Intro to microcontroller

Microcontroller is a programmable integrated circuit designed for special purposes. A microprocessor is planted inside it, and also several peripherals such as: flash memory, static RAM, EEPROM, Timer/Counter, ADC, Analog Comparator, interrupt system, etc., depends on microcontroller's type.

There are kinds of microcontrollers, produced by many companies: Intel, Atmel Corporation, Harris Semiconductor, Motorola, Microchip Technologies, Maxim, Renesas Technology, and many more. Each of products has its own characteristic.

So, how about shorten our grammar? I’ll call microcontroller as just micro. I think it’s easier to talk.

This weblog talks only micro produced by Atmel Corporation, especially the AVR family. Family of MCS51 is still used, but rarely, rather than AVR family. So, we’ll discuss only AT90Sxxxx, ATmegaxxxx, and ATtinyxx. At the recent, I still use the assembler language, but it’s ok to say in C or BASIC. You can share them for me.

What kind of device we can build based on micro?
The answer is a lot of kind. You can design a digital thermometer, a digital tachometer, a autonomous robot, digital clock, and many more. There are at least 9 classes of micro’s applications:
1. automation
2. display
3. instrumentation
4. power electronics
5. home electronics
6. automotive
7. control system
8. monitoring system
9. PC interface