HOW/WHERE TO START - PLEASE HELP ME

Hi there,

I'm a beginner for micro controller programming. I'm impressed to use this but I know nothing about it. I have read some extend about this but could not understand much.

Please anybody help me how I need to start if my interest is as follows

My interests:

  1. I must be able to use c or c kind of program environment to utilize MCU pins

  2. I might use I/O for home appliance controlling and A/D converts only (I don't do any extreme programming as I begin to use micro controller)

  3. I need to buy many MCUs and program and use it in different board which is an actual application

  4. As my application feature is very small, I need cheap MCUs and respective programmer/application board or whatever

  5. Considering the low cost MCU and Application boards, based on your experience, what MCUs/Kits/Programmer/Board I must go for to suite my requirement as above points?

please advice me what are all the parts I have to buy/download ?

I also have some questions.

  1. What is boot loader? Do i need to have this on all new MCUs?

  2. What is programmer / downloader?
    (is this to download the result (compiled code) of C ( or any such) program I use on IDE)

I'm sorry for my silly questions (I'm totally new to this micro controller programming)

Thanks & regards,

NewBird

There is a great Beginners Guide to the Arduino, written by Mike Mc.
you can find it here : http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1247637768

Start with a starter pack from Adafruit.

Newbird -

what are you looking to build? The Arduino is a great board and very flexible, but each application has a tool.

Hi there,

I'm a beginner for micro controller programming. I'm impressed to use this but I know nothing about it. I have read some extend about this but could not understand much.

Hi, I am not new to mcu's but new to arduino, reading up as much as I can

Please anybody help me how I need to start if my interest is as follows

Lets see what we can do

  1. I must be able to use c or c kind of program environment to utilize MCU pins

Almost all mcu's can use code written in c, arduino uses its own flavor

  1. I might use I/O for home appliance controlling and A/D converts only (I don't do any extreme programming as I begin to use micro controller)

Depending on what you mean by control yes the arduino can be hooked up tru relays to control mains voltage, or wired up to "push" buttons on a device, it also contains 10 bit (1024 values) A/D converters (how many depend on your chip)

  1. I need to buy many MCUs and program and use it in different board which is an actual application

As I just mentioned in another thread, you can make the chips usable with a few components

That is actually my plan, after I get my "goal" working correctly on the arduino and breadboards, I plan to move the chip to a protoboard or maybe even a pcb

  1. As my application feature is very small, I need cheap MCUs and respective programmer/application board or whatever

A blank atmega328 cost a few dollars, one with the arduino bootloader already loaded up is a cupple bucks more

  1. Considering the low cost MCU and Application boards, based on your experience, what MCUs/Kits/Programmer/Board I must go for to suite my requirement as above points?

I would get one with a removable (dip) chip, other than that its up to your budget and what level of "extras" you want (or dont)

please advice me what are all the parts I have to buy/download ?

Depends on which one you buy, an arduino with serial or usb connection is pretty much ready to go

What I ended up getting (the bare bones kit) needed a usb or serial converter, assembly and I dont think it would play well with sheilds

The 1 thing to download is the arduino ide, found on the homepage of this site, its available for linux mac and windows

  1. What is boot loader? Do i need to have this on all new MCUs?

A blank mcu is just that, blank, a bootloader is kinda sorta like the bios on a computer, it handles all the start up and loads some basic i/o drivers, like serial... so you can program your chip easily

  1. What is programmer / downloader?
    (is this to download the result (compiled code) of C ( or any such) program I use on IDE)

Those are devices that program blank chips, they vary from hacked up printer cables to fairly elaborate devices

If your using a bootloader you dont need one, write your program, compile it and hit upload

I'm sorry for my silly questions (I'm totally new to this micro controller programming)

Thanks & regards,

NewBird

nah and welcome I hope :slight_smile: