Brief Background

Custom AVR modules

I used to develop my own AVR modules that included an embedded ATMega32L in a dip package. I would layout a 2-layer board and have them manufactured for me by a company I found on the web.

I started working for Digilent Inc. at the beginning of summer 2007 and I now have access to many different boards that are all much better than what I used to design myself. Each of the AVR-based boards available from Digilent cost less than what I used to pay for small scale production of my own boards, and they are much more robust with functionality that my own boards never included.

At my job, I have spent a lot of time designing various projects based on our AVR line of development boards. One project was a solar powered wireless temperature reporting station that reports the outdoor temperature to an indoor unit equipped with an LCD display for readout.

Another project read scan codes from a PS/2 style keyboard and converted them for input to any project that used Atmel TWI (I2C) or USART communication for user input. The project allowed the user to see the contents of the transmission buffer via the onboard LCD display and edit the buffer using the backspace key before sending the contents of the buffer to the slave device. The slave device in this case could be anything from a robot (physically linked or wireless) to another project that is being debugged.

I really enjoy working with embedded AVRs and the Digilent line of AVR boards. If you would like any help with a project you may be working on, get in contact with me, or visit AVRFreaks.net.

Overview of Digilent's AVR line

Your imagination is the limit. No seriously, you can do anything!

The Cerebot Series

Based on the ATMega64L microcontroller.

Directly drive 8 servos
Drive H-Bridges
4 programmable LEDs
ESD protection
Flexible power supply options. On board regulator
Multiple connectors available for Digilent's PMODs
Original Cerebot contains additional on-board memory. Cerebot II offers more usable I/O pins

The Minicon, Nanocon & ServoMini

Based on the ATMega168 microcontroller.

Each board has unique features that lend particular strengths to a wide range of applications.

Nanocon & Minicon include PMOD connection points
Programmable status LEDs
ESD protection on all connections
On board regulator on the Minicon
ServoMini can directly drive up to 8 servos, or read servo pulses coming from a hobby-style receiver

Overview of Digilent's FPGA line

For students, industrial applications, and the serious hobbyist.

The boards available from Digilent have been used by many of the world's greatest engineers. Xilinx is the supplier of the chip that is installed on the board and there is documentation all over the net describing how to use them.

Using Xilinx WebPack software, you can create the bit file required to program the FPGA using a couple different techniques. You can either use schematic capture, where you graphically design the interconnections of logic gates or you can use a language like VHDL or Verilog. The design industry tends to prefer VHDL as do I. Using VHDL, you can easily implement some very advanced designs quickly and easily.