Master bare metal embedded system programming with AVR uC from Udemy

>>> Your Search for In-depth Embedded System Programming Course ends here. <<<

If you want to know how to kick start embedded programming skill and level up your career, read on. Hello, my name is Arabinda Verma and I have spent more than 15 years in research & software development, trained hundreds of graduates in programming and software engineering. When I ask students to tell me what their biggest challenge while learning Embedded Programming is, they all say the same thing: “Fundamentals are not clear.” To really become comfortable with embedded systems, students need guidance, mentorship, and practice. This isn’t always the case in programming schools and universities despite the high investments in time and money that they require.

This made me design this course, which will take you from the basics of embedded training to the advanced microcontroller architectures.

Why this course?

Embedded systems might appear complex to newcomers or even experienced programmers. With a different pedagogic approach, this course will help you become familiar with different aspects of this area, which will prove particularly helpful regardless of your experience in programming.

The course helps you build a sound understanding of C & Assembly programming. It discusses the architecture of the ATMega328 microcontroller and how software and hardware interact. You will gain here foundational knowledge, applied skills, hands-on programming exercises, proper guidance and mentorship.

I strongly believe that even the most complex contexts can be broken down to be assimilated by all students, regardless of their level.

Plus a

What you will gain from this course?

You will rig-up the development board using the basic electronic components like capacitors, resistors, LEDs, microcontroller etc. And interface the development board with PC through USB-serial adapter and in-circuit programming. You shall setup the development environment on PC, configure the microcontroller and flash the bootloader.

You will learn memory management through the C compiler, microcontroller architecture, instruction execution, interrupt handling and cross-language programming. You shall implement programs using the C and Assembly programming languages and implement pre-main functionalities to bring up the development board. These topics not only introduce you to the programming but also prepare you to deal with the ecosystem of programming an embedded system.

What other students are saying about this course?

Lots of students have already taken the right decision by enrolling in the course. Following is what they are saying.

"........ Arabinda Verma has done an excellent job of making the basic of microcontroller for anyone who is struggling in developing embedded concepts. Furthermore, after completing internal's and peripherals very clear through his tutorials. It serves as a good foundation course the course I am more confident in writing my own drivers for the microcontroller. For the best result, I would suggest to purchase any hardware board of AVR architecture and implement the code discussed in the tutorials. I am also looking forward to Arabinda's other tutorial. Happy Learning :)" -Yousuf

"Awesome course for beginners to build foundation of embedded system and C programming. The best part of the course is to build the development board on the breadboard and run/test programs........." - Akash

"Very useful course to learn and understand embedded systems." - Ajaganna

Planned updates to this course

On the demand of our student’s we are continuously bringing updates that could help you more in this topic. Updates to this course are life time free for enrolled students Let’s talk more about this in the discussions section inside this course.

Update 4 (5th, Feb'19): Added EEPROM programming & driver development.

Update 3 (22nd, Jan’19): Added a section for programming challenges solution.

Update 2 (15th, Jan’19): Added section on GPIO

Update 1 (1st, Jan'19): Restructured the course.

My promise.

Now you don’t need to spend hours finding out a right course, instructor, study material for embedded programming. If you are in any way not satisfied, for any reason, you can get a full refund from Udemy within 30 days. The course comes with a ”No questions asked money back guarantee for 30 days". So, there is nothing for you to lose.

Enroll today and jump into the fascinating world of embedded systems to gain top skills and knowledge in this so-promising area of programming.

