Microcontroller Trainers

Microcontrollers are used everywhere nowadays, even for very simple applications, because they often work out cheaper than discrete components. If any level of complexity is required, then using a microcontroller becomes essential.

So, how do you go about learning microcontrollers?

Kanda have been producing microcontroller trainers for almost 20 years, and they are used all over the world, in colleges and universities and by hobbyists and training companies. A lot of Kanda boards are still in use after 15 years, which is a testament to their build quality.

Kanda have written their own books to accompany their microcontroller training kits and guide the learning process, along with full schematics, sample code (C and Assembler), full documentation and datasheets. All development software needed is also supplied to give a complete kit.

The two most popular microcontrollers for general use are PIC and AVR. There are a lot of other good microcontrollers out there, but these two are the best choice to use to learn about microcontrollers because of their widespread use. This means that they are cheap and easily available everywhere, tools are much cheaper and there is a huge amount of information on the web about using them.

If you are not sure which one to use, have a look at our PIC versus AVR page

The aim of all Kanda trainers is to give you the basics, so that after starting from scratch, you can understand the information that is available on the Internet. A simple low cost microcontroller trainer can not teach you everything about the subject, but it gives you a start by teaching you about numbering systems, logic, microcontrollers and programming, plus how to use the tools.

Once you have learnt all the basics, you have all the hardware needed to develop your own projects. There is lots of information, including sample code and hardware schematics, on a huge range of topics from robots to instruments that you will be able to tap into. Further reading and study may be required on electronics and circuit design depending on your previous experience but Kanda aim to give you an excellent start.

AVR Training Kit

AVR Kit with ICE

PIC Starter Kit

Complete PIC Training Kit