Generic Microcontroller Presentation - pg1

[last updated: 2019-08-13]
ham radio
Arduino introduction
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If you have an electrical signal,
or some real-world parameter that can be converted to an electrical signal,
you can monitor and control it with a microcontroller.
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A microcontroller is a board that has some kind of microprocessor on it.
The board will have some number of GPIO's: General Purpose input/output lines/pins on it,
and unlike computers, which also have microprocessors, I/O lines in a microcontroller are accessible and programmable by the user.

The I/O lines can be programmed to be either inputs or outputs.
Some I/O lines may be digital only, on or off, and some may be either digital or analog.

Digital input sources for example might be switches or any other signal that is either on or off.
Analog input sources might be temperature sensors, photo sensors, potentiometers, etc.

Digital outputs might go to LED's, motors, solenoids, buzzers, etc.
Analog outputs might be used to control light brightness, speakers, motor speed, etc.

You can see how the possibilities quickly become as infinite as a chess game.
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Microcontrollers come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, from robust, industrial PLC's (programmable logic controllers) to tiny boards with only 3 or 4 I/O lines. pg2 - Examples
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go to: microcontroller presentation pg2 - Examples
go to: microcontroller presentation pg3 - Gotchas
go to: microcontroller presentation pg4 - Comparisons
go to: microcontroller presentation pg5 - Programming
go to: microcontroller presentation pg6 - Shields
go to: microcontroller presentation pg7 - Ham Projects

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eof