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I am a software guy who hasn't been under assembler level. I have a project in my mind but I don't have sufficient knowledge on electronics. I have been searching in the internet for help, but I couldn't find anything satisfies me (maybe I don't use right keywords). I am not familiar to electronics world, I bought a soldering set last weekend, first time in my life.

About my project, I want to control my electric toy cars from my laptop via wi-fi. I searched internet for guidance. I have seen similar questions, but answers were same: "Use bluetooth". I don't want to use bluetooth, that's the point.

Last weekend I bought a soldering set, a Pertinax, some set of peripherals and an ATmega328P microcontroller. I will control my electric toy cars with ATmega328P, I will deal with microcontroller-car interface. But, the point I am suffering is microcontroller-laptop interface. I am familiar with assembly language. I dealt with MIPS ISA and 8051 microcontrollers when I was undergrad. So, coding won't be problem (I hope), but hardware is.

By the way, I don't want to use pre-done equipment like Arduino. I want to understand every detail of my circuit. What I'm asking here is a spark, recommendation. A book, a video tutorial, a webpage, a document, anything helpful is appreciated.

At the end, cars must be able to connect to LAN, or send/receive data from all the devices connected to same LAN network.

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    \$\begingroup\$ If you're new to MCUs, Arduino really isn't a terrible place to start. (It's just a terrible place to end.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
    Apr 8, 2014 at 20:54

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What I would do is start with an Arduino and then once you have that working you can break the circuit down and solder your own with just an Atmega328 and any other parts you need. There's an Ethernet shield for Arduino that might be useful, some more information is at http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoEthernetShield

Texas Instruments have also released a new chip which costs about $15 called CC3000. This is a self-contained Wifi chip that I haven't used personally but that has some good reviews. There are development boards available that would help. From what I understand you simply give it the name of your Wireless Access Point, the Wifi password and then off you go and you can connect your car to the Internet. The only caveat with this chip is the package - all the soldering pads are on the underside, so you can't solder it with your normal soldering iron. You would have to use a reflow oven or a hot air gun. Some more information on the CC3000 is at http://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/tis-cc3000-wifi-chip-gets-a-library/

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  • \$\begingroup\$ And SparkFun just released a shield and a breakout board based on the CC3000. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
    Apr 8, 2014 at 21:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ I agree completely with this. Arduino software and hardware is an easy start. You can transition this to your own hardware and raw code if needed. Often the controller is fast enough that the Arduino speed penalty isn't a large factor. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joe
    Apr 8, 2014 at 22:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ Can I use this one as Wi-fi chip? What is the difference between "self-contained Wi-Fi chips" and the others? \$\endgroup\$
    – Ekrem Doğan
    Apr 8, 2014 at 22:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ This answer suggests what the OP specifically doesn't want: Arduino. Not everyone wants a copy and paste solution to their problems, as most Arduino projects are. The notes about the TI Chip are good. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kurt E. Clothier
    Apr 9, 2014 at 1:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ This answer complelely ignores the asker's needs and wishes. It may be difficult to get started with a naked uC but it isn't an excuse to use Arduino. There is no "it's simply..." in electronics hobby or professional. If a person really want to learn the intricacies of a system he should know it's bits and pieces. \$\endgroup\$
    – GriffinTaimer
    Feb 8, 2018 at 8:19

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