What's inside

Learning objectives

Avr micro-controller architecture & it's working - instruction execution, pipelining, stack pointer & interrupts
C, avr assembly programming & implement mixed language projects
Arguments and return values passing from a function to another, how memory & cpu registers are allocated during program execution
How hardware manages program stack and management of local & global variables

Interrupts, interrupt vector table (ivt) and interrupt service routine (isr), ivt & isr programming
Build environment setup, gnu tools & utilities & build automation using gnu make
Setup in-circuit programmer and usb-serial adapter, flash & configure atmega328 micro-controller
Gpio programming, 4x4 keypad interfacing & driver development

Avr micro-controller architecture & it's working - instruction execution, pipelining, stack pointer & interrupts
C, avr assembly programming & implement mixed language projects
Arguments and return values passing from a function to another, how memory & cpu registers are allocated during program execution
How hardware manages program stack and management of local & global variables
Interrupts, interrupt vector table (ivt) and interrupt service routine (isr), ivt & isr programming
Build environment setup, gnu tools & utilities & build automation using gnu make
Setup in-circuit programmer and usb-serial adapter, flash & configure atmega328 micro-controller
Gpio programming, 4x4 keypad interfacing & driver development

Syllabus

Introduction

Course Preview

Course Structure

Hardware & Software Requirement

Test your learning of ATmega328/P microcontroller.

Test your understanding of C, its structure, identifiers and keywords.

Test your learning of data types, operators, functions and control statements.

Test your C skill

GPIO section introduction

You will learn about the General Purpose Input Output port available in the ATmeag328 uC. You will also learn about the registers used to configure, read and write the GPIO ports.

You will learn how to configuration GPIO ports and understand read and write operation.

You shall interface LEDs and button switches with the GPIO pins and implement a program to control the LEDs using the switches.

You will interface the 4x4 keypad with the development board and implement the driver program.

AVR microcontrollers have internal EEPROM for semi-permanent data storage. Like flash memory, EEPROM can maintain its contents when electrical power is removed. The ATmega328/P contains 1K bytes of EEPROM memory. EEPROM stands for Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory which is a type of non-volatile memory used in various electronic devices to store relatively small amount of data.

In this lesson, you will learn about the different programming operations of the EEPROM memory.

In this lesson, you shall implement the EEPROM driver. The driver shall support all the three operating modes those are Erase & write, Erase only and Write only. It exposes four functions to be consumed by the application module. These functions are eeprom_init(), eeprom_read(), eeprom_write() and eeprom_erase().

In the previous lesson, you defined the EEPROM registers, the function prototypes and implemented the functions eeprom_init(). In this lesson, you shall continue with the remaining implementation.

In the previous lesson you developed EEPROM driver and tested its all the three operations. In this lesson, you shall learn about interrupt based EEPROM driver. We shall modify the earlier implementation to incorporate the interrupt triggered write operation.

In the earlier lesson, we disabled the EEPROM Ready Interrupt bit in the EECR register. If the bit is set, the EEPROM ready interrupt will be triggered constantly when EEPE bit is cleared. That means when the program starts the uC will be executing EEPROM Ready interrupt service routine only and the code in main program is never executed. Note this point, it is important while designing interrupt based EEPROM driver.

Test your learning of GNU make

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Read about what's good

what should give you pause

and possible dealbreakers

Covers AVR microcontroller architecture, which is commonly used in embedded systems for its low power consumption and versatility in various applications

Teaches C and Assembly programming, which are essential languages for embedded systems development, allowing for both high-level abstraction and low-level hardware control

Explores interrupt handling and interrupt vector table programming, which are critical for real-time embedded systems that need to respond to external events

Requires learners to set up a build environment using GNU tools, which are standard in embedded systems development for compiling, linking, and debugging code

Uses the ATmega328 microcontroller, which may require learners to acquire specific hardware components for hands-on practice and experimentation

Includes updates from 2019, so learners should verify that the tools and techniques taught are still current and compatible with the latest hardware and software versions

Reviews summary

Bare metal avr embedded programming foundation

According to learners, this course provides a strong foundation in bare metal embedded system programming using AVR microcontrollers. Students particularly appreciate the in-depth coverage of fundamental concepts, including architecture, C/Assembly interaction, interrupts, and memory management. The hands-on approach, involving building the development board and tackling practical programming challenges, is frequently highlighted as a major strength. Some reviewers note that the course material, while comprehensive, can be challenging, requiring dedicated effort. The instructor's explanations are generally found to be clear and detailed, making complex topics accessible.

