Book Image

DIY Microcontroller Projects for Hobbyists

By : Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz, Pedro Cesar Santana Mancilla
Book Image

DIY Microcontroller Projects for Hobbyists

By: Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz, Pedro Cesar Santana Mancilla

Overview of this book

We live in a world surrounded by electronic devices, and microcontrollers are the brains of these devices. Microcontroller programming is an essential skill in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), and this book helps you to get up to speed with it by working through projects for designing and developing embedded apps with microcontroller boards. DIY Microcontroller Projects for Hobbyists are filled with microcontroller programming C and C++ language constructs. You'll discover how to use the Blue Pill (containing a type of STM32 microcontroller) and Curiosity Nano (containing a type of PIC microcontroller) boards for executing your projects as PIC is a beginner-level board and STM-32 is an ARM Cortex-based board. Later, you'll explore the fundamentals of digital electronics and microcontroller board programming. The book uses examples such as measuring humidity and temperature in an environment to help you gain hands-on project experience. You'll build on your knowledge as you create IoT projects by applying more complex sensors. Finally, you'll find out how to plan for a microcontroller-based project and troubleshoot it. By the end of this book, you'll have developed a firm foundation in electronics and practical PIC and STM32 microcontroller programming and interfacing, adding valuable skills to your professional portfolio.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Testing the timer

This section shows how to test out the 20-second timer.

Once you insert the electronic circuit with the sensor, the Blue Pill, and the LCD in a protective case, try it in a bathroom. Carefully place it close to a hand washing sink if you can, to facilitate activating it and seeing the counting while you wash your hands. See whether you can fix it to a wall or a surface so it won't move and that no one accidentally knocks it over while waving at it. Safety first!

You should connect the Blue Pill to a portable power bank that has a USB socket. This is to avoid connecting the Blue Pill to a wall USB adapter to make it safer to use in an environment such as a bathroom, as shown in Figure 14.11:

Figure 14.11 – A power bank connected to the Blue Pill microcontroller board

Figure 14.11 – A power bank connected to the Blue Pill microcontroller board

You can test out everything with a small power bank, such as the one shown in Figure 14.11.

Try activating the timer by waving at the sensor numerous...