Microcontrollers
Locating the Crystal Oscillator on the Circuit Board The crystal oscillator is a critical component in many electronic devices that provides a clock signal for timing and synchronization. However, crystal oscillators can sometimes fail to start up properly, preventing the system from booting or operating correctly. The first step in diagnosing a crystal oscillator failure…
Choosing the Right MCU for Rapid Prototyping Selecting the most appropriate microcontroller unit (MCU) is a crucial decision when embarking on any new embedded design project. The MCU acts as the brain of an embedded system, executing program instructions and coordinating peripherals to bring the overall system to life. For rapid prototyping applications, where the…
Common Microcontroller Platforms: Overview of PIC, AVR, Arm Cortex-M, RISC-V, and Others Microcontrollers (MCUs) are small, low-power integrated circuits designed to control electronic devices. They contain a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. When selecting an MCU, engineers must consider factors like performance, power, cost, ease of development, and ecosystem support. Some of the…
Voltage dividers are simple yet powerful circuits that use resistors to divide a voltage source into two lower voltages. They are heavily utilized when interfacing microcontrollers and other integrated circuits to scale signals, reduce voltage levels for compatibility, and limit current. This article will cover the key concepts around properly calculating and selecting voltage divider…
Getting Started With Arduino The Arduino integrated development environment (IDE) provides an easy introduction to microcontroller programming for beginners. After downloading and installing the Arduino software on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer, you can connect an Arduino board via USB and start tinkering. The IDE includes clear instructions to guide you through loading pre-made…
What are Pull-up Resistors and Why are They Used? Pull-up resistors are resistors connected between a signal line and a positive power supply voltage. They “pull” the voltage of the signal line up to the level of the power rail when the line is not being actively driven to a low voltage level. Pull-ups provide…
