Robotics Technology

Introduction:
This book is about the Atmel’s AVR RISC microcontroller series. It covers architecture, design, and usage of this controller in various sample applications. Atmel Corporation (www.atmel.com) is a leading manufacturer of integrated circuits (ICs). AVR is the name of a microcontroller series that Atmel produces and that is the subject of this book. RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) is a popular architecture for modern processors (more about RISC in a later chapter).

Before we get into the details, let us see why it is important to learn about microcontrollers in general and the AVR RISC series in particular. A recent white paper by Sun Microsystems, on picoJava Microprocessor core architecture claims that an average home, by the end of the decade, will contain between 50 to 100 microcontrollers controlling digital phones, microwave ovens, VCRs, televisions sets and television remotes, dishwashers, home security systems, PDAs, etc. Even though this may only reflect the position of a typical home in the advanced countries, there is no denying that even this reflects a huge volume of the microcontroller and microprocessor usage in the home environment. Besides home use, another area that is fueling the microcontroller growth is electronic commerce.

With the advent of “smart cards,” which have much more storage capacity than the more conventional magnetic cards and are more reliable, these devices are all set to replace paper currency, which means that a humongous number of people will be using the smart cards. There is even more: An average car has about 15 processors; the 1999 Mercedes S-class car has 63 microprocessors, while the 1999 BMW has 65 processors! In fact, except perhaps the human body, microprocessors and microcontrollers have gotten into everything around us (and even that may not be completely true—it would not be surprising if a heart pacemaker is microprocessor controlled).

Microcontrollers or microprocessors are easier to use as a controller than say a dedicated digital state machine in a system such as a washing machine, for example, cheaper to upgrade, and require less inventory; all issues critical for maintaining economic viability and profit in the face of cutthroat competition—thus this great rush for microcontrollers and microprocessors. Given the mass usage of microcontrollers in devices, systems, and consumer components, it is obvious where the money is.

So we want to learn about microcontrollers and microprocessors. However, you might have noticed that I have used these terms interchangeably and rather loosely. It is time to consider what a microcontroller really is and how it differs from a microprocessor.

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