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.
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.
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
(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.
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.