{"id":20265,"date":"2024-12-11T11:29:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=20265"},"modified":"2025-12-06T12:01:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T17:01:36","slug":"vin25","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin25\/","title":{"rendered":"American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547<\/h2>\n<p>[vin25]<\/p>\n<p>The American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547 was a specialized hardware platform from the early 1980s designed for embedded systems development, particularly notable for its in-circuit emulation capabilities for microcontrollers like the Motorola 68HC11. Its claim to fame was serving as an essential tool for engineers to prototype, test, and debug embedded systems, making it a significant contributor to the evolution of embedded computing technology. While not a mass-market personal computer and thus not widely popular among general consumers, it was important within engineering and technical circles.<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-22977\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-2048x1538.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175617462-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: American Automation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Embedded systems development platform<\/li>\n<li><strong>Announced<\/strong>: December 1972<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: Early 1980&#8217;s<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: ~$18,000 (adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: 0.3 (300 KIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\">Hardware Specifications<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Microcontroller: In-circuit emulator and debugger for microcontrollers commonly Motorola 68HC11<\/li>\n<li>Modular hardware design with multiple interface and emulation modules<\/li>\n<li>Support for real-time code testing and debugging directly on target hardware<\/li>\n<li>Serial and parallel I\/O ports for communication with host computers and target systems<\/li>\n<li>Expandable with additional peripherals for various microcontroller families<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\">Operating System &amp; Programming Languages<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW136206418 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-0\"><strong>Operating System<\/strong>: N\/A<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-0\"><strong>Supported Languages<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-0\">Assembly language, for direct hardware control and efficiency.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-0\">C, which became the industry standard for embedded systems due to its balance of low-level access and portability.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-0\">Occasionally, C++ was also used for more complex projects, and BASIC or other languages could be used depending on the development tools available, but C and Assembly were predominant<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-22978\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-2048x1538.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20251008_175646804-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Notables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547 was a niche, professional-grade embedded systems development tool, not a general-purpose computer.<\/li>\n<li>It was notable for its robust in-circuit emulation and debugging features, which allowed engineers to interact directly with microcontroller hardware during development.<\/li>\n<li>The system played a key role in the transition from manual, hardware-based prototyping to more automated, software-driven embedded system design.<\/li>\n<li>While it did not have widely known nicknames, it was sometimes referred to simply as the &#8220;EZ-Pro&#8221; in engineering circles.<\/li>\n<li>Its main historical significance lies in its contribution to advancing embedded systems engineering and prototyping during the early 1980s.<\/li>\n<li>Due to its specialized function and high cost, it was uncommon outside of professional and academic environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Dr. Arlen Michaels<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547 [vin25] The American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547 was a specialized hardware platform from the early 1980s designed for embedded systems development, particularly notable for its in-circuit emulation capabilities for microcontrollers like the Motorola 68HC11. Its claim to fame was serving as an essential tool for engineers to prototype, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>American Automation EZ-Pro Development System AA-547 - 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