A fun microcontroller project we picked up a relatively short while ago, some programming for those who need to see real-life results. We started out with the Launchpad a wonderfully cheap little board that allows you to interface with the chip easily through usb. Programming is done in C, so if you don't know any programming, this is a great place to learn.

There are several projects that cascade off of the MSP, but are unrelated to each other.

• Numitron Tubes - Very cool soviet-era incandescent 7-segment displays that don't need insane voltages to run!
• MSP-MET - An MSP430-based Meteorological Data Collection System
• Nokia 5110 LCD
• MSP430 & Linux - Using the MSP430 Launchpad in Linux
• 1602A LCD - 16×2 display
• DS32KHz - A 32.768KHz Temperature-Compensated Oscilator
• Testing the MSP430 Crystal - Once you have the crystal soldered on your launchpad, or if you're using an external crystal, you're going to want to know whether or not it works.
• Turn an MSP430 into a 7segment display driver