Atmega328P

Hello been playing with my Uno for a few months now and have made some real cool stuff but I want to make and keep some stuff instead of build it play and tear it down to make something else. I am a little confused as far as what they are calling the boot loader that comes pre installed. I would like to buy some of the Atmega328p chips and burn in my script and then build a stand alone board with them in it. Else I need a extremely killer price on some UNO's . So my question is.
1 Can I burn the chip in my UNO and then remove it and put it in my own board. Sort of like a programer.
2 If I can where does this boot loader come into effect or am I totally lost here.
3 What all does the Atmega need to be on its own other then stable 5 vdc a 16mhs series xtal?
4 Is there a better idea then what i am asking about.
I am a electronics engineer but have extremely limited software and programming experience my field is digital and analog.

Thanks for any thoughts you might have.

  1. yes
  2. the boot loader is the code that allows loading of a program from the IDE. You need to have one burned into the replacement processor. Either get one ready burned or you need a programmer to put one in.
  3. google for stand alone arduino. You need crustal, two 22 uF caps two 0.1uF caps and a 10K resistor.

Can I burn the chip in my UNO and then remove it and put it in my own board. Sort of like a programer.

Yes, if you have another Uno or other device programmer to do the programming. You can't put a blank chip in your Uno and magically burn a bootloader with no other equipment. (You CAN use your Uno to program blank chips that have the other support circuitry around them.)

Is there a better idea then what i am asking about.

You might want to look at some of the "reduced" Arduino variants that are cheaper than an Uno, like the "Really Bare Bones Board" from MDD: http://moderndevice.com/product/rbbb-kit/ (also available as a bare PCB, for even more minimalization.)
Or the Diavolino from EMSL

Give this a read.

A USBtinyISP is a nice thing to have around.

(There are similar devices, I like that one.)
With it you can plug a "raw" (unbootloaded) 328 into a Uno (or Duemil.) and upload to it.
Then remove it and place it in your project.
On-board uploads to your 328 can be accomplished by routing the relevant I/O pins to a 6pin (ICSP) header for connectivity with the USBtinyISP.

["Bootloader burning" can be done with it, too.]

Else I need a extremely killer price on some UNO's .

Congrats on using a true Uno for development.

However, you are not the first with the need to leave an Arduino in a build. Some of us build out our own board-duinos from chips (I do this for 8MHz non-crystal designs) but for a full-blown Arduino 328P, the parts quickly add up over the price of importing. At under $3.70 each in 10Qty, it is difficulty not to utilize these little boards for projects that will be given away or left around the house intact.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-Pro-Mini-atmega328-5V-16M-Replace-ATmega128-Arduino-Compatible-Nano-/400389882462?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d3918c25e

Ray

Try this as a basic schematic:-

mrburnette:
At under $3.70 each in 10Qty, it is difficulty not to utilize these little boards for projects that will be given away or left around the house intact.

Hard to say "No" to that.