Tools and Links

Spring 2023 Information

The following links are specific to the Spring 2023 semester.

• Lab project boxes containing tools and parts for all the labs this semester will be handed out during the second week's lab sessions in VHE 205. See this page for a list of what should be in the project box and what is used for.

Exam Info

• Quiz Info
• Midterm Info
• Final Info

Digital Logic Related Practice Problems

• Practice problems organized by relevant homework
• Practice problem solutions organized by relevant homework

Software Tools

• AVR Toolchains - Information on installing an AVR toolchain on your own system.
• Bit fiddling - Generate practice bit fiddling problems to set, clear, test and copy bits
• MARS MIPS Simulator - For use in the 2nd-half of our semester to write and simulate MIPS assembly language programs
  MARS Tutorial Document

  Note:Don't try to open the MARS .jar file until you install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). For Windows users: If you do try to open the .jar file before installing the JRE, don't try to open it with any application like Chrome, etc. And if you do accidentally try to open it with Chrome and it creates an association in Windows, you'll need to unassociate the .jar extension by following these instructions.

Hardware Tools

• Buying a DMM - A short guide for shopping for a digital multimeter.

Submitting and Grading Labs using Vocareum.com

Follow these instructions for submitting and grading labs.

Documents

• Project Setup - Recommended steps for setting up the files for a Arduino project.
• Command Line Reference - A brief introduction to using the command line interface on Mac and Windows systems.
• Problems and Solutions - Information on some of the more common problems that come up with setting up projects, using avr-gcc and programming the Arduino.

• Arduino Ports - Diagram of the mapping from Atmel ATmega328P ports to the Arduino Uno ports names.
• Interrupt Vectors - List of the names of the interrupt vectors that are used when writing an ISR.
• Serial Data - Using the Keysight scopes to view serial data.

• ATmega328P datasheet - Full Atmel datasheet on the ATmega328P microcontroller

• C Operator Precedence - A chart of operator precedence in the C language.
• Indenting C Programs - A guide to recommended indenting of C programs

Other stuff

If you are interested in purchasing electronic components for building projects, here are some links to places we buy parts from.

Digi-Key - This is our primary supplier of electronic components. They have a large inventory, the prices are reasonable, and we usually get the order pretty quickly. However the size of their inventory sometimes makes it hard to find things.

Jameco Electronics - This is another supplier we use for supplies. Their inventory is smaller than Digi-Key and it's sometimes a bit easier to find things. They used to have a nice printed catalog but not any more.

Adafruit, SparkFun - These companies sell a lot of interesting items for the hobbyist/experimenter. Both companies sell a lot of "breakout boards" where they have mounted small IC's that are difficult to work with on PCBs what make connections to the IC easier.

Parallax, DFRobot - These are similar to Adafruit and SparkFun in that most of the stuff is for the hobbyist.

Modern Device - They seem to have a interesting variety of components including many sensors and related components.

Newark and Mouser Electronics - These two are major suppliers to the electronics industry with very large inventories. Not sure if they have minimum order amounts that may make it hard for the hobbyist but they are worth a look.

All Electronics - This is basically a surplus store with both new and used components. Their prices on some stuff is very good, provided you can find what you need. You can also visit their store at 14928 Oxnard St., Van Nuys.

Apex Surplus, This is a large electronics surplus store in an industrial area of the San Fernando Valley (8909 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley). If they have something you need, you can probably get it at a good price. It's sometimes hard to find things, but it's worth at least one trip there just to see the place, and its storage area outside in the back.