Guidance for 12 yrs old to get started with embedded HW/SW projects

Question

Hello,

My 12yrs old son wants to do projects in embedded HW/SW domain. He is just beggining to explore the embedded domain. I am trying to help him get started. I am looking for a simple 8/16 bit microcontroller evaluation board with basic digital input/output, LEDs, LCD display, A/D, D/A converters, external memory, an IDE where he can write simple programs in C/C++ compile, download via USB and execute. Can you please suggest the right product/s I need to buy for him?

Thanks

Radhakrishna

johnbeetem · Answer

For 16-bit, though I've never used it personally I really like TI's MSP430 architecture. There are some inexpensive LaunchPad boards that a great way to get started: http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/microcontroller/16-bit_msp430/tools_software.page#msp430pad

There's also Arduino, which is very popular though I haven't used it myself. I'll let others give advice on Arduino.

However, I think these days you're much better off with a 32-bit ARM Cortex board. There are probably hundreds of these boards out there, with dozens worth considering seriously. I personally like:

ST Discovery, which have clean IC documentation and it's easy to hook up JTAG or SWD: http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-40220?ICID=knode-devkit

Cypress PSoC 4 and PSoC 5LP: http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-53992?ICID=knode-cypresspioneerkit-space

TI Tiva ARM (haven't used personally): http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/microcontroller/tiva_arm_cortex/c_series/tools_software.page#ekits

NXP mbed and LPCXpresso (haven't used personally): http://www.nxp.com/techzones/microcontrollers-techzone/tools-ecosystem.html

Freescale Freedom (haven't used personally): http://www.element14.com/community/community/knode/dev_platforms_kits/element14_dev_kits/kinetis_kl2_freedom_board?ICID=knode-devkitroom

My apologies to those I've inadvertently left out.

vsluiter · Answer

The xplained boards for the Atmel Xmega series are very nice, and some (like the one for Atxmega256A3BU) have nice demo applications. Why limit to 8/16 bit? A simple but clear C++ front end can be provided by mbed, which supports several demo boards, with several possibilities. The 'original' LPC1768 board is still nice, especially in combination with the application board (LCD, potmeters, etcetera). Drawback: the price of those two combined is quite high, in my opinion. The KL46z ( FRDM-KL46Z | mbed ) is nice in that it's cheap, has an LCD and is mbed compatible.

Guidance for 12 yrs old to get started with embedded HW/SW projects

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