Sorry, I still don't understand how to use the ZERO board as a development platform as the UNO is.
Am I forced to install a whole arduino zero board in each one of my project or there is away to program other processors to be embedded in my pcb?
Thank you
no you just use a Atmel ATSAMD21G18 MCU in your custom PCB.
then you burn the Arduino-(SAM-BA)-bootloader onto this MCU (e.g. with an Atmel ICE),
and then you can use it within the Arduino IDE via the "native USB" Port.
(you don't need the Debug Chip at all)
There are many examples out there, that have exactly done so:
https://www.mattairtech.com/index.php/development-boards/mt-d21e.html
http://www.wino-board.com/index.php/en/wino-board/technical
....
Great! And is there a way to load the bootloader using the Arduino ZERO as for the ATMEGA with the Arduino UNO?
Great! And is there a way to load the bootloader using the Arduino ZERO as for the ATMEGA with the Arduino UNO?
I believe it's been done with an Arduino M0 Pro, (Arduino.org's version of the Zero), but requires board modifications. Here's the link: Can't burn bootloader with Atmel ICE - Arduino Zero - Arduino Forum
However, the cost of the Atmel ICE Basic programmer is not much more than the cost of the Zero itself. The Atmel ICE can program both AVR (ATmega) and SAM (ARM) microcontrollers.
So I could
1 h develop my firmware on Arduino board
2 develop my application hw design (separately)
3 buy another spare MCU and load the bootloader +firmware
4 weld it on my pcb
Isn't it?
It is not so clear for me how to do the step 3 without using the mcu on a socket...
I'd like to embed the processor directly in my pcb, not a devtool...
If you'd like to create your own custom board based on the Zero, it should be designed to include the 10 (2x5) way SWD connector (unpopulated bottom right on the Zero) and the native USB port. It's also probably a good idea to include the reset button and use a similar crystal.
Once you have a populated custom board with a blank SAMD21 microcontroller soldered down, you can use Arduino IDE together with the Atmel ICE programmer to upload the bootloader via the SWD connector.
Thereafter, with the bootloader burned on to your processor, you can remove the ICE and simply upload sketches through the native USB port using the Arduino IDE.
Hi Marco, did you try to do it? Does it work?
I think that I'll contiune to be trusty in my Arduino UNO as developing platform rather than pass to ZERO with all these complications...
From my point of view Arduino is a fantastic development tool, not a device to be embedded and my projects are not Arduino based but developed with (or thanks to) Arduino.
What do you think?
Yes, I developed my own board based on a SAMD21G18.
Then I programmed it with the arduino bootloader using IDE 1.7.8 and an M0 PRO as programmer tool, in the way I told in the previous post.
It works.
Marco
the pcb-only version of the Atmel ICE is quite cheap (cheaper than a Zero)
--> ATMEL ICE PCB-Version
--> or at farnell / newark store
--> at farnell europe
so it makes IMHO no sense to take a Zero for flashing ...
In my opinion If you already have a Zero it makes sense to use it also as a programmer without have to buy other stuff.
Marco