Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Choose a microcontroller chip for your project. Consider the number of analog inputs and digital inputs and outputs you need. Also consider the amount of power and memory your project requires. Every microcontroller chip has a limited amount of space for storing the programs you create.
Design a schematic on graph paper or in a graphic design program based on the microcontroller chip you've chosen. Use the chip's datasheets and other manuals to create the design. These documents tell you what each pin does, how the chip functions and may provide schematics for different types of projects. Your schematic must show what electronic components each pin connects to and where the power and ground connects to the circuit.
Build the circuit on a breadboard according to your schematic.
Test the circuit by connecting it to your computer, loading a program onto the chip and connecting electronic components, such as sensors and LEDs, to each of the inputs and outputs. Depending on your microcontroller design, you might need to purchase or build an in-system programmer that connects to your circuit. An in-system programmer allows you to communicate with the microcontroller and load the bootloader -- a design and debugging program that makes it easier to program microcontrollers -- onto it.
Draw the circuit's PCB or stripboard layout on graph paper or in a graphic or circuit design program. Use the layout on the breadboard and your schematic as guides. If you are creating a stripboard layout, draw the stripboard's layout first, then add the circuit to it. If you are designing a PCB, draw lines that are at least 0.01 inches thick to connect components, and use circles with thick outlines and empty spaces in their centers for through-hole components. Label the components' locations in the design.
Etch the circuit's layout onto blank PCB, if you're using PCB or send it to a PCB manufacturer. If you are using stripboard, break the circuit in the necessary locations, such as between each of the microcontroller chip's pins, with a track cutter.
Solder the components that are not heat-sensitive, such as resistors, to the board with your soldering iron. Solder integrated circuit (IC) sockets to the board. Do not solder ICs, such as the microcontroller chip, directly to the board -- they are heat-sensitive and if they malfunction, you can easily remove them from their sockets.
Solder the heat-sensitive components, like diodes, to the board.
Put the ICs, like the microcontroller chip, in their sockets.