I finally received the circuit boards! And, in this fifth and final part of the microcontroller tutorial, we are going to solder the components to the circuit board and program the MCU using the USB port of a computer.
Just to refresh our memories, so far we have learned:
- Part 1: What is an MCU?
- Part 2: How to choose an MCU
- Part 3: Designing a circuit for the MCU
- Part 4: Making a circuit board
I recently ordered the PCBs from Seeed Studio. In order to expedite their delivery, I used a more expensive shipping option from UPS. I did get the boards pretty fast – but I also got an unexpected bill from them because they had to take it through customs.
So, even though the boards were only $10, I ended up with paying about $60 in shipping and customs… But luckily, there exists a much cheaper shipping option (about $3-4) – you just have to wait a little bit longer for the boards to arrive.
Let’s solder the board!
I wanted to make this circuit in such a way that it was possible to make it at home. To solder the circuit, I’m going to use my old Ersa soldering iron and some standard solder wire. The tip of the iron is a bit thick, so it’s really not ideal for this job. However, I know many people only have a simple soldering iron like this lying around the house – so it’s the perfect test to see if this is something that anyone can build from the comfort of your home.
The first thing we’re going to solder is the MCU chip. This is also the hardest part to solder. I have to admit – when I looked at my soldering iron, then looked at the chip – I was a bit worried that it was going to be hard. But the main trick here was to be patient!
To solder the surface mount components, we can use the techniques described in this smd soldering article.
First, we solder one corner pin of the chip. When we have managed to solder this one pin correctly – and all the pins are aligned over their pads – we move on to the corner on the other side. With two corners soldered properly, all we need to do is to add a tiny bit of solder to all the other pins and pads.
Don’t rush it. Take your time. Inspect the pins closely to see if they are soldered and that they don’t have a “solder bridges” to their neighbors. And, don’t worry if it looks a bit like a war-zone with solder all over – just look at mine above – it still works!
Now, safe to say that the worst part is over. The other components are pretty straightforward to solder. Just make sure the LED and the polarized capacitor is placed in the correct direction.
Programming the circuit
Once we are confident that the components are soldered properly, it’s time to test it! First, we need to check if the USB interface works. Otherwise, we won’t be able to program the circuit. To test the USB interface, all we need to do is to connect a USB cable and connect the circuit to our computer. From there, we can just check if it pops up as a USB device on the computer.
And… it does!
So, let’s program the MCU. A simple way of testing it is to make an LED-blink program. This is a simple program that, well, makes our LED blink. It looks like this:
#define F_CPU 1000000 // The chip runs at 1 MHz as default (even if you are using a 8MHz crystal)
#include
#include
int main(void)
{
DDRC = (1<<PC7); //Sets the direction of the PC7 to output
PORTC = (1<<PC7); //Sets PC7 high
while(1)
{
_delay_ms(500); //Wait 500 milliseconds
PORTC &= ~(1<<PC7); //Turn LED off
_delay_ms(500); //Wait 500 milliseconds
PORTC |= (1<<PC7); //Turn LED on
}
return 0;
}
We save this code in a file called led-blink.c
Compiling our code
The first thing we need to do is to compile our code into machine code that the MCU can read. One way of doing this is through Atmel Studio. But, since I am a big fan of using the Linux terminal, I’ll show you how to compile and upload a program using Ubuntu.
First, install avr-gcc with the command:
sudo apt-get install avr-gcc
Then, compile the code and make it into the right format with the following commands:
avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega32u2 -Os blink-led.c -o blink-led.out
avr-objcopy -j .text -j .data -O ihex blink-led.out blink-led.hex
The resulting file – blink-led.hex – can now be uploaded to the microcontroller. You can find more information on the commands here.
Uploading the code to the MCU
Time to upload the program and see if it works. One way to do this is by using Atmel’s FLIP software. But, once again, let’s see how we can do it with the Linux terminal.
Install dfu-programmer with the command:
sudo apt-get install dfu-programmer
Then, erase the old flash memory on the MCU and upload the compiled .hex file:
sudo dfu-programmer atmega32u2 erase
sudo dfu-programmer atmega32u2 flash blink-led.hex
Unplug the circuit from your computer, then plug it in again. And what do you know, the LED starts to blink!
Making something cool
Now that we’ve got it working, we’re ready to make something cool. There are so many cool things you can make with a microcontroller. For example, you can connect it to this Wi-Fi module and make the LED blink every time @AtmelMakes posts a new tweet.
Or, how about connecting it to this sound module and this motion sensor, and make it play a Christmas song every time someone goes near your Christmas tree? As Atmel always says, the possibilities are truly endless.
If you missed any of the previous parts of this tutorial – you can find them here:
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 