What Is A NerdKit?

Was asked in email if this was a kit I had. Yes, it's from www.NerdKits.com and I am very happy with it. They should offer a kit that does not have a LCD as I find talking to Hyper Terminal convenient for testing and I want to create cheap projects to possibly market some day that do not really need an expensive LCD (for example, you do not need a LCD for most of my projects I blog about). Wish the kit came with a cheap servo motor and maybe a stepper motor. Definitely need more source codes (I am going to create a source code resource here soon), but I am finding if I do not use the libnerdkits as much, I can use source codes in C language used for some AVR Studio projects found on Google (or least give me an idea how the C code should be done, I am slowly learning the workings of C).

NerdKit's guide (basically a PDF book on intro to embedded programming) was great for getting me making my first sample demo project (a digital thermometer that outputs to LCD or PC) step by step and told me why I was adding each component and what it did. Their videos are fun to watch and most have source codes to play with. I am glad I got this kit instead of an Arduino clone (the NerdKit feels more pure and innocent)! At first I was a bit frustrated, but I do not know C language (pro with Visual Basic, PHP, ASP), nor do I know electronics and I wanted to know everything in the first few days. Now I am getting the hang of it! If you already know C coding, you are already head of me.

I am a middle aged man (almost 40) looking for a new hobby that had something to do with computers, robotics and programming. This seems like the great little escape I needed and even my 4 year old son is fascinated with some of the silly sample projects I have made. I showed my wife the traffic light project I made a week ago on my own without source code (I was pretty proud of myself), she laughed and said "So that that cost 85 bucks? Walmart has a whole train set with working lights for 20!". She doesn't get it and doesn't see the potential or the fun in doing it yourself. This kit gives me the same feeling I used to get playing with Lego as a young child (with a touch or a nerdy feel).

There are many kits out there, but none quite like this. You get a great 3 lined LCD (great for debugging or using in a prototype), a serial/USB connection that communicates to and from PC, a bread board (you are forced to learn electronics and a great guide to get you going your first day, even a young teen can do this) and a bunch or parts to make a few projects "right off the bat".

You will see in my blog posts, that a week or more ago I was frustrated, just ignore my whining and buy a NerKit now! I will be removing those posts once I redo the site with a database so I can collect comments or give links to a certain post).

Barebone Breadboard AVR Developer Kit:

Below is an image of my AVR kit in it's simplest form consisting of a power supply, wires, an oscilator and a capacitor (it is actually running a sleep program using a timer). There are no modules or devices (LEDs, motors, etc) attached, also there is no TTL (serial writer/reader) connects in the image. These are the bare minimums to get the MCU (16K Byte self-programming Flash Program Memory, 1K Byte SRAM,512 Bytes EEPROM, 20 MIPS throughput at 20 MHz) working and loading software. You could even remove
thep less parts, 5 volt regulator and 2 wires) if using batteries totaling less than 5 volts, I use a wall wart universal DC adapter that goes to 3, 4.5, 6, 9 and 12 volts, so I need to use 6 to 12 volts and cut it down to 5 volts. NerdKits does provide many more parts, these are just the basics.

PARTS:

• solderless breadboard
• some wires
• MCU, ATmega168-20PU microcontroller, with bootloader (chip with 24 pins in center of image, datasheet)
• 14.7456MHz crystal oscillator (the silver thing above the blue wire near bottom center, connected to row 19 & 20), FS14.74P
• 0.1uF capacitor (above the red wire beside the oscillator and under the MCU, connected to row 17 & 18)
• +5V Linear Voltage Regulator (TO-220, far right in the middle on photo, connected to rows 28, 29, 30), not necessary for some projects (MCC 7805CT)
• power supply, 4 x 1.5v batteries (if using 3 x 1.5v batteries or less you will not need voltage regulator TO-220)
• TTL programmer (not shown in photo & not required to run projects once programmed) & 2 wires for breadboard

TOOLS NEEDED:

• wire stripper for wires
• computer (Windows, Mac or Linux) with AVR software (see links)

These microcontrollers are known to work using the NerdKit's bootloader:

• ATmega8
• ATmega88
• ATmega168
• ATmega32
• ATmega644

Below is a photo with the TTL programmer (kit comes with a USB to serial adapter, then a assembled programmer connects) connected using alligator clips to the header. Notice the 2 new green wires (wire on left connects to row 11 and gets a positive rail, wire on right is on row 25 and connects the switch to ground) at bottom connect MCU and a new switch (on rows 24, 25 & 26) to the rail  and 4 colored (black to rail ground, red to rail positive, yellow to row 12, green to row 13) clips.