Welcome

Hello, and welcome. The purpose of this blog is to document my projects and progress utilizing my newly acquired Teensy++ USB development board. Ever since I've been interested in computers and programming, I have always wanted to explore outside the realm of mere software and try and interface to devices in the outside world. Basically, I've had a few projects that have been bouncing around in my head for the past 15 years or so that I would like to see become a reality. What you will read ahead is my own personal experiments toward that goal. I am no expert, and I have never had a clear grasp of electrical theory, so I am sure my writing will be punctuated with tales of smoking components and misapplied theories.

I purchased the Teensy++ a few weeks ago and I have been very happy with it so far. One of the roadblocks to doing any type of work like this has been the development cycle - I code in small blocks and test/debug frequently (a consequence of my self-taught programming, no doubt) and it seemed to inconvenient to switch to separate program each time I needed to reprogram the microcontroller. I know there are in-circuit programmers and what-not, but given I don't have much experience in electronics to begin with, this seemed like too much of a hurdle. The Teensy solves these problems by combining an ARM MCU with a USB port right onto a DIP package that can plug easily into a breadboard. It comes with a small driver that runs in the background and responds to a button on the package that automatically updates its firmware and resets the MCU, running the new code. That means that after you've compiled your latest version, all it takes is a button-push to have it running the new code. It sounded simple in theory and I can attest that it holds up in practice. Once I had it ordered, my brother graciously gave me a few needed items (a large breadboard, some LEDs (that I have since toasted - oops), a handful of resistors (that I should have used with the LEDs) and other miscellaneous items that have proved to be very useful) and I have been tinkering every chance I get.

I plan to put up pictures, diagrams and code examples every chance I get. If you've ever wanted to get your feet wet with digital interfacing, I hope you stick around and get inspired by the face that if someone with my limited expertise in electronics can do it, you can too!