Arduino under the Hood – AVR for Professionals

From C, Makefiles, and Compiler to all Registers, Periphery, Fuses, Power Reduction Tricks, ISP, DebugWIRE, and LockBits

Created by: Dr. Alexander Fell
Researcher at Barcelona Supercomuting Center

What Will I Learn?

• Program and Software Optimizations to reduce Power Consumption
• Stripping away the Arduino library, how does the ATmega work under the Hood?
• All peripherals: Timers, Watchdog, Reset, Brown-Out, Clock Manipulation registers, ADC, Temperatur Sensor (built in), etc.
• Effective Computing for Embedded Systems and the Arduino Platform
• Pointers to Registers in C: An easy guide, on how to access Registers. Make your code efficient.
• Steps in the GNU Compiler Chain: The journey from the Source Code to the Executable
• Ease the Compilation Process: What are Makefiles and how to use them?
• Communciation Protocols (TWI/I2C, SPI U(S)ART, debugWIRE, Bit Banging) of Embedded Systems: How does the MCU communicate and how to configure it?
• How to debug the AVR using debugWIRE? (How to read the Register Contents, step through the Program?)
• What is the purpose of the Boot Loader? How to programming the AVR using without it? (through ISP)
• Protect your Intellectual Property (IP): Fuses and Locks of the AVR
• Develop proficiency in your embedded development skills and confidently take the next steps.
• The documentation is thick, but not scary. Learn how to get the information that you need.

Requirements

• Working Knowledge in C or Arduino
• Soldering/Breadboard Skills for the Examples and Exercises
• Able to work with a Multimeter and read Circuit Diagrams

Target audience

• Professional Developers curious about various Program Optimizations for Embedded Systems
• Embedded System and IoT Engineers looking for tips how to reduce Power Consumption and extend Battery Life for the Arduinoi Platform
• Entrepreneurs who want to lauch a product or start-up