Digilent Minicon User Manual
MMiinniiccoonn™
™
®
l
RReeffeerreennccee MMaannuuaal
Revision: February 9, 2009
Note: This document applies to REV C of the board.
www. d i g i l e n t i n c . c om
215 E Main Suite D | Pullman, WA 99163
(509) 334 6306 Voice and Fax
Overview
The Minicon board is a useful tool for
embedded control and robotics projects for
both students and hobbyists.
The Minicon’s versatile design and
programmable embedded microcontroller
allows you to control different external
devices and program the board for multiple
uses. The board has many I/O connectors,
power supply options, and supports a
number of programming tools including
ATMEL AVR® STUDIO 4, and WinAVR.
The Minicon has a number of connections
for peripheral devices. Digilent peripheral
modules (Pmods™) include H-bridges,
analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog
converters, a speaker, switches, buttons,
Various power
connectors
Figure 1
Minicon Board
4 LEDs
Reset
button
LEDs, RS232 converters, screw terminals,
BNC connectors, servo motors, and more.
3.3V
regulator
Features include:
• ATmega168 microcontroller
• five 6-pin connectors for Digilent
Pmod peripheral module boards
• four LEDs
• four mode select jumpers
16K Flash
(Internal)
512 EEPROM
(Internal)
1k SRAM
(Internal)
ATMega168
TQ32
Minicon
Internal
Oscillator
UART, SPI,
&TWI ports
• ESD protection for all I/O pins
4
• an on-board voltage regulator
4 4 4 4 4
• multiple, flexible power supply
J1
J2
jumper options
• in-system programming support for
the Digilent parallel JTAG cable or
the Digilent USB JTAG/SPI cable.
JA
Three 6-pin PMOD
connectors
JB JC
SPI/
ISP
Figure 2
Block Diagram
RS232
TWI
J4
TWI
Chain
Doc: 502-091 page 1 of 8
Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Minicon Reference Manual
Features of the ATmega168 include:
•
master/slave serial peripheral
interface (SPI)
•
programmable serial USART
interface
•
Atmel two wire serial interface (TWI)
•
eight channel, 10-bit ADC
•
two 8-bit timer/counters
•
one 16-bit timer/counter
•
16KB program flash
•
512 byte EEPROM
•
1KB internal SRAM
•
analog comparator.
For more information on the ATmega168
microcontroller, refer to the data sheet
available at www.atmel.com.
Functional Description
The Minicon is designed for embedded
control and robotic applications, as well as
microprocessor experimentation.
Embedded firmware, suitable for many
applications, can be programmed into the
Minicon’s ATmega168 microcontroller.
The Minicon has a number of I/O
connection options, and is specially
designed to work with the Digilent line of
peripheral modules (Pmods), which
provide various input and output functions.
For more information, see
www.digilentinc.com.
Programming the Minicon is accomplished
using the Digilent AVR programmer
(AVRP) application and a Digilent
programming cable (use either the Digilent
parallel JTAG cable or the Digilent USB
JTAG/SPI cable). The programming cable
is attached to the SPI connector, J1.
Digilent, Inc.
www.digilentinc.com
Jumper JP10 is used to select between
programming mode and user mode. Place
the shorting block on JP10 in the RST
position for in-system-programming and in
the SS position for user mode.
Connector J1 provides access to the
master/slave SPI. SPI is a high-speed
synchronous serial interface used by many
serial peripheral devices, like A/D and D/A
converters. The SPI interface is used both
for in-system-programming the
ATmega168, and for a user accessible SPI
port. The Digilent PmodAD1 and
PmodDA1 modules use the SPI interface.
Connector J1 and the SPI interface are
also used for in-system programming of
the ATmega168 microcontroller.
Connectors J2 and J4 provide access to
the Atmel TWI. The TWI is a medium
speed (200-400 Kbps) serial bus that
allows up to 128 devices to connect.
Connector J4 is the TWI daisy-chain
connector for connecting the Minicon into a
TWI bus.
The ATmega168 microcontroller provides a
USART that can be used for asynchronous or
synchronous serial communications. However,
the MiniCon doesn’t provide for a crystal
oscillator, and the internal RC oscillator isn’t
accurate enough for reliable asynchronous
communications. It is sometimes possible to
tune the oscillator using the calibration register
to allow asynchronous communications to
work.
The Minicon features a flexible power
supply routing system with a number of
options for powering the Minicon and any
peripheral modules connected to it.
Four mode-select input jumpers and four
LEDs are provided for application firmware.
www.digilentinc.com page 2 of 8
Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Minicon Reference Manual
6-pin Pmod Headers
The Minicon has five 6-pin header
connectors for connecting to generalpurpose, off-board digital I/O, or to specific
ATmega168 features like analog-to-digital
converters or pulse width modulators. Each
6-pin connector provides four signals,
power, and ground. These connectors are
specifically designed to work with the
Digilent Pmod line of peripheral boards, but
can be used to connect to any off-board
I/O devices.
See Table 1 for more information on
connecting peripheral modules and other
devices to the Minicon. Table 1 shows the
connectors with their designed base
function and a map to the ATmega168 I/O
ports. All I/O port pins can be used for
general-purpose digital I/Os.
Power Supply Connectors
The Minicon is rated for external power
ranging from 3.6 to 9 volts DC. Using
voltage outside this range could damage
the Minicon and connected devices.
The Minicon can be powered from a power
supply connected to one of three external
power connectors, or it can be powered
through any of the board’s 6-pin Pmod
headers. The three external power supply
connectors are J6, J7, and J8.
Connector J6 is a 5.5mm x 2.1mm coaxial
barrel connector. The AC power adapter,
available from Digilent, is attached to this
connector. This is useful for desktop
development and testing where use of
batteries is cost prohibitive. This connector
is wired so that the center pin provides the
Digilent, Inc.
www.digilentinc.com
positive voltage and the outer shell is
grounded.
Connector J7 is a two-pin screw terminal.
This connector can be used with laboratory
bench supplies, or for attachment to
battery packs.
Connector J8 is a two-pin male header that
provides an alternate connection to battery
packs or other power sources. Digilent has
available either two or three cell battery
packs that can be attached directly to this
connector.
Power supply connectors J6, J7, and J8
are connected in parallel. A power source
should be connected to only one of these
three connectors at a time.
Warning: Use the proper polarity when
connecting a power source to J7 or J8.
A reversed connection will damage the
board. The proper polarity is silkscreened on the board near each
connector.
The Minicon provides an on-board voltage
regulator that produces the 3.3V operating
voltage for the board. The VU power bus
provides the input to the voltage regulator,
and the VCC power bus is the regulated
output. Jumper JP9 is used to route
external power through the on-board
regulator or to bypass the regulator.
The power supply connectors, J6, J7, and
J8 are connected in parallel to the center
pin, VE, on JP9. If the shorting block is
placed in the VU position, the supplied
voltage is routed through the voltage
regulator and regulated to 3.3V to power
the VCC bus. If the shorting block is placed
in the VCC position, the supplied voltage is
routed around the on-board regulator and
powers the VCC bus directly. In this case,
the supplied voltage must be externally
www.digilentinc.com page 3 of 8
Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Loading...