Material requires significant effort.

"This course is challenging and requires dedication, but it's rewarding."

"Some concepts required re-watching lectures to fully grasp."

"Definitely not a 'watch and forget' course; requires active engagement and practice."

"While the content is deep, be prepared to spend time understanding complex topics."

Detailed look at ATmega328P architecture.

"Deep dive into the ATMega328 microcontroller architecture is very helpful."

"Understanding instruction execution, pipelining, and interrupts at this level is key."

"The course thoroughly explains how software and hardware interact at the register level."

"Mastering the AVR microcontroller organization and architecture was a key takeaway."

Focus on practical exercises and projects.

"The hands-on programming exercises and building the development board are great for learning."

"Appreciated the practical programming challenges provided to test understanding."

"Implementing programs using C and Assembly was very insightful."

"The best part of the course is to build the development board on the breadboard and run/test programs."

Builds a solid base in embedded concepts.

"This course serves as an excellent foundation for understanding embedded systems at the bare metal level."

"Helped me build a sound understanding of how software interacts with hardware."

"Gained foundational knowledge and applied skills crucial for embedded programming."

"This is a good course for building a solid foundation for bare metal programming."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Master bare metal embedded system programming with AVR uC with these activities:

Review C Programming Fundamentals

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Strengthen your understanding of C programming concepts, which are essential for embedded systems development with AVR microcontrollers.

Browse courses on C Programming

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Review data types, operators, and control flow in C.
Practice writing simple C programs.
Study memory management in C.

Review Digital Logic and Electronics Basics

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Revisit fundamental concepts of digital logic and electronics to better understand how microcontrollers interact with hardware.

Browse courses on Digital Logic

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Review basic electronic components like resistors, capacitors, and LEDs.
Study logic gates and Boolean algebra.
Understand basic circuit analysis techniques.

Read 'Make: AVR Programming'

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Supplement your learning with a comprehensive guide to AVR programming, covering both hardware and software aspects.

View AVR Programming: Learning to Write Software for... on Amazon

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Read the chapters related to the topics covered in the course.
Try out the example code provided in the book.
Experiment with different hardware configurations.

Four other activities

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Practice Assembly Language Programming

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Sharpen your assembly language skills to gain a deeper understanding of how the microcontroller executes instructions.

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Write assembly code for basic arithmetic operations.
Implement control structures in assembly language.
Debug and test your assembly code.

Read 'Embedded Systems Architecture'

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Deepen your understanding of embedded systems architecture to design more efficient and robust systems.

View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon

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Read the chapters related to memory management and interrupt handling.
Study the different architectural patterns used in embedded systems.
Analyze the trade-offs between different architectural choices.

Develop a Simple Embedded System Project

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Apply your knowledge by building a small embedded system project, such as controlling an LED with a button or reading data from a sensor.

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Choose a project that aligns with your interests and skill level.
Design the hardware and software components of the system.
Implement and test the project.
Document your project and share it with others.

Contribute to an Open Source Embedded Project

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Enhance your skills and collaborate with other developers by contributing to an open-source embedded project.

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Find an open-source embedded project that interests you.
Study the project's codebase and documentation.
Identify a bug or feature that you can contribute to.
Submit your code changes for review.

Career center

Learners who complete Master bare metal embedded system programming with AVR uC will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Embedded Systems Engineer

An Embedded Systems Engineer designs, develops, and tests software and hardware for embedded systems. This course provides a hands-on approach to building a foundational understanding of embedded programming, which is essential for an Embedded Systems Engineer. The course covers microcontroller architecture, specifically the ATMega328, and the interaction of software and hardware, which is central to this career. The hands-on exercises and projects to set up development environments, configure microcontrollers, and implement programs using C and Assembly languages directly apply to the day-to-day tasks of an Embedded Systems Engineer. The focus on interrupt handling, memory management, and cross-language programming are crucial for success in this role. This course gives aspiring engineers the necessary practical skills to excel.

