Tag Archives: atmega8

Creating Your First Embedded Project in Atmel Studio

In the last chapter we learned about the development process of embedded systems. We saw what hardware and software tools are required to work with Atmel AVR microcontrollers. We learned about programming languages, compilers and IDEs. In this chapter we will go in the step by step details of using the Atmel Studio IDE to enter and compile a program written in C language. We won ‘t be going in the details of the program. That means what each line means and does. We will simply copy/paste a program as our intention in this chapter is to get familiar with the IDE only. Program will be discussed in latter chapters. You can start Atmel Studio 6 by using its icon from the Windows® Desktop or the Start Menu. Atmel Studio 6 Startup Screen The First screen shown up after the AS5 has started is the Start Page. The start page helps you quickly create a new project or load your previous project without wasting much time. Atmel Studio 6 Home Screen To create a new project we select New Project … option from the Start Page. AS6 will show you the New Project Wizard as shown in the above image. From the project template area (Installed Templates) select C/C++ as the project template. From the project type area select “C […]

Interfacing MMA7455 I2C Accelerometer with AVR ATmega8

This article on Digital Wizard describes everything about interfacing MMA7455 I2C accelerometer with an AVR ATmega8 MCU. A C library compatible with Atmel Studio 6 is also provide with step by step instructions to get it properly installed in your new AS6 project. Each function in the library is also explained in details. Finally we make a demo program to show raw acceleration readings for each axis on a LCD. Read more …

Microwave Controller using ATmega8 – AVR Project

Microwave Controller’s User Interface Fig. Microwave Timer using AVR ATmega8   The user interface has the following parts. Output Device: A 16×2 alphanumeric LCD Module is used as the main output device. It can display numbers, alphabets and few symbols. It can show two line and each line can have 16 characters. The backlight enables the text to be visible even in dark. A buzzer beeps when the system receive input from the user and the input is successfully processed. For example if the user presses 10 MIN button to increment timer by 10 min and this is successfully carried out the buzzer beeps. But if the timer is already at the maximum setting (90 minutes) the operation could be carried out, so the buzzer does not beeps. This buzzer also beeps a few time when the food is ready (countdown is finished) Input Device: Input from user is received by a keypad which has seven push buttons. The details of button is given below. Button Function Microwave Selects Microwave mode. Grill Selects Grill mode. 10 MIN Increment timer by 10 minutes. MIN Increment timer by 1 minute. 10 SEC Increment timer by 1 sec. STOP/Clear If the microwave is in on condition, this button turns it off and pauses the timer count down. If you are setting the timer, […]

Remote Temperature Monitoring using GSM – AVR Project

If you want a live demo of this, please register from the link given below. (Only in Pune) REGISTER NOW! This project can also be implemented using a PIC18F4520 microcontroller. Temperature monitoring have wide application in daily life. In modern day keeping an eye on temperature of places such as server rooms, hospital rooms, warehouses and green houses can help solve many problems. But with the use of normal temperature sensors, someone needs to go to the place in order to view the temperature. But with the development of GSM network, one can easily connect the sensor with GSM network, so that you don’t need to be present near the sensor in order to view the temperature. You can just pick up your cell phone and send a request to your sensor by a text message and in no time you will receive the temperature of the remote place ! The advantage is the you don’t need any kind of "special" device at the receiver end. You can use any cell phone to view the remote temperature. This reduces cost as you already have a cell phone. Other benefit is that the range is not limited. You can be at any place in the world (with mobile coverage of course!), to request temperature data from your room. Fig. SMS Based […]

Line Following Robot using AVR ATmega8

One of the most basic autonomous robot you can build is a line following robot(LFR). This type of robot is run over a white surface which has an arbitrary path drawn over it by using back paint. The task of the robot is to run exactly along this painted path. You may note that the surface may also be black(or any other dark colour), in that case the path is a light colour like white. Please watch the following video for a LFR in action. Designing an LFR At minimum our LFR design require the following components. A sensor to detect the line on the surface.(It can be a simple IR Reflectance Sensor or an high end camera!). We will use a simple IR based sensor, it is cheap and easy to build and use. This article describe how to make a line sensor array. A microprocessor to run the code that takes inputs from the sensor and control the motion of robot. We will use a cheap single chip computer called an microcontroller (MCU). A popular family of microcontroller is AVR series from Atmel. A member of the popular family is ATmega8. ATmega8 is chosen because it has just the required amount of resources and is very low cost. The MCU cannot drive the motors (used to actually make […]

