[svlug] Program a Microcontroller with C on Linux

[Bob Smith]

Would you like to be able to program a microcontroller
using Linux and C?

If so, then please plan on joining us at the next Linux
installfest on Saturday, April 15, where we will have a
micro-seminar that shows how to install and use the AVR
tool chain for Linux.  At the seminar each attendee will
receive a hardware kit, a software CD, and help getting
it all installed and working.  At the end of the seminar
you will be able to program an AVR to flash at a rate
your program specifies.   (A flashing LED is the "hello
world" of microcontrollers.)

The hardware kit for the seminar has the following:
  - AVR ATMega8-16PI
  - 400 point breadboard and wires
  - LED and resistor
  - Battery case and batteries
  - Parallel port programming cable
  - A CD with the software kit

The software kit has the following:
  - The Linux tool chain for the AVR precompiled for x86
  - Source code for the AVR tool chain
  - PDF of the ATMega8 data sheet
  - Articles describing how to program an AVR on Linux
  - A C program and Makefile that flashes an LED on the AVR

At the seminar we will:
  - Distribute the hardware kits
  - Install the AVR tool chain on your Linux laptop
  - Show how to compile a C program for an AVR
  - Show how to download and run a program on the AVR

At the end of seminar you should be able to write, compile,
download, and run a C program for the AVR.  The seminar will
follow the TuxGraphics article by Guido Socher available at
http://tuxgraphics.org/electronics/200411/article352.shtml,
but you get precompiled binaries and libraries for the tool
chain.


The seminar will be from noon to 2 pm on April 15, at the
SVLUG Linux installfest in Google building #46 in Mountain
View.  (See http://www.svlug.org/installfest/ for details.)
Thanks to Google and SVLUG for allowing this seminar.

You need to bring the following
  - Linux laptop with a parallel port
  - $15 to pay for the hardware kit

Space is limited to eight.  Please RSVP so I know how many
kits to buy.


Bob Smith