Manufacturers of single board computers tend to redesign their boards often. This is good for someone who is working on a project that requires the newly added features. In an educational setting, however, rapid redesign is a real problem. It means that course materials must be completely rewritten each time a school is forced to purchase new boards because the previous version is no longer available.
Most single board computers include many more features than are needed for an introductory course. These extra features cause confusion for many beginning students. Such students finish an introductory course feeling that computers are mysterious, as there are signals and parts on the board that they know nothing about. Simple Altruistic Little Trainers are designed to eliminate these mysteries. Most students who use SALTs finish their introductory course feeling that they are capable of designing a simple board that is useful.
The box of SALT boards shown below is one that is used by students in two courses.
SALT PIC
16F876(18F252) - A microcontroller board for an
intermediate course involving the interfacing of sensors and actuators. This is a low cost board. It was designed to be printed in the school laboratory or at home. To make that goal more attainable it is a one sided board with wide (0.050") traces. The art work for the board etching is provided below, as is the parts list.
When MicroChip makes the new part, PIC 18F252, available to the public it
will be compatible with this board. Using that part will make it easier to
program with higher level languages such as C or BASIC. THE PIC
18F252 IS
NOW AVAILABLE ! IN FACT A GOOD TEXT (AND BOARD) IS ALSO AVAILABLE ! CHECK IT OUT
Picture of board
Circuit board layout(.jpg)
Microcontroller with a simple demo application(.jpg)
Parts list for both the microcontroller board and the light board(.html)
Assembly listing of a simple program with comments that outline the
features of the board(.asm)
Artwork needed to etch both the microcontroller board and the light board(.pdf)
SALT 6802 - A single board computer for a
beginning MICROPROCESSOR COURSE
Picture of board
Circuit board layout(.pdf download)
Printed circuit board image
Connected to an LCD display
Block diagram
Block diagram(.pdf download)
SALT EEPROM Programmer - An EEPROM
Programmer that is so simple the student must set each address
and each byte of data on some switches to program each location
in the memory chip. It is a slow process, but the students are
sure to learn the difference between addresses and data.
Picture of top of board
Picture of bottom of board. Note: no
circuitry(simple, huh?)
Diagram of board(.pdf download)
Parts list(.pdf download)
SALT 68HC11 - A microcontroller board for an
intermediate course involving the interfacing of sensors and actuators
Picture of board interfaced to temperature sensor and
LED display.
Parts placement diagram(.pdf download)
Parts list(.pdf download)
Schematic(.pdf download)
