In the early 1970’s, two engineers from TI produced the World’s first micro-controller, the TMS 1000. Although Intel had produced an earlier 4-bit CPU, the Intel 4004, it required external circuitry to operate and is therefore considered the first complete CPU on chip. The TMS was a true micro-controller in that it integrated all of the components necessary to function onto one chip and provided an economical embedded solution for electronic devices. Fundamentally there is little difference between the micro-controllers of today and the ones from the 1970’s. Their objective it to provide a low-power stand-alone computer for embedded applications. Each micro-controller contains a CPU, memory and input/output peripherals and range in speed from a few KHz to a few hundred MHz. This badge will explore the fundamentals of micro-controller design and use and how you might use one in your next awesome project!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
