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Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

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Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#21

Post by bradyd »

morganherlocker wrote: post #12
danielweber wrote: post #8

As a n00b, what's the minimum I need to have to play with an Arduino? Will generally any Linux / Windows / Mac computer be able to run the software and connecting hardware I need to program it?

Pretty much. I set one up for the first time a couple weeks ago and it could not have been easier. Bare minimum "hello world" would basically just be a board, a USB cable, a computer with a USB port, and an LED.

As FYI (you may already know this @morganherlocker, so this is for the n00bs) there is a controllable LED built into the UNO (and similar boards) attached to pin 13, so this is possible without any additional parts. In addition to LEDs and a breadboard, some push buttons, and maybe a photoresitor or a rotary potentiometer to play around with analog inputs are all good starting items.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#22

Post by warfangle »

austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

There's the official arduino command line tool: https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/blob/ide-1.5.x/build/shar...

But you need to use their (terrible) IDE for writing your sketches this way.

You can also use avr dude; there's a sample makefile available here: http://playground.arduino.cc/Learning/CommandLine#.UzQ_ca1kF...

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#23

Post by kruffin »

tomswartz07 wrote: post #19

I have an old R1 Uno, and I've always been interested in the smaller form factor devices. How exactly are the devices like the Pro and Mini programmed? I've never been able to get a straight answer.

You use a breakout board to get the connector you need to hook it up to your computer. So for the 5v mini you would get something like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716

You then either solder on some headers and connect it to the breakout, program it, and then disconnect it when done or do some funky alligator clip madness to connect the breakout to the arduino.

Note that the pro already has the pins waiting for the breakout to be connected.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#24

Post by kh_hk »

austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

    Q: Can I use an Arduino board without the Arduino software?
    A: Sure. It's just an AVR development board, you can use straight AVR C or
       C++ (with avr-gcc and avrdude or AVR Studio) to program it.

    From: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/FAQ
As a side note, if you are feeling fancy, you can build your own firmware based on LUFA and load them into the Atmega chip the boards have as an USB-to-serial converter. That opens a world for pretty cool hacks too.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#25

Post by tmuir »

austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

WinAVR is the windows suite. Compiler, Debugger, and Programmer compatible with the bootloader already on the Arduino.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#26

Post by bradyd »

austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

I haven't personally done this yet, so I'm not sure if there is more to it, but there is a program called AVRDUDE[1], used to load the firmware onto the boards. I know that the Arduino IDE uses this behind the scenes. I'm not really sure about the compilers involved. Basically the Ardunio environment is just the toolchain and a bootloader. I know that there are a few different bootloaders around for the Adrduino compatible chips (such as the Adafruit "No-wait" bootloader[2]) to look for inspiration.

[1] http://www.nongnu.org/avrdude/ [2] http://learn.adafruit.com/arduino-tips-tricks-and-techniques...

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#27

Post by austinz »

kh_hk wrote: post #24
austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

Q: Can I use an Arduino board without the Arduino software? A: Sure. It's just an AVR development board, you can use straight AVR C or C++ (with avr-gcc and avrdude or AVR Studio) to program it. From: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/FAQ As a side note, if you are feeling fancy, you can build your own firmware based on LUFA and load them into the Atmega chip the boards have as an USB-to-serial converter. That opens a world…

Excellent! Thanks a lot.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#28

Post by Thrymr »

sbarron wrote: post #9
127001brewer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the "RedBoard" ( https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11575 )?

For that purpose, the redboard is essentially the same as an UNO. I have one of each and can swap them out with no problems.

Redboard also has a USB mini connector, not the full sized square one that standard Uno has. Personally I'd prefer the mini connector, I've always thought that the USB connector was the most oversized thing on an Arduino board.

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#29

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

danielweber wrote: post #8

As a n00b, what's the minimum I need to have to play with an Arduino? Will generally any Linux / Windows / Mac computer be able to run the software and connecting hardware I need to program it?

I like the BoArduino USB[1] for breadboarding. Use something like that if you like breadboards and don't intend to make use of any of the shields.

[1] https://www.adafruit.com/products/91

Re: Sparkfun offering discounts on Arduino day

#30

Post by Thrymr »

bradyd wrote: post #26
austinz wrote: post #20

Is there a toolchain I can use to compile and load plain C onto Arduino boards? I'm not too familiar with the development environment, although I'd like to try some stuff out with the hardware I have.

I haven't personally done this yet, so I'm not sure if there is more to it, but there is a program called AVRDUDE[1], used to load the firmware onto the boards. I know that the Arduino IDE uses this behind the scenes. I'm not really sure about the compilers involved. Basically the Ardunio environment is just the toolchain and a bootloader. I know that there are a few different bootloaders around for the Adrduino comp…

The compiler is just avr-gcc, you can use that and upload code with avrdude directly, bypassing (or even overwriting) the bootloader. You don't even need an Arduino, with the right breakout board and serial connection you can write directly to a naked microcontroller.
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