See salaries and explore the career path for Embedded Systems Engineer

Firmware Engineer

A Firmware Engineer develops low-level software that controls the hardware of embedded systems. This course is a perfect fit for aspiring firmware engineers, providing a deep dive into microcontroller programming with C and Assembly. It allows learners to gain an understanding of how an ATMega328 works, which is a common microcontroller in firmware development. The hands-on learning experience of setting up development boards, configuring the microcontroller, and implementing programs helps build a strong base for a career as a Firmware Engineer. The course's focus on memory management, interrupt handling, and cross-language programming aligns directly with the responsibilities of this role. The topics of bootloaders, in-circuit programming, and USB serial communication are especially helpful.

See salaries and explore the career path for Firmware Engineer

Robotics Engineer

A Robotics Engineer designs, builds, and tests robots and robotic systems. This course may be useful for those who plan to work with embedded systems within a robot. The course's focus on microcontroller programming, specifically with the ATMega328, builds a foundation on how the control and computation for robotics occurs. The hands-on exercises of programming and interfacing hardware like LEDs and keypads, alongside topics such as memory management, interrupt handling, and cross-language programming, all help build skills critical for robotics. The knowledge gained with C and Assembly is also foundational. An aspiring Robotics Engineer may find this course a helpful introduction to the low-level aspects of robotics.

See salaries and explore the career path for Robotics Engineer

Mechatronics Engineer

A Mechatronics Engineer integrates mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering to design and develop automated systems. This course may be useful for an individual wishing to work with the embedded systems found in these types of projects. The focus on microcontroller programming using C and Assembly, especially with the ATMega328, helps build a foundation in the embedded domain. The hands-on exercises on setting up development boards and implementing programs apply directly to this field. The course's coverage of memory management, interrupt handling, and cross-language programming may be a good introduction to embedded systems. A Mechatronics Engineer may find this course a useful foundation for the computer engineering aspects of their work.

See salaries and explore the career path for Mechatronics Engineer

Internet of Things Developer

An Internet of Things Developer builds and programs devices to connect to the internet. This course may be useful for those building their own devices using microcontrollers. The focus on ATMega328 microcontroller programming with C and Assembly is applicable to how many IoT devices function at their core. The course helps build a foundation with its hands-on approach to setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs. The course will be helpful because it introduces concepts such as memory management and interrupt handling. An IoT Developer may find that knowledge of bootloaders, in-circuit programming, and USB serial communication is helpful as well.

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Hardware Engineer

A Hardware Engineer designs and develops electronic hardware components and systems. While this course is focused on software, it does offer essential insight into how software interacts with hardware, which is valuable for a Hardware Engineer. The course curriculum on microcontrollers, specifically the ATMega328, along with the hands-on exercises of setting up development boards, gives a practical understanding of the hardware side of embedded systems. Knowing how to interface hardware through programming using C and Assembly will give Hardware Engineers a useful understanding of the larger system. While not the primary focus, the course helps engineers to better understand the hardware they are designing and how the software will integrate with it.

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Systems Integration Engineer

A Systems Integration Engineer combines different hardware and software components into a unified system. This course may be helpful for those who wish to better understand the low-level aspects of embedded systems. This course introduces microcontroller programming with C and Assembly, specifically with the ATMega328, and this is relevant to the work of a Systems Integration Engineer. The hands-on projects in setting up development boards and implementing programs may provide a useful base. The course's coverage of memory management and cross-language programming may be valuable. Aspiring Systems Integration Engineers may find this course to be a useful introduction to embedded system technologies.

