There are a lot of microcontroller dev boards on Tindie, but every now and then one stands out to me. The AVR Coding Kit (or ACK) is a cute little board that features an ATtiny1616 and a 6×7 Charlieplexed LED matrix! I am particularly fond of the tinyAVR 1-Series; for such a tiny package, they’ve managed to fit in a huge number of peripherals, including things not commonly seen in smaller micros like DACs, small logic blocks, multiple 16-bit timers and an RTC, and even capacitive touch detection hardware.
The ACK takes the ATtiny1616 and turns it into not only a great little development board for learning about AVR (it even has an entire simple program printed on the back silkscreen!) but it’s also inexpensive and small enough to be embedded in many applications. With the built-in CR2032 battery holder tasks like data logging, low-power control systems (think weather balloons, remote monitoring stations), and wearables are all perfect matches for a board of this size.
But to top it all off Bradanlane Studio, the developers, have created a free, 100% open-source AVR programming course that teaches how to utilize the ATtiny using the C programming language. It’s a perfect fit for those already somewhat familiar with C/C++ but who are wanting to get into the embedded development world. It’s designed with the ACK in mind, but the information applies to most AVRs and the course can be adapted freely, as it’s MIT licensed. If you know someone wanting to get into embedded development, this might be the perfect match for them!
