Worldwide

For the the labs associated with Volume 2 you will need a microcontroller board and a set of extra electronic parts. Texas Instruments, Element-14, DigiKey and Mouser are international suppliers with solid reputations for service.

Purchase the microcontroller board

Every student will need either a Tiva LaunchPad or a Connected LaunchPad. All the projects we will develop in this course will run on either of these microcontroller boards. There are many places one can go to get the board. For a full list of sources from which you can get the board go to www.octopart.com and search for either EK-TM4C1294XL or EK-TM4C123GXL. As of August 2014, buying either LaunchPad from the TI estore is the least expensive option after shipping.

Extra electronic parts

You will need to purchase the EK-TM4C123GXL board from Texas Instruments and a set of electronic components. The cost for these parts is less than $100 US plus shipping. The kit comprises a microcontroller board, plus some extra electronics. The Sitronix ST7735 is a low-cost color LCD used by most labs. Lab 4 requires a stepper motor and motor driver. Lab 4B requires a DC motor, a tachometer, an op amp, and a darlington transitor. Lab 10 requires a ZigBee module. Lab 10B requires a CC3100 BoosterPack. Lab 10C requires a ZigBee module, a microphone, a DAC, an analog reference, an audio amp, and a speaker. These distributors have all earned high praises for service and reputation. All prices are listed in USD.

The external circuits can be built on a solderless breadboard. Lab 5 requires a DAC, an analog reference, an audio amp, and a head-phone jack. Lab 9 requires a thermistor, an analog reference, an instrumentation amp, and an op amp.

Sitronix ST7735 Color Graphic Display

This display can be found at adafruit. Click on this link to buy: Sitronix ST7735 Color LCD for $19.99. Specifications:1.8" diagonal LCD TFT display, 128x160 resolution, 18-bit (262,144) color, SPI digital interface, built-in microSD slot, LED backlight, with full backlight current draw is ~50mA.

Low cost Nokia 5110 LCD Display & Header

The Nokia 5110 is a low-cost alternative that can be used for the display. Also listed is a 8x1 100mil header that makes connecting the nokia 5110 lcd to the breadboard very easy, as opposed to soldering fly wires. As with the rest of the parts we encourage you to find the best price, providers listed below have a solid reputation for service.

Any one of these headers will work, please order which ever is cheapest for you. We have listed the cheapest part for each distributor, as well as links to the octopart page for several headers. Please choose which ever is cheapest for you based on shipping and who you are ordering with. A short list of the parts we considered was Molex 22-03-2081, TE Connectivity 3-644456-8, Areva 54101-S08-08, FCI 68000-208HLF, 3M 961108-6404-AR, Molex 22-28-4080.