Getting Started with the MSP430 Launchpad

This book explores the world of microcontroller development through friendly lessons and progressively challenging projects, which will have you blink LEDs, make music with buzzers & interact with different sensors like accelerometers and temperature sensors. This book is focused on the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit, which is a complete microcontroller development platform that includes everything you need to start creating microcontroller-based projects. Many of the 25+ projects will also leverage external components, such as the highly-integrated Educational BoosterPack, which is a modular extension to the LaunchPad and includes many components such as an RGB LED, character LCD & potentiometer.

This book provides helpful guides that break down hardware circuits through visual diagrams and includes fully-commented code examples. Concepts are broken down and explained in an easy to follow language and analogies to help you understand the principles behind each project/system. The projects will encourage you to use and even combine the fundamental concepts to develop your ideas in creating new microcontroller solutions.

Coverage includes:

Digital Input/Output: buttons, LEDs, turning anything into a button

Analog Input/Output: sensors, temperature, accelerometer, potentiometer, etc.

Programming fundamentals: conditional branches & loops, flow, logic, number systems

Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM): square wave, buzzer, analog signal simulation

Serial Communication: UART, SPI & I2C

Code development using Energia, a free, open-source code editor and compiler

Debugging through serial communication with a computer

Interfacing with external components such as LEDs, buzzers, potentiometers, sensors & more.

With the help of this book, you will be challenged to think about developing your own unique microcontroller-based application, and you will be equipped to start solving various problems, adding intelligence to existing products, or even developing your own innovative creations with a LaunchPad development kit.

Contains easy to follow diagrams and code examples

Covers Programming fundamentals, such as conditional branches and loops, flow, logic, number systems

1. Prepare for Liftoff - Welcome!

2. Meet the LaunchPad

3. The Fellowship of the LaunchPad

4. Meet Energia - a software development environment

5. Day in the life of a microcontroller

6. Think digitally

7. The Ins and Outs of Digital I/O

8. Analog: The infinite shades of grey.

9. 1s & 0s Revisited: The digital stream

10. The Languages of LaunchPad

11. LaunchPad is just the beginning

Quick References