Hey a few random Q's for you gurus:
I'm taking a class called "Electronic Design With Microcontrollers". The premise of the class is to learn to use the HC11 without demanding too much knowledge of electrical concepts. So, for instance, we have to figure out how to hook up the simple stuff, ie. switches, LEDs, etc., but we get schematics for things that are a little tougher, ie. transistor control of a DC motor, opAmp for a microphone circuit, etc.
So far I'm understanding most of the circuits we use, but as I figure out what some parts do, it makes me more curious as to what the others do.
For instance, I just built a circuit with a 455Khz crystal. I vaguely grasp how the crystal itself works, but not why there are capacitors tying it to ground, or why there is a large resistor across its leads.
OK, so here's the question[s]:
1) Is there any site where I can download simple circuits (in GIF format I guess) that have accompanying explanations of why certain things are in there?2) What is *the best* book for somebody like me? (Ie. not afraid of difficult concepts, but prefers working knowledge to book smarts as much as possible.)
3) What stores do people use to stock their personal labs? Or do most of the people around here use a real lab? I'd love to build a lab this summer, but the expenditures on scope, power supply, etc. are considerable and I don't even know where to get some of the ICs that I would end up wanting to use. Is there a web page that describes setting up a cheap lab?4) This seems like it should be easy to google, but so far no luck: how does one build a rechargeable battery power supply that's capable of supplying enough power to operate a HC11 (or PIC) board, a couple servos and a couple DC motors?
5) What's a good board to graduate to from the HC11? I'm currently working with a 2Mhz version that has 64k of RAM. In the back of my head I'm thinking about toying with SLAM on a mobile robot...that means much more speed and memory. Any suggestions? (I'm alreadying thinking laptop).My interest lies mainly in building autonomous agents, using the hardware as "the arms and legs" for writing intelligent software.
Gracias