8051 LCD INTERFACE

LEDs (lights), interfaced with 8051 microcontroller, can be used to display binary numbers or on/off states while Seven Segment Displays (SSD) can display digits but that's not enough. What if you wanted to display a proper message consisting of numbers, letters, characters, symbols e.t.c.? That's where LCD Screens jump in. LCDs make it convenient to display anything to the user. It may sound tricky to interface an LCD with a microcontroller but trust me or not, it's simpler than it looks and this short tutorial will make sure that you get the hold of it.

8051 KEYPAD INTERFACE

When we talk about input to the microcontroller unit, which may or may not be user input, it's not just ON/OFF switches or Push Buttons. In fact there are different methods for collecting data either from a user or the environment. According to the requirements, you can expect a user to press some button, toggle a switch,  enter a username/password e.t.c. while various types of sensing devices are used to detect changes in the environment which will be discussed in my future posts. Today I am going to briefly introduce you to Keypad interface with the 8051 microcontroller. I have noticed many students having problem with this so I have tried my best to keep it as simple as possible while you will try your best to concentrate and understand it once and for all. 

8051 SEVEN SEGMENT DISPLAY (SSD) INTERFACE

Seven Segment Display which is most commonly known as SSD is an output device which can be used to display information. As discussed in my previous post, it is necessary for a system to have proper input/output devices for assisting the user and SSD serves the very same purpose by displaying some useful information to the user. You can easily connect/interface it with 8051 MCU for output once you understand it properly. After reading this article, you will get to know everything about it. 

8051 SWITCH INTERFACE

It is necessary for every system to have proper user interface - which makes it user friendly and easy to operate. For instance, imagine using your computer without the monitor (display), keyboard or mouse? It's not even possible to operate it without these essential components as they help you either in entering data (input) to the PC or seeing the results on screen (output). Similarly, an embedded system (the one involving microcontrollers such as 8051 in our case) also require input/ouput devices to be user friendly. A switch can act as an input device to the microcontroller unit (MCU) and this post is all about interfacing/connecting it to the 8051 MCU.

8051 LED TOGGLE PROGRAM CODE

You might have seen a "Hello World!" program code example while learning some programming language. While it is useful for getting familiar with the basics of that language, it also gives you a head start in that environment. If you ever want to learn some new programming language, you might want to Google out a "Hello world!' program code to get started. The code I am about to discuss serves the same purpose for the 8051 microcontroller because it is the most simplest task to perform. Play close attention if you want everything to work properly. 

DEBUGGING IN KEIL

I have already written a brief post on how to use KEIL uVision in which I deliberately left the debugging part out because I wanted to talk about it at a proper time. I think it's now. If you haven't noticed it yet, KEIL uVision is also a debugger and will help you debug many of your codes and programs. The debugging environment of KEIL is very simple to understand and make use of. Today, I will introduce you to it. Ready?

UPDATE: You can also click this link for an updated version of this post.

HOW TO USE PROTEUS

The simulators I mentioned in my previous post were strictly for beginners. They just show you the output of the microcontroller so you can learn how everything works. They will accompany you as long as you are dealing with manipulating the data on the ports or registers. Sooner or later, you will be going further and attaching external hardware to the 8051 but that's exactly how we deal with it. So if you're talking about simulating a complete circuit then you actually need PROTEUS for this.

UPDATE: You can also click this link for an updated version of this post with more insight and explanation.

8051 SIMULATORS

Everyone wants to see some practical results after working hard on a project. Same is the case with 8051 microcontroller. You have probably designed something involving the 8051 and written / compiled a program code for it and you are almost ready to put it to test. I know you can't wait but there is still one essential step before jumping on to the implementation phase and it is called simulation.

UPDATE: You can also click this link for an updated version of this post.

HOW TO USE KEIL

Finally you have decided to write your own code for the 8051 microcontroller. It doesn't matter whether you have chosen Assembly or C Language for yourself but what matters now is that you need an environment specially designed for 8051. Basically you are looking out for IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that will help you build and compile programs. While there are many options out there, I prefer KEIL uVision in this regard.

UPDATE: You can also click this link for an updated version of this post.

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE FOR THE 8051

If you are interested in programming then you are definitely familiar with some programming language and probably written few programs or compiled few codes. If you are not, then I strongly insist that you check it out first i-e read the basics of programming. Writing codes for the 8051 microcontroller is not much different. You choose some programming language for yourself and then you start writing codes in the correct environment. That's all it takes.

UPDATE: You can also click this link for an updated version of this post.

PROGRAMMING THE 8051

To use the 8051 microcontroller, you definitely need to program it first for the intended purpose. What does that mean actually? The 8051 itself is just a piece of hardware capable of doing nothing at all. It is actually the software that makes it intelligent and gives some meaning to its life. The software defines the purpose of the 8051 or solution to a particular problem. Now how to program it? It's very simple to understand.

UPDATE: Visit this link for a newer  and updated version of this post - with detailed instructions.