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Research and Development Engineer

A Research and Development Engineer conducts research to create new technologies or improve existing ones. This course may be helpful for those who focus on embedded systems research. The course introduces microcontroller programming with C and Assembly, which builds a base for those wishing to experiment with new embedded systems. The hands-on projects of setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs may be helpful for an R&D Engineer in their experimentation. The course also covers memory management and interrupt handling, which are important areas of research. Aspiring R&D engineers may find this a useful introduction to this aspect of embedded system design.

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Test Engineer

A Test Engineer develops and executes tests for hardware and software. This course may be helpful for those who wish to test embedded systems. The course's focus on ATMega328 microcontroller programming with C and Assembly builds a useful base for hardware and software interaction. The hands-on projects, such as setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs, can help inform the Test Engineer on the system's behavior. The course also covers important areas such as memory management. A Test Engineer will find that understanding the underlying system architecture, as covered in this course, may improve their testing and analysis skills.

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Automation Engineer

An Automation Engineer designs, develops, and tests automated systems and processes. This course may be useful for those looking to build a foundation in embedded systems automation and control. The course focuses on microcontroller programming, specifically with the ATMega328, and builds an important basis for understanding how automation works at a low level. The hands-on practical exercises in setting up development environments, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs using C and Assembly are important skills for an Automation Engineer. The course's topics of memory management, interrupt handling, and cross-language programming may provide a useful foundation.

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Control Systems Engineer

A Control Systems Engineer designs and implements systems that maintain a desired output. This course may be helpful for those who work with microcontrollers, which often enable system control. The course introduces a specific microcontroller, the ATMega328, as well as C and Assembly and related programming topics. The hands-on exercises in setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs may be beneficial for a Control Systems Engineer. The course may also be helpful to understand memory management and interrupt handling. While not directly focused on control systems, the course provides a helpful foundation in the embedded systems that often make them run. Therefore, aspiring control systems engineers may find this base helpful.

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Aerospace Engineer

An Aerospace Engineer designs and develops aircraft, spacecraft, and related systems. This course may be helpful for those who work on embedded systems within aerospace vehicles. While the course does not directly teach aerospace engineering, the focus on microcontroller programming with C and Assembly provides insight into the software and hardware that control aspects of flight. The hands-on focus of setting up development boards and implementing programs, in addition to covering memory management, interrupt handling, and cross-language programming, may provide a useful basis. The specific focus on the ATMega328 may also be helpful for those aerospace engineers in a relevant sub-field.

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Circuit Design Engineer

A Circuit Design Engineer designs and develops electronic circuits. This course may be helpful for those who wish to understand the software that runs on these circuits. While this course is not focused on circuit design itself, the practical experience with microcontroller programming, specifically with the ATMega328, provides essential insights on the software side. The hands-on experience in setting up development boards and implementing programs with C and Assembly may give a Circuit Design Engineer a better understanding of the larger system. Although not directly related, the course may improve the engineer's understanding of how the circuits they design will ultimately be used.

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Technical Trainer

A Technical Trainer develops and delivers training programs on technical topics. This course may be helpful for those who wish to educate others on embedded systems. The course focuses on microcontroller programming with the ATMega328, as well as C and Assembly, and provides a very hands-on, practical approach. The trainer will benefit from working through the entire curriculum. Gaining a deep understanding of core concepts such as setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, implementing programs, memory management, and interrupt handling will help a trainer prepare others to work in this field. A Technical Trainer may find this a useful course to add to their expertise.

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Product Development Engineer

A Product Development Engineer is involved in the process of bringing new products to market. This course may be helpful for those working to integrate embedded systems into these products. The course's focus on microcontroller programming with C and Assembly, especially with the ATMega328, provides a practical understanding of the software in the system. The hands-on exercises in setting up development boards, configuring microcontrollers, and implementing programs may give the Product Development Engineer insight into how the product works. The course covers memory management, which is a crucial aspect of product development. A Product Development Engineer may find this practical knowledge helpful during development and design.

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Master bare metal embedded system programming with AVR uC

What's inside

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Bare metal avr embedded programming foundation

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