In mid January 2012, Design News magazine sponsored a 5-hour track--one hour per day for five days--dedicated to microcontroller basics. Although the live seminars have passed, you can find them archived on the Design News Web siteObjectives for each seminar. Each seminar provides about a 45-minute lecture with PowerPoint slides and streaming audio that includes a few questions and answers. You can find answers in the "chat" window for each session, too.  Here's the link to the list of available courses: www.designnews.com/lecture-calendar.asp

Below you'll find the course information. You can get credits and a certificate for participating in these seminars.

1. Introduction: Fundamentals of Designing with Microcontrollers

At the end of this session, you will:

a. Understand how a microcontroller differs from a microprocessor

b. Understand the types of analog and digital peripherals on an MCU

c. Understand the types of communication devices available on MCUs

2. Low to Choose the Right MCU for Your Application

At the end of this session, you will:

a. Understand how to specify your requirements and select the appropriate chip families

b. Understand the problems of pin conflicts and how to avoid them

b. Know how to better evaluate development tools and support available from MCU vendors and third parties

c. Know how to look at an MCU vendor's "roadmap" to determine future capabilities

d. Appreciate the important of product support and longevity

3. Successful Software Development for MCU Applications  (I'll include some successful-hardware development here, too.)

At the end of this session, you will:

a. Have learned about the variety of hardware- and software-development tools available

b. Have an appreciation for capabilities of free and paid-for tools, and for third-party support

c. Better understand what you need in as hardware- and software-development tools

d. Understand how to introduce a team to new tools and ideas

4. Fundamentals of Digital Debugging

At the end of this session, you will:

a. Understand the basic techniques used to debug hardware and software

b. Have learned about hardware tools available to assist with debugging work

c. Learn about an inexpensive "secret" debug tool every lab should have

d. Appreciate the use of mixed-signal tools and data-analysis instruments

5. Tricks with the PIC MCUs: Using the Trusty PIC MCUs.

At the end of this session, you will:

a. Have a number of tips and specific solutions to problems, as compiled by technical experts at Microchip Technology.

b.  Learn about other tips for MCU hardware and software use and project management.

Enjoy.