This document outlines the tasks for an introductory lab on AVR programming. It introduces the workflow which includes creating and simulating code in Atmel Studio, generating a hex file, and burning the hex file onto an ATmega16A microcontroller using a universal programmer. Students are instructed to simulate the provided assembly code, observe various parameters at breakpoints, and document the results. They are then asked to implement the code on hardware and compare the physical blinking of LEDs to the simulation.
This document outlines the tasks for an introductory lab on AVR programming. It introduces the workflow which includes creating and simulating code in Atmel Studio, generating a hex file, and burning the hex file onto an ATmega16A microcontroller using a universal programmer. Students are instructed to simulate the provided assembly code, observe various parameters at breakpoints, and document the results. They are then asked to implement the code on hardware and compare the physical blinking of LEDs to the simulation.
This document outlines the tasks for an introductory lab on AVR programming. It introduces the workflow which includes creating and simulating code in Atmel Studio, generating a hex file, and burning the hex file onto an ATmega16A microcontroller using a universal programmer. Students are instructed to simulate the provided assembly code, observe various parameters at breakpoints, and document the results. They are then asked to implement the code on hardware and compare the physical blinking of LEDs to the simulation.
This document outlines the tasks for an introductory lab on AVR programming. It introduces the workflow which includes creating and simulating code in Atmel Studio, generating a hex file, and burning the hex file onto an ATmega16A microcontroller using a universal programmer. Students are instructed to simulate the provided assembly code, observe various parameters at breakpoints, and document the results. They are then asked to implement the code on hardware and compare the physical blinking of LEDs to the simulation.
1 1 Acknowledgements This lab exercise is prepared by Mohammad Azfar Tariq and Muhammad Usman under the supervision of Dr. Rehan Ahmed for the course EE-222 Microprocessor Systems. Reporting any error or discrepancy found in the text is appreciated.
2 Administrivia 2.1 Learning Outcomes By the end of this lab you will be able to;
1. Create Project in Atmel Studio
2. Simulate Assembly code for AVR ATmega16A
3. Burn Hex file in ATmega16A using the Universal Programmer
2.2 Deliverables You are required to submit
• Simulated observations in a tabular form
• Quantitative and qualitative comparison of simulation and implementation
in the beginning of next lab.
3 Hardware Resources • ATmega16A Microcontroller Unit
• Universal Programmer
• LEDs (may use from trainer kit)
• Power source with voltage regulator (may use from trainer kit)
2 4 Introduction You should not worry about nitty gritty details of code for the moment. The purpose of this lab is to familiarize with you, the AVR toolchain and it’s workflow. We employ following code for this purpose. 1 ; i n i t i a l constants 2 l d i R16 , 0xFF 3 l d i R17 , 0xFF 4 ; s e t DDRB a s output 5 out DDRA, R17 6 ; code t o t o g g l e LEDs 7 toggler : 8 s u b i R16 , 0xFF 9 out PORTA, R16 10 rjmp i d l e l o o p 11 ; delay loop 12 idle loop : 13 l d i R19 , 0xFF 14 l d i R20 , 0x0F 15 l d i R21 , 0 x01 16 idle loop 0 : 17 idle loop 1 : 18 idle loop 2 : 19 dec R19 20 brne i d l e l o o p 2 21 dec R20 22 brne i d l e l o o p 1 23 dec R21 24 brne i d l e l o o p 0 25 rjmp t o g g l e r
The code is designed to count from 0x00 to 0xFF which will be displayed on 8 LEDs. There are two nested loops in the code, the outer loop (named “toggler” in the code) increments the count on each iteration and the inner loop (named “idle loop” in the code) just iterate for some time doing nothing, wasting the time of CPU (a sort of time delay). We will simulate and burn the code in ATmega16A. You can find this code here1 as well.
4.1 Workflow Following is the workflow we shall observe. 1. Create project and code in Atmel Studio.
2. Simulate the code.
3. Create Hex file.
4. Burn Hex file in microcontroller using Universal Programmer
5. Patch the circuit on breadboard to observe output.
3 Same workflow is elaborated in the following flowchart:
Hex File A file format that conveys binary information in ASCII text form. The file is used to burn code in microcontrollers. IDE generates the hex file. It is then used by Universal Programmer to burn the code in microcontroller unit. After burning the code, microntroller becomes ready to be installed in breadboard or PCB designed for the specific application in mind
4 5 Lab Tasks 5.1 Introduction to Atmel Studio Atmel Studio is an IDE for programming 8 bit and 16 bit AVR microcontrollers. The IDE generates hex file for a range of such microcontrollers. Moreover, quite a handful of simulations can be undertaken and observed in it. Familiarize yourself with Atmel Studio by
1. Creating new Project
2. Coding Environment
3. Simulation/Debugging Features
Introductory Tutorial Slides2 have been compiled to help you through this. Add a break-point on line 9 (as directed in Introductory tutorial slides) of the code (which is inside the “toggler” loop) for simulation purposes. It will assist you in understanding the overall functionality of the code. Observe the following parameters,
• Status Register
• Time taken in iteration
• Cycles for iteration
• Register R16
• I/O Port A
Fill the table for first 20 iterations. The table to be filled is available in doc and pdf format.
Note Time and cycles for each iteration can be calculated from Stop Watch time and Cycle Counter in the simulation panel.
5 5.2 Burning the Code in Microcontroller Patch the circuit as schematic suggests. You may utilize the resources available in the trainer kits of lab.
Burn the hex file generated in the above project using universal programmers. Follow the Universal Programmer Tutorial3 to familiarize yourself with the task.
Oscillator Clock is an essential component of any processing unit. It is the primary signal, the entire circuitry synchronizes itself to. Generally clock can be generated in two ways:
• External Crystal/Ceramic Resonator
• External Low-frequency Crystal
• External RC Oscillator
• Calibrated Internal RC Oscillator
• External Clock
Do not worry about these different sources of clock for the moment. By default, 1 MHz Internal RC Oscillator is being used. This frequency is enough for lab exercise under consideration.
Task Does the implementation follow simulation? Time blinking of any reasonable LED and compare it with simulation. Document these comparisons and observations.
