if you split the amount out over the entire year of use. In my most honest opinion, I find that the mikroC development experience that I have had with the PIC MCUs have shown me that the IDE is really simple to use. It is one of the reasons why I love it so much.
All the prices that are listed on this article is reflected on the website at the time of publishing. The prices may be subjected to changes in the future so its highly recommended that if you come across this article at a much later time, you should refer to the official MikroElektronika website to find out what the price at your present time is.
In Closing
So, I think that pretty much covers what I am going to be using for the first few sessions of the Lab Series. Oh yes, make sure that you use the special discount code that has been created for the Online Lab Series. For any of the products added to your cart in the month of April, you will receive a special 20% discount off your total purchase.
Discount Code: MIKROE-PREOLS-DEALS
With that, I really look forward to engaging with you during the upcoming Developing with MikroElektronika Lab Series!
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