Microcontroller

Programming

By Sparkle Labs

Easy-to-program chips

tell circuitry to do

what you want.

Press a button and a light flashes a pattern.

What makes it flash? It seems like there’s a

tiny monkey in there flipping the switch. If

so, many household items contain these tiny

Photography and illustrations by Sparkle Labs

monkeys. They’re what send the infrared
(IR) codes out of our remote controls and
then decode them in our televisions. They
run our washing machines and toasters.
These tiny monkeys are microcontrollers,
and you can train them to help you with your
own projects.