Tomorrow (Monday 3/3/08) at TechShop in Menlo Park, CA, I’m giving another AVR intro class. These classes have been big, lively, engaging and interesting, with a lot of good questions– two sessions are scheduled this month:

Monday, 3/3/08, 6:30-8:30 PM, and

Saturday, 3/22/08, 1:00-3:00 PM

Seminar: Introduction to AVR Microcontrollers

AVR microcontrollers are powerful and versatile single-chip computers that cost only a few dollars each. You may have noticed that a number of our interesting projects are based around these, using them to make smart little toys and machines.

This class is aptly billed by TechShop as “How To Use AVR Microcontrollers in Your Projects.” Indeed. We’ll be bringing along a number of our cool AVR-based Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories projects from to show off some of the things that you can do with these little marvels, and how you might go about doing it.

Formal class description: “AVR microcontrollers are powerful, versatile and inexpensive single-chip computers that are remarkably easy to program in C, using entirely free and open-source tools that run on Macs, Windows, and Unix-like operating systems. In this practical introduction to AVR microcontrollers, we’ll take it from the beginning so that you can get started using them for your own cool projects. Some topics to be covered include: different types of AVRs and how to pick one for your application, getting a programmer, installing software tools, how to get started actually programming them, and how to download and run your code on the microcontroller. Class format is a one hour lecture followed by show-and-tell demonstrations and ample time for questions.”

Sign up here.
   

Seats are still available in one other microcontroller project class:

Soldering Project: Build a Micro Readerboard

A fun little soldering class, where you can customize the phrases in and build your very own LED Micro-Readerboard. It’s a cute little toy that spells out a preprogrammed messages (e.g., your name– for an LED nametag!), one letter at a time, on its display. In the class, you get to choose what messages to put on your readerboard, solder it together and take it home. It’s a neat, self-contained project that’s a great example of what you can do with a little AVR microcontroller; a perfect “my first microcontroller” project for anyone who hasn’t played with one yet. This is an intermediate soldering class; some prior soldering experience is needed. Other than that, no prior knowledge is assumed, so this class is great for kids too.

Next Classes:

• Saturday, 3/8/08, 1:00 PM
• Saturday, 3/22/08, 4:00 PM

Sign up here!

Starting next week and over the next few months, I’ll be teaching several different self-contained microcontroller-oriented classes at TechShop, at different levels of skill and with different emphases:

• Soldering Project: Build a Micro Readerboard
• Soldering Project: Build an AVR Programmer
• Seminar: Introduction to AVR Microcontrollers

The classes are held at TechShop, a San Francisco Bay Area “open-access public workshop,” located just off of 101 in Menlo Park, where you can go use a wide range of tools to make things, and take all kinds of classes.
   

Soldering Project: Build a Micro Readerboard

This is a fun little soldering class, suitable for anyone with a bit of soldering experience (even youngsters), where you can customize the phrases in and build your very own LED Micro-Readerboard. It’s a cute little thing that spells out a preprogrammed messages (e.g., your name), one letter at a time, on a single-character alphanumeric display. In the class, you get to choose what messages to put on your readerboard, solder it together and take it home. It’s a neat, self-contained project that’s a great example of what you can do with a little AVR microcontroller. This is an intermediate soldering class; a little bit of prior soldering experience is assumed. The class typically runs about 90 minutes, but soldering experts will finish more quickly and we’ve reserved space for two hours just in case. Class size is limited to 5 students.

This class is scheduled to be given

• Saturday, 2/9/08 1:00 PM
• Saturday, 2/23/08 4:00 PM
• Saturday, 3/8/08, 1:00 PM
• Saturday, 3/22/08, 4:00 PM

Sign up here.

And speaking of AVR Microcontrollers….
Seminar: Introduction to AVR Microcontrollers

AVR microcontrollers are powerful and versatile single-chip computers that cost only a few dollars each. You may have noticed that a number of our interesting projects are based around these, using them to make smart little toys and machines.

This class is aptly billed by TechShop as “How To Use AVR Microcontrollers in Your Projects.” Indeed. We’ll be bringing along a number of our cool AVR-based Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories projects from to show off some of the things that you can do with these little marvels, and how you might go about doing it.

Formal class description: “AVR microcontrollers are powerful, versatile and inexpensive single-chip computers that are remarkably easy to program in C, using entirely free and open-source tools that run on Macs, Windows, and Unix-like operating systems. In this practical introduction to AVR microcontrollers, we’ll take it from the beginning so that you can get started using them for your own cool projects. Some topics to be covered include: different types of AVRs and how to pick one for your application, getting a programmer, installing software tools, how to get started actually programming them, and how to download and run your code on the microcontroller. Class format is a one hour lecture followed by show-and-tell demonstrations and ample time for questions.”

This class is scheduled to be given

• Tuesday, 2/5/08 6:30-8:30 PM
• Saturday, 2/23/08 1:00-3:00 PM
• Monday, 3/3/08, 6:30-8:30 PM
• Saturday, 3/22/08, 1:00-3:00 PM

And speaking of programming….

Soldering Project: Build an AVR Programmer

In this class you will solder together, test out and get to take home a USB programmer for AVR microcontrollers. With this hardware tool and free cross-platform software, you can use your computer to write code for and program these little one-chip wonders.

This is an Intermediate Soldering Project; you must have prior soldering experience. You are encouraged, but not required, to bring a laptop along. (If you do bring your computer, you should have a chance to install the necessary software and test it out with your new programmer.)

Class size is limited to 5 students.

This class is scheduled to be given

• Saturday, 2/9/08 4:00-6:00 PM [Full!]
• Sunday, 2/24/08 2:00-4:00 PM — Just added!
• Saturday, 3/8/08, 4:00-6:00 PM [Full!]

Sign up for these and other TechShop classes here.

Tomorrow I’ll be again giving my seminar called “Choosing a Microcontroller” at TechShop. This class is a broad introduction to the capabilities and variety of single-chip computers, as well how to actually pick one for a given application. It’s easy to get overwhelmed looking at the variety of range of micros, from four-bit micros that have a 4-bit wide data path — and actually cost four bits— to AVRs and PICs, basic stamps and Arduinos, to 32-bit gorillas with names like ARM, Blackfin, and Coldfire. So, we’ll try and cut through the fog and help you figure out where to get started.

If you’ve heard people getting excited about or doing cool things with microcontrollers and want to learn more, this might be a great introduction to the field.

Sign up for the class here.

If you are interested in the topic but can’t make it, you might want to take a look at our
list of resources for choosing microcontrollers.

This is the last time that this particular class will be offered in the near future. Another intro AVR class will be forthcoming, probably in August. As always, if you have other ideas for classes that are within our expertise, please let us know.