Microcontroller Essay

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From an experimental point of view, a microcontroller is an electronic device capable of performing a predefined task on an input signal and output the altered signal from one of its ports. The mentioned “predefined” task is programmed into the read only memory of the microcontroller through an integrated development environment (IDE). The emphasis of this lab and all the consequent labs will be on how to program using an IDE so that the desired output signal will have enough information to make other electronic devices (LEDs, diodes, motors, etc.) to behave in a particular desired way. Microcontrollers are small computers designed to do real time controls. A microcontroller is essentially a small programmable computer contained on a single integrated circuit, consisting of …show more content…

The microcontrollers come in all shapes, sizes, and layouts. Usually, they are quite small and use less power than traditional computers. Microcontrollers are often deployed in ‘appliances’ and serve an unmodifiable dedicated purpose, such as keeping track of what spin cycle your washing machine is on, or how much time is left before it should turn off your microwave oven. Make no mistake, microcontrollers are general purpose computers. [1] The microcontroller used for this lab (and all other following labs for this matter) is Arduino Leonardo board. The Arduino Leonardo is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega32u4 (datasheet). It has 20 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a micro USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.

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