Download ABCmini/ABCmaxi Manual

Preface:
After waking up to a sack bulging full of presents on Christmas day (2003), I was delighted to unwrap a
white box bearing a large picture of a microchip and the letters “Hot Chip Starter Pack”. I had seen
advertisements for these Microcontrollers before, but to my dismay they all had a price tag of over
AU$90 which was well out of my (then) 14-year old budget for interesting items that I had no current
need for. I had saved up my money a few years ago and had bought an AU$379 “LEGO Mindstorms
1.5” pack; containing LEGO pieces, software and a programmable brick (LEGO Mindstorms information
is available at www.legomindstorms.com). This set was a great introduction to Microcontrollers (I still
love it), as the chunky, yellow brick that was the core of the set had a small computer-programmable
Microcontroller inside. This was very easy to use as the software is picture-driven, and downloads
through an IR (infra-red) link to the brick. I had resisted experimenting with Microcontrollers before was
the apparent difficulty programming them and their price.
I read issues of the Australian electronics magazines Silicon Chip and the now-ceased Electronics
Australia, with many of the articles showing complex programming and devices required to program the
external EEPROM memory ICs. I am an avid user of Visual Basic 6, and I was even-more excited to find
that the “Hot Chip” supports BASIC and ASM (Assembler) code, and has an easy-to-use cable interface
with the computer. The words “Quick Start Manual and Hints” on the box rose my hopes even more.
When I installed the software however, I found the “quick-start” manual to be mediocre at best. With a
bit of searching of the software’s help file, you can find out how to make basic programs in the ABCedit
program, and with even more searching, you can find out how to download a program to the
microcontroller chip. The software is functional, but easier and more powerful software packages do
exist.
For my 15th birthday on the 14th February 2004 (Valentine’s day), I received money from friends and
relatives and an ABCmaxi board from my parents. This did not include the software or cables that the
ABCmini included, but this was due to it being only the standard pack (not starter pack) half-priced at
Dick Smith – apparently they do not intend to sell it anymore in Australia, and are getting rid of their
stock. Not to be defeated, I set out to understand its workings. Later I used the money I had saved,
together with my 2004 birthday money to buy a second-hand Compaq 700MHz laptop, which I am
writing this on.
READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENTATION BEFORE STARTING, AS SOME
IMPORTANT INFORMATION IS DISCUSSED LATER IN THE TEXT THAT
MAY DAMAGE YOUR BOARD IF NOT FOLLOWED.
This is mainly a hardware manual, not a software manual. Its primary purpose is to
teach a novice user how to correctly set up the ABCmini, ABCmaxi or separate
AT90S8535 microcontroller for programming and how to interface it to everyday
components. Some programming software is discussed, but if you wish to learn a
microcontroller programming language (such as C, Assembler or BASIC), please
consult your software’s manual(s).
Note: when a “→” is used in this document, it indicates a computer program submenu.
Documentation for the ABCmaxi and ABCmini – Version 5.2
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