acquiring knowledge in microcontroller

[saheed taiwo]

pls i want to start using microcontroller in implementing my circuits and hence i need a practical textbook that is explicit enough for easy understanding of the topic.so someone should refer a good material on microcontroller to me and where and how i can buy it.i'm based in nigeria

 

[Ian Rogers]

The first thing you need to ask yourself is : what do I need to do with a micro controller.. Then you can choose which manufacturer, then decide the best way forward..

Two big players on the market is AVR from Atmel Atmel Corporation - Home and PIC from microchip Microchip Technology Inc. is a Leading Provider of Microcontroller and Analog Semiconductors, providing low-risk product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. there are many others but these will give you a start. Then programming!! there is very good documentation on the web.. datasheets, tutorials, examples and forums to help you to gain this knowledge.

Everyone on this forum will gladly help.

Cheers Ian

 

[Rbeckett]

Saheed, Ian hit the nail on the head about the two major players. There are several free chip programming downloads available and all are very well documented and tutorials are available just about everywhere. You need to look closely at what you want to get the chip to do and then you can decide which chip and how complex you need to go. The best solution is the minimum pin or leg count that will accomodate what you need it to do. Most of the programs are in C or C++ which is a little esoteric but once learned and mastered will transfer very nicely among many different projects. Welcome to the Forum and if/when you need assistance do not hecitate to search the resources and then ask for help. There are any number of well learned individuals here who will be more than glad to assist you in many ways.
Bob

 

[saheed taiwo]

Great, Ian and Bob! For now, i don't have anythin in mind to do but let me just start learning the rudimentary and the principle behind microcontroller.i'm sure if i have enough knowledge in it,then i can think of microcontroller companies.i just need a material or a good web on it.

yours saheed

 

[Rbeckett]

Saheed, it is often best to have a small breadboard or vero board to attatch LED's to for learning to program the microcontroller. Then you will have a visual indicator as to whether the chip is doing as you directed. I have been using a Picaxe chip since the coding is in basic, they are very limited and quite slow. But they do offer the opportunity to do some hands on stuff pretty cheap and offer a pretty decent learning environment. Something worth considering then you can decide which vendor to go to next...
Bob

 

[OlPhart]

I started in Zilog Z8s and went to Freescale ~12yrs ago. Are they such minor players or is it the market this forum caters to? Maybe the global nature of the forum?

For US$59 & $99 from DigiKey or Mouser, there are Demo08 boards with the IDE and tutorials included. I've got a QE and an LL version, I couldn't buy the parts for either at their price. While it really is That not What you learn, I appreciate their product line. <<<)))

 

[Ian Rogers]

I think the best dev kit at the moment comes with the pickit2.. pic16f690 and prototyping space for $49 around £30. Product Search - microchipDIRECT
It takes a few processors..

Cheers Ian

Oh yeah ICD as well.