LED Moving Message Display using AVR ATmega8

An interesting project that can be done using Microcontroller is a LED message scroll er. It teaches you a quite lot of things. So I decided to make one. I made the hardware design modular and cascadeble That means the whole display is made up of several 15×7 modules. Each module has everything to drive 15×7 led matrix which includes a ULN2003 row driver IC and two shift register IC to drive the 15 columns. Data is loaded serially into the 15 columns. and multiplexing is done along the row. Video Demo The 15×7 Smart LED Board. The 15×7 Smart LED Board.   Schematic. The Controller Board. Any cheap AVR MCU like a ATmega8 can be used to control this board (also up to 4 such boards which give a total of 60px by 7px display). We are using our low cost development board as the controller to the LED matrix board. This board can be purchased at a price as low as Rs. 249 including the MCU ! So wiring this project is a matter of ten minutes ! Low Cost AVR Board   Whole Setup. Connecting The Display Module with Devboard. PIN Diagram.   PIN No PIN Name Devboard PIN 1 GND GND 2 N/C   3 +5V IN +5V out 4 N/C   5 Serial Data In […]

AVR Project – ATmega8 Based Multi channel IR Remote

Hi Friends, Today I will present an easy to build Multi channel IR Remote control system. It can control heavy loads (Up to AC 220V 6 Amps or smaller) with a touch of remote control. A total of 5 devices can be controlled from a distance of up to 20 feet. We will be using a standard remote control protocol that is called the NEC format. The NEC format is common in remote controls used with Chinese made CD/DVD players. They are easily available in Indian Markets. They also come in variety of sizes from full to small 21 keys (used in car audio systems). Our system is smart enough, so the user can set which key controls which load. Their are five load indicator LEDs which provide the state of five loads. When the device is powered on for the first time, the load LEDs start to blink one by one. That is the first load LED starts to blink, this means the system is waiting for the user to assign a key for that load. So you should press the key you want to use for that load. Once the system receives the key of your choice it stores it in internal EEPROM. From now on you can use that key to control that specific load. In this […]

AVR Project – ATmega8 Based Smart Code Lock

Here is a project for beginners using Atmel AVR ATmega8. The project uses some techniques that are very useful for designers to learn and utilize. Alphanumeric LCD Module Interfacing. 4×4 Keypad interfacing. PWM Control of LED (Used to dim the back-light of LCD, like in some Nokia Phones) Basic Circuit design for AVR MCUs Connecting relays and other current demanding devices. AVR Studio and project management. compiling using free avr-gcc compiler. Using eXtreme Burner – AVR to burn hex code to AVR MCU. NOTE: Don’t waste time finding each part running from shop to shop. Get all the parts with exact specification in a ready to use kit! Purchase ATmega8 based smart code lock KIT.   Fig.: ATmega8 Based Code Lock Fig.: ATmega8 Based Code Lock Project     Functions of the Project. This device can be used to code protect any electrical device (like an electronic door, lock or safe). The user must enter a correct password to gain access. The password is entered using the built in 4×4 keypad matrix. The main LCD Module is used to display messages to the user. As soon as correct password is entered the relay is activated. This is indicated by a LED which is placed near the relay. The relay remains on as long as the user wishes. You just need […]

AVR Project – ATmega8 based RPM Meter

Hello All, Today I will show you how you can make a simple RPM Meter using AVR ATmega8. The RPM meter we will be making is a contact less type, i.e. it measures the RPM of a rotating object without actually making any contact with it. An IR reflectance sensor will be used to sense the speed. You have to attach a white reflective object (like a white paper sticker) at one point in the periphery of rotation . Then you need to place the reflectance sensor such that the white reflector comes just above it once per rotation. In this way the sensor will give one falling edge to the MCU per rotation, we will measure number of such pulse in one second to get the revolution per second, multiplying this with 60 we get RPM. For this project I will use a ATmega8 MCU connected to a 16×2 LCD Module for showing the RPM. Design of AVR based RPM Meter. The sensor part is made up of TCRT5000 IR Reflectance sensor. It it wired as shown below. The sensor will give a LOW output whenever it detects a white reflective surface just above it. This output is feed to the INT0 pin of MCU. INT0 is a general purpose external interrupt source. It can be adjusted to interrupt […]

