Going Beyond Arduino #1, Introduction

In this video I introduce a series I'm calling 'Going Beyond Arduino'. The series is to help viewers learn what is actually going on inside the microcontroller. I will take you out of the simplified but somewhat limiting world of Arduino into the more complex world of working directly with the microcontroller. I will stick with the ATMEG328, but once you have learned how it works, you can more easily learn about other microcontrollers (PIC, STM, ARM, etc.).
As the series progresses, I will introduce some more advanced programming techniques as well as some basic electronics. Each of the microcontroller peripherals (USART, SPI, Timers/Counters, PWM, etc.) will be introduced one at a time and I will show you how to develop C code to use them in projects. The code will be posted online so viewers can download it and experiment with it in their own projects.
Some links where you can find programmers and ATMEGA328 chips. Please note I have no affiliation with any of these distributors, these are only suggested sources. If you look around the Internet, you'll likely find more.
Programmers:
Atmel AVRISP MKII (seems to be unavailable):
www.digikey.com...
Pocket AVR Programmer (from SparkFun):
www.sparkfun.c...
Olimex AVR programmer:
www.digikey.com...
www.mouser.com/...
www.newark.com/...
Atmel ICE:
www.mouser.com/...
www.digikey.com...
www.newark.com/...
If you Google for 'AVR programmer' a lot more examples come up. I only have experience with the Atmel AVRISP and ICE, so I can't say much about any other programmer you may find.
Here's were you can find the ATMEGA328 microcontroller chips in the through hole package:
www.digikey.com...
www.mouser.com/...
www.sparkfun.c...
www.newark.com/...

[@BEdmonson85]

I am so glad that someone is finally doing this series. People who have only programmed in the Arduino IDE always have such harsh words for Microchip PICs and other microcontrollers, but AVRs are almost identical in the way they are programmed (if it's not all done for you behind the scenes in the IDE) Looking forward to seeing more.

[@billstewart2586]

I'm with you man. Learning at the metal is where true inspiration comes from

[@bloguetronica]

The problem with Arduino is that it is too easy to learn, and as so it does not provide a stepping stone for more advanced stuff. It simplifies to much, and doesn't force anyone to have any critical thinking.

[@1973Pippster]

Thank You Craig for taking the time to help people like me out. Thanks.

[@craighollinger9972]

You are most welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@OPOD1999]

Hi Craig thanks for these videos. They are very useful. I hope you are okay since you haven’t uploaded for quite a while. Wish you the best

[@craighollinger9972]

Thanks! Yes, all good. Just don't have time to do more videos, working a lot these days.

[@OPOD1999]

​@@craighollinger9972 That's great to hear. When you have time I would love to see more microcontroller videos. Stay safe

[@nwlk9262]

Please do a video about debugging also

[@nwlk9262]

Arduino is great for prototyping. With vscode and PlatformIO makes greater

[@StudioThaler]

Cool. Thanks.

[@женягуньков]

Still valid in 2021

[@iampyre2016]

100+ bucks, but the Atmel-ICE is unrivaled. It's literally plug and play, and programs pretty much all things avr.

[@YashKudale]

Waiting for it !

[@iampyre2016]

I don't like the Arduino IDE but I do like the framework.

[@ΠέτροςΜπαρμπούτσανης-β1ω]

Going beyond Arduino series is the most helpful source I found in the Internet. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge! I am an undergraduate student in electrical and computer engineering department and I would like to go beyond Arduino. Do you think that avr chips are the best solution for my purpose? What about arm cortex m series (I am asking you that because knowledge of arm cortex m series is a prerequest for many embedded engineer jobs and everyone is saying that these chips are used everywhere)?

[@craighollinger9972]

I'm not sure what your purpose is. Simple 8-bit microcontrollers such as AVR can do a lot without the complexity of the bigger 32-bit ARM controllers. On the other hand, the lower end (Cortex M)+) ARM chips are coming down in price to compete with the 8-bit controllers such as AVR. If you learn and thoroughly understand the inner workings of 8-bit AVR controllers, the step up to ARM controllers will be easier. Thanks for watching and good luck with your studies!

[@ArcAiN6]

i've never erased the bootloader on my arduino uno when flashing secondary 328's As for buying those expensive programmers, you don't need to. just use your arduino as an isp programmer.. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on using the arduino as an isp. And in all honesty, it's really simple to do, 4 wires, power, and a couple of 22pf caps, and an oscillator crystal, and the crystal is optional if you want to use the 328's internal clock.

[@craighollinger9972]

Thanks for the info, I'm not that familiar with Arduino. I'll look up the tutorials and see how it's done and perhaps incorporate it into a tutorial of my own. Cheers.

[@ArcAiN6]

www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard The info is a little outdated, but a really good starting point.

[@BEdmonson85]

You could also use the USBasp programmer (the "little" programmer he talks about) they cost around 3-4 dollars from a US seller on ebay, slightly cheaper from china. Pair that with a usb extension and you're good. BTW, USBasp has the same driver problems as the Atmel programmer with windows 8 and above as far as i know. It has something to do with signed drivers or something. The best and simplest way I found to get around this is to install the USBasp driver using Zadig; it makes it simple.

[@arielespindola1759]

Can I use a FTDI USB to TTL to program the chip?

[@craighollinger9972]

Not by itself. You'll need a device (called a programmer) that is specifically designed to toggle the appropriate IO pins on the target microcontroller to transfer the program code to memory. Read the description below the video for more information on where to get cheap USB programmers.

[@arielespindola1759]

Thanks you so much!

[@jmsp000]

dont you need to use the serial pins just to burn the bootloader and then you can use something like an ftdi to upload code?

[@craighollinger9972]

You'll need a programmer (see comment above) to burn the bootloader into the microcontroller. It's a special program that is tucked away in FLASH removed from the application code (the stuff you write). It then communicates through the serial port (two pins) on the micro with a special program on your PC to transfer your code into the micro. Sorry for the late reply, been busy.

[@DD4DA]

AVR - one of the most expensive and complicated plateform on the market. The MPU's inetrnal memory layout is a worse. The possibillity that you are easy able to locks you out and can't get access to the regular used serial programming port, is definitiv not an advantage. The price for a jtag and an STK500 that you need to programm and unlock the chips again (if they are not soldered on the board), is also not a feature. The speeds of the MPU are limited and just few chips are able to driven an external system bus to join a graphic display, memeory or other pheriphere chips. The modified harvard memory layout is a horror implementation. It's very complicated and away from an Arduino purpose, i would not recommend them to start programmin MCU's. ST's Nucelo and Discovery board are very cheap, very very fast and includes a full functional JTAG-programmer / on-Chip Debugger. You don't need to pay for external programmers/ Debuggers. I would recommend to use winIDEA-OPEN for a beginner as IDE. This is very easy in handling. Later, a move to "Seggers Embedded Studio" is a good choice, but needs some experiences with the GNU-MDK. The ST Discovery boards support the ADRUINO SHIELDS.