RFID-RC522 Card Reader

This link leads to an example for TI MSP430 and CC3200 LaunchPads that read a card number
using a RC522 MIFARE module and Energia.

Tested with Energia V16 on:
          MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad
          MSP-EXP430F5529 LaunchPad
          MSP-EXP430FR5969 LaunchPad
          CC3200

Why LaunchPad?

Lots of reasons:

• Very reasonable pricing for wide range of boards - look at these specs and prices
• Industry leading ultra low power MCUs
• Pathway from Energia (you will feel right at home if you know Arduino) to full featured Code Composer Studio
• Easy access to the Internet of Things (IOT) with the SimpleLink Wi-Fi Family - see the CC3200 and Temboo
• An expanding line of BoosterPacks
• An active user community

And there are many more.  I especially like the power to price ratio of these MCUs and they are easy to embed - see this video for example.

What this blog is about....

I'm a mechanical engineer, new to microcontrollers.  I started out with Arduino, but one day found myself with a new TI MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad and not much idea of what it could do.  What I've found is that in the LaunchPad series there is a board that can do anything Arduino can do and a whole lot more.  Just one problem... the support at the beginner level is not as developed as that for Arduino.

My objective with this blog is to document some of my experiences with the hope it will ease the process for others getting started with the LaunchPad series.  The LaunchPads I tend to use the most are the MSP3200 (for internet) and the MSP-EXP430F5529LP (for general purpose).  In addition, I can see use for the MSP-EXP430G2 where I want to embed a small board into something.  I have a MSP-EXP432P401R now and I look forward to learning a bit more about the real time operating system (RTOS).