Those USB FTDI modules work great as power supplies during testing!  I'm not using the serial lines at all here.

In my previous post, I used the MSP430 LaunchPad Value Line Development kit.

The MSP430 is a 16-bit microcontroller from Texas Instruments.  Code Composer, a C Compiler and Eclipse-based IDE is available from TI; the code-size limited version is free.

The development board is available for as low as $4.30 from TI.  At this very moment, it looks to be out of stock at TI, but it is also available from DigiKey or Mouser.

Nice way to experiment with microcontrollers without breaking the bank!