My name is Sandro and im from Germany.
Im currently working on my Arduino Based Quadrocopter (running MultiWii).
Today i found an old, broken Electronic Speed Controller for Brushless Motors:
Now i wanted this to be my "very first" ATMega or even Arduino Plattform.
It uses an ATMEGA8 16AI Chip
So my question is:
Is it possible to make this my first programmable Chip to get started with arduino?
My Idea was to unsolder the FETs on the backside and remove the blue wires.
Using the programming Pads i wanted to upload a sketch (VCC GND SCK RST MOSI MISO).
Is my idea even possible?
Can i make this a Arduino Plattform?
Or do i have to stick to C-Programming?
I dont wan't to build a huge project, just 4 blinking LEDs and a Alarm Buzzer.
In theory it can be programmed - but only if it hasn't been fused as permanently programmed. If the ESC failed dramatically there is a chance that more than just the FETs were damaged too.
florinc:
To make it into an Arduino you will need to burn a bootloader, then to add support for ATmega8 to the Arduino IDE.
I don't know that you really need to have a bootloader. I guess the question is "What does it take to be an Arduino?". The bootloader is needed to load sketches using a serial interface, however, if you are happy using an ISP interface you can still use the IDE without the bootloader or serial interface.
What do you want to do with your "Arduino"? Maybe having the FETs in place would not be a bad feature to your board. You might want to solder up an easy connector so you can download sketches. Oh, and you must have an LED on Digital Pin 13, otherwise you can not run "Blink". This would disqualify you from the suffix of "uino" to any board name
But can i make this an Arduino or do i have to stick to C-Programming?
Arduino is C programming (with some C++).
If that chip is good then so are you to use it as an "Arduino", as has been mentioned you don't need a bootloader if you are happy using ISP programming.
regardless of the processor you will still have to learn C & C++ If you wish to write your own sketch... few published sketches will ever do exactly what you want...
And a lot of electronics will need to be learned as well.
Atmega8 has a bootolader and is already supported by the IDE. It was the original Arduino IC. No special tasks needed. Reverse engineering your broken ESC to figure out what works, what doesn't and what you can't do compared to a normal arduino... all up to you. Basically, the limited memory of the Atmega8 is going to be a big issue if you want to make more than blinkenlights once get everything else worked out.
Basically, the limited memory of the Atmega8 is going to be a big issue if you want to make more than blinkenlights once get everything else worked out.
I have a few nice projects running on 8's including a full blown anti yaw system for RC Cars which I am itching to publish. I want to get some nice videos of it in action first.
Leaving the FETs in might cause problems - suppose a sketch turns on both the high and low-side FET of a phase simultaneously? The device will short out its own supply and reset!
