- types of microcontrollers: architectures, peripherals, and families
- buzzword bingo - RISC / Harvard / PIC / ARM / "memory mapped"
- serial, parallel, synchronous, and asynchronous - how to talk zeroes and ones
- pulse width modulation - how does it dim?
- numbering schemes - hex, dec, oct, and bin. when to use which?
- bitmath - shifts, xors, and more.
- whens, whys, and hows... switching
- transistors
- FET
- BJT / darlington
- h-bridge
- relays
- ac voltage - what's the difference between RMS, peak-to-peak,and average?
- dangerous prototypes link
- how to power your widget - voltage converters
- buck
- boost
- LDO
- data conversion
- ADC / DAC terminology
- DNL / INL / basic math
- whens, whys, and hows... protection diodes on inductive loads
- whens, whys, and hows... pull-up, pull-down, current limiting, and voltage-dividing resistors
- whens, whys, and hows... different types of motors
- brushed
- brushless
- hobby servo
- stepper
- whens, whys, and hows... datasheets: relevant info from 40 pages on a resistor
- whens, whys, and hows... prototyping techniques from breadboard to wirewrap
- whens, whys, and hows... circuit board design and fabrication
- orders of magnitude: estimating power draw for sensing, thinking, and doing.
- orders of magnitude: estimation for prototyping.
- Soldering: surface mount, through-hole, freeform
- hot air rework
- SMD reflow
- where to go when it doesn't work: application notes, reference designs, forums and more in the EE world.
- lab equipment: advanced usage. - "what's the trigger knob do?"
- use of Saleae logic analyzer, CEE, etc