#117 Bare Bones 💀 Arduino (make your own)

So in videos #115 and #116, we've discovered that the Arduino Uno/Nano ATmega328P chip can be run using just *microamps* of power and awoken with either a *trigger* or a *timer* respectively - but only when constructed in a bespoke manner.

It's easy to do, and I show you here the handful of components you need to construct the absolute minimum Arduino configuration, how to upload a Bootloader to your bare ATmega328P chip, and finally how to upload code to the new chip.

So now we can make the chip sleep for 99% of the time, and just wake up now and again to do its business (just like a baby)!

All the links to products I mentioned (with which I have no connection whatsoever)

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Repeated here:

The 3.3v / 5v FTDI USB to Serial converter. Get one. In fact, get a couple as they are extremely useful in other situations too.
At the time of writing Banggood were selling these for less than £2 each, with free shipping. All the Far Eastern warehouses (AliExpress, GearBest, Amazon and your favourite auction site eBay will stock these. Make sure it is the dual voltage type)

28-pin ZIF (zero insertion force) socket for the ATmega328P chip
At the time of writing, you could get two of these for £1.43 with free shipping (I've just ordered these!)

The ZIF bootloader shield we stumbled across towards the end of the video, makes it very easy to load the bootloader using an Arduino
At the time of writing, this was just 2.89 - I've ordered one.

If you like this video please give it a thumbs up, share it and if you're not already subscribed please consider doing so :)

My channel and blog are here:

[ChrisGlasow]

Great Video Ralph, only just found your youtube channel and have subscribed, really clear and concise, I will be catching up on all your other videos.

[JxH]

@12:40, the conversion is off by ten in places. Should be "10 + 0 000" and then "100, 000 pF". The rest is good.

[springwoodcottage]

Super useful & timely as I plan to port a project from a uno to standalone 328p chip. Thanks for sharing!

[reelrebellion]

Once again a handy idea laid out plainly before our eyes. Thank you. As you probably know you can skip the bootloader and have more space for programs, at the cost of the simplifications arduino brings. A future video idea?

[Ray-ejjb]

Hi Ralph,

You have the honour of being my first subscribed channel on YouTube - keep doing what you're doing your videos are great!
Anyway I'm on the scrounge. I have a 3 requests :-

1) Could you please take a look at the PCA9622 and do a couple of your excellent videos on them and help me understand the data sheet. I just want to know how to turn on an LED non of the fancy stuff.
2) Could you do your own (not from a library) 1wire Search algorithm.
3) Could you sometimes distance yourself from the crappy Arduino IDE and teach some programming without a lot of the work being done for you. I would like to know techniques that could also be used in other languages.

Many thanks

[crayzeape]

The phantom COM port in the device manager is likely a unused serial header on the motherboard. Disabling it in the BIOS will get rid of it and also save you some system resources.

[IbnBahtuta]

Hi Ralph, I'm in the process of sourcing parts to build my own uno versions (barebones) and up pops your Video on my subs. Great minds think alike or fools seldom differ? I appreciate the links you put up viz your uploads it is a real time saver. I'm usually working on half a dozen projects at a time, and being able to take your recommendations at face value works for me. Thanks for being so timely.... ;)

[PaulBudden]

Ralph, you do not need the FTDI Serial converter. Continue with the process you used to put the boot loader on the chip with the ArduinoISP. Put your sketch in the IDE and use the option to Upload Using Programmer under Sketch. This way you can start your project while waiting for China Mail.
Also, if you are uploading a sketch using the SPI you overwrite the bootloader anyway. (It is only required if you are using the IDE directly through the USB/Serial intrface) The sketch will still work.
Hint: if your Arduino/Nano will not program using USB, flash the bootloader using this method with a working Arduino and SPI. It may bring it back to life.
I use a USBasp on a lot of my projects. That connects directly to an ISCP (which is SPI used to load the bootloader) header on my project boards. It is just convenient as it is on a ribbon cable, just plug it in and of you go.
Good video as always.

[JerryEricsson]

Cool, I had sort of fallen away from the Arduino when I began playing with the ESP devices, whilst still using the Arduino software to upload sketches the devices now lay in a case put away for future use, perhaps by my grand children who knows. At any rate I dug them out recently just for "old times sake" and discovered that I have several ATMEGA 8 chips that, if memory serves, I pulled from old digital clock kits that my son tried to build when he was a bit younger and had not yet wed and reproduced. Do you, perhaps have some info on how to, say put a modern bootloader on these chips and program them using the device you do in your next set of videos?

[marcinwitkowski]

2, 78V is minimum to run on 16MHz...
I measure it one year ago, and it is working with Li-bat to today... as BMS-temp-hum-sensor sender, ( i have 10 of them ) with central unit taking all data with UART ...
no problem at all ;-)

[jamest.]

I am new subscriber. I hope to learn arduino. Until about 2 years ago. I had never even heard of them !!! There are so many things I want to build using them! This was a great video!!.. Maybe I can realize my projects..

[catandtheostrich]

I wonder if the reason why the camera isn't capturing each double pulse of the led flashing is a manifestation of the "rolling shutter" effect?

[Eurus]

That was great. Even if I never have use for it just the understanding of it is helpful.
Thanks

[martin]

are the ATmega controllers not able to be programmed via ISP?
I always program my ATtiny´s over ISP as well burning the bootloader.

[kendrickapps]

When you get that boot loader shield might be nice to do a quick video

[tbddevelops]

Are you recording from two mics in one of your views? At around 7:05 there is an echo, when you say "let's go back to the monitor" the sound is normal again.

[TYGAMatt]

Hi Ralph. So here's the thing....
Playing with the ATmega328P chip on a breadboard and was messing around with different clock speeds with the minicore bootloaders and your recent deep sleep code. At first using an avr isp shield on an UNO. All working fine. Then the shield started throwing an error and nothing would upload. Basically the error light on the shield comes on. Any ideas?
So then connected the chip to the UNO using the ICSP connections and everything sweet. Bootloaders no problem, programs no problem...
So switched to my FTDI adapter, which I have used before on the same breadboard setup and that wouldn't upload. Tried a bunch of the minicore settings both external and internal crystal but nope. Nuffin!! I'd uploaded the Bootloaders using the UNO ICSP and was trying to upload the code with the Ftdi but no luck.
Quickly whipped out a pro mini, stuffed the FTDI pins into the holes on the Pro mini and all worked fine.
Quite confused as to why the FTDI won't upload a program. The wiring is correct. Checked it 10 times.
Don't supposed you have any bright ideas?
The plan is to control my solar panels. I have the code working perfectly to track the sun and I have incorporated you deep sleep code so that it just wakes every 10 mins, moves the panels and goes back to sleep. But at the mo I just Ave a nano plugged onto a breadboard and I want to make it permanent using an ATmega328P chip but wanted to also have header pins to plug in the FTDI should I decide to change something. I guess I could just bring out the ICSP pins, but that's not the point really.
Sorry for the very long message!
Cheers
Matt.

[dleland]

I believe there is an error (bug) in the "Circuit Diagram.jpg". You drew the circuit with the 10K pull-up resistor on pin 1 to ground. You meant to +5v, right? Thanks for the tutorial, I love your teachings.

[BerndFelsche]

Which bootloader is now standard? I used Optiboot in the past to squeeze in a few more bytes of program.

Also, a bootloader is "optional". You can flash in a whole program with ISCP, setting fuses at the same time to run with no bootloader at all. It's what you would do with an ATtiny anyway... Most of the time.

[Ziplock]

is there no way of using the FTDI to install the bootloader too?