Remote Controlled Fan Regulator using ATmega8

This device can be used to remotely control the speed of an AC fan and to switch it on or off. The remote control is a cheap NEC Format remote, usually supplied with small DVD players. Three buttons are used to command the circuit. The UP key increase the fan’s speed while the DOWN key decrease it. The ENTER key is used to switch on or off the fan. The unit provides 10 way speed control from 0 to 9. The current speed is displayed in a seven segment display. The yellow LED on the PCB indicates the power status of the load. If the load is switched off using the R/C then the LED will also be switched off. In the Video below you can check out the project in action. The main parts of the circuit is labeled below. The seven segment display used to show the current speed level. The TSOP1738 sensor is used to pick up commands from remote control. The Yellow LED indicates the power status of the load. OUT – Here the AC load is connected in series. Tested on 220v 50Hz AC line. IN – Power supply from a 12-0-12 transformer is applied here. MCU – ATmega8 AVR 8 bit Microcontroller. SWITCH – Manual Switch used to operate the unit without the remote […]

AVR Project – Relay Timer with ATmega8 AVR MCU

Timers are widely used in industrial and domestic application for automating tasks. Microcontrollers can be used to design versatile and accurate timers with ease. Here I present a simple timer that can be used to turn on/off a load after user specified time. The Timer uses a standard 16×2 lcd module for user interface (UI). User can set the time using a 3 button keypad. After that Timer is started. While count down is in progress, the time left is displayed on screen. The program use our LCD driver library more details of which can be found in here. Use avr-gcc + AVR Studio to compile. The prototype was developed using xBoard MINI, a low cost easy to use ATmega8 development board. The program was burned to the MCU’s flash memory using eXtreme Burner – AVR Software and Hardware. A basic knowledge of working with different tools of AVR development is required, so please refer to following articles. Note: Fuse Must be set as follows, HIGH FUSE=C9 LOW FUSE=FF (Very Important) If display is blank please adjust RV1 Part List 01 ATmega8-16 PU U1 02 16×2 LCD Module LCD1 03 16 MHz Crystal X1 04 BC548 Transistor Q1 05 1N4007 Diode D1 06 4.7K Resistor R1,R2 07 10K Variable Resistor VR1 08 22pF Disk Capacitor c1,c2 09 0.1uF Disk Capacitor […]

AVR Project – Digital Stop Watch with ATmega8

Hello Friends, In this tutorial we will make a "Digital Stop Watch" using an AVR ATmega8 Microcontroller. This will help you learn many concepts like Multiplexed Seven Segment Display Interfacing Using AVR Timers Using Interrupts And many others too. The code is written in C language for avr-gcc (WinAVR) . Fig.: Digital Stop Watch Prototype Steps to Build the "Digital Stop Watch" using AVR ATmega8 MCU Make the circuit according to the schematic on general purpose PCB or a BreadBoard. Make a project in AVR Studio and add a new file to the project. Copy/paste the "c" code. Set optimization as "o2" and CPU frequency as 16000000Hz. Save and Build the project. You will get a HEX file. Burn this HEX file to an ATmega8 MCU using a tool such as eXtreme Burner AVR. Set High Fuse = C9(Hex) Low Fuse = FF(Hex). How to do this depends on you programmer software. I have use a xBoard MINI development board for fast and easy prototyping. The Displays+Transistors+Key are on the Veroboard while the Core CPU unit + power supply is in the xBoard MINI. It can be programmed "In System" over USB Port using eXtreme Burner – AVR software toolkit. Fig.: Digital Stop Watch made using xBoard MINI   How to Use the "Digital Stop Watch" When initially powered up […]