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[on:]

Hello!

I have an Arudino Uno using ATmega328 chip, but I realize that it has very small ram capacity.
Instead of buying new Arduino, I just want to replace the ATmega328 chip with others.

I find this website as a reference. http://www.ladyada.net/library/arduino/upgrade.html

My questions are as follows.

1. Is there any ATmega chip which I can purchase online and simply put on the Arduino Uno board and play it?
Definitely, it should have more memory like Atmega2560.

2. Is it possible to put new chip on Arduino and play it without any software programming issue?
Based on my understanding, I can simply do it by selecting board option ( Arudino IDE - Tools - Boards - and select options).

Please let me know if you have any idea.

Thanks

BR

[Reply #1 on:]

I don't think there are many (any?) 28-pin DIP parts that have more memory than the ATMega328. You could browse at atmel.com, there is a parametric table of AVR 8 & 32 bit microcontrollers.
Another option is to jumper over a fwer signals from the Uno's ICSP header (power, ground, reset, MISO, MOSI, SCK) and the Rx/Tx lines to a 40 pin part on an adjacent socket, move up to 128K of flash memory, 32 IO lines, dual hardware serial ports, and keep the UNO power switching, USB interface, etc. intact.

See this link.
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,56567.0.html

[Reply #2 on:]

You could get a 100 pin 0.5mm spacing SMT to DIP adapter from schmartboard. com if you wanted to the same with a '2560 chip. I bought a couple, have not tried soldering the parts in place for it yet.

[Reply #3 on:]

Here's the parametric table link
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/param_table.asp?category_id=163&family_id=607&subfamily_id=760
Think one needs to look at individual parts tho - the pin counts do not look correct.
Ah - you have to scroll to the last columnt to see the actual packges.
Ok, here are the parts that have 28 PIN DIP packages available.

ATmega48
ATmega48P
ATmega88PA
ATmega48PA
ATmega48A
ATmega8
ATmega88
ATmega168
ATmega88P
ATmega168P
ATmega328P
ATmega8A
ATmega328
ATmega168PA
ATmega88A
ATmega168A

[Reply #4 on:]

Here's the parametric table link
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/param_table.asp?category_id=163&family_id=607&subfamily_id=760
Think one needs to look at individual parts tho - the pin counts do not look correct.
Ah - you have to scroll to the last columnt to see the actual packges.
Ok, here are the parts that have 28 PIN DIP packages available.

ATmega48
ATmega48P
ATmega88PA
ATmega48PA
ATmega48A
ATmega8
ATmega88
ATmega168
ATmega88P
ATmega168P
ATmega328P
ATmega8A
ATmega328
ATmega168PA
ATmega88A
ATmega168A

Thanks so much for your support!!

I will definitely look at it : D

Best

[Reply #5 on:]

Hello!

I have an Arudino Uno using ATmega328 chip, but I realize that it has very small ram capacity.
Instead of buying new Arduino, I just want to replace the ATmega328 chip with others.

32K is the largest you're going to find in the same package size.  Anything larger and you're looking at more pins or a different package altogether.  CrossRoads' suggestion of having a different IC on an adjacent socket would work, except you would also need to breakout the individual pins yourself.  The Uno only gives you so many ...

[Reply #6 on:]

There are current no 28pin DIP chips that can plug into an Arduino Uno board that have more memory than the ATmega328.  The m328 is "top of the line" for 28pin DIP from Atmel.

What's your reason for not just jumping to a MEGA?  (for instance, all kludges involving a daughter card with larger smt AVR plugging into the 328 socket on Uno will probably have total costs similar to MEGA.)

Microchip (boo, hiss?) has some 28pin DIP parts with lots of memory (PIC24, dsPIC, PIC18 - https://www.microchip.com/maps/microcontroller.aspx shows 30 28pin DIPs with 64kB or more of program memory, 29 of which have at least 2k of RAM), but they aren't pin compatible with the AVR, and aren't currently supported by the AVR software.  There are supposed to be some 128k PIC32 chips in DIPs "available soon" that might make for an interesting "ChipKit."

[Reply #7 on:]

If you are really needing more resources, then perhaps its time to consider leaving Arduino
and its Atmel boards behind.
Google "netduino" or "chipkit"
These have substantially more horsepower, and resources for a similar cost as Arduino Mega boards.
32 bit vs 8 bit on AVR.
128k/512k Flash vs 32k/128k on AVR,
60k/128k RAM vs 2k/4k on AVR,
plus 4-5 times faster processor clock. 75/80mhz vs 16 mhz.

http://netduino.com/
http://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/chipkit-max32-an-arduino-mega-upgrade-with-a-pic32-under-the-hood/
http://www.chipkit.org/forum/

Not exactly "Arduino" but both have development environments that are user friendly.

--- bill

[Reply #8 on:]

take a look a this http://www.liquidware.com/shop/show/ILLI/Illuminato%3A%3AGenesis

it has the same footprint as uno supports the same language and all the shields for arduino, it looks freaking cool , it uses an ide based on arduino ide (probably if youll play a lil bit with it youll get the board to work with the "stock" arduino ide ), has twice the flash  and a lot more pins than uno
and its not so expensive @ 34.99$

or if you want something more powerful and still with the same arduino footprint  and same programming language check this out
http://leaflabs.com/devices/maple/

[Reply #9 on:]

It will save you a lot of time and money to change the arduino board instead of looking for a chip replacement.

Option 1 : buy a Mega 2560. Lots of possibilities, compatible with Uno. I have a 1280 and I am found of it. Bought in China/eBay for 20EUR (27USD), cheaper than Uno.

Option 2 : go Maple. I didn't do it yet, but likely my second project will do. Maybe in a "mini" version.
It has many interresting features, such as real USB (not limited to a serial-usb emulation), 32bit, etc.
Not 100% compatible however, look at http://leaflabs.com/docs/language.html for the differences.
And there are others that are less obvious. For example, "shield compatibility" may be true in theory but an issue if you go from 5V to 3V3.

I would not recommend the liquidware Illuminato stuff because it does not seem it supports everything : I visited the website and its says that millis() is not implemented for example.
Also I could not find any sort of manual/reference other than the page in the "shop". Not good sign. Remember that since this is all open source, any individual can make its
own flavour and sell it. Then you rely on one person for support. Not a good idea for newbies. In open source, better stick with "mainstream" stuff if you want my opinion.
(If not, you still get it). That said, I have nothing against liquidware and others that want to innovate. It's all a give/take approach.

The "upgrade" is for older chips (I think from 16k to 32k), so you're already at the max. Yes you can switch boards in the IDE,
but only between "standard" boards. There are some config files somewhere that pre-define what a specific board is.

Hope this helps.

[Reply #10 on:]

"There are some config files somewhere that pre-define what a specific board is."
Those are straightforward to change tho.
Checkout www.avr-developers.com for the core files for different chips.
I managed to figure out the changes needed for '1284 chips, so its definitely doable with some reading & understanding.