Programming Notes

From Merlin Systems Wiki

Notes on programming Atmel Mega processors (as used in multiple Merlin products)

1 Connections
- 1.1 Exceptions
2 Hardware connections
3 Programming Software

Connections

Most Merlin products use a standard 16-way pinout for processor programming and expansion i/o. For programming, this is compatible across multiple products. (But the mapping of special peripheral features to pins varies between products.)

The connector pinout is here - Standard Avr Expansion Pinout

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Exceptions

the Bluecom RS232 and Bluecom Cable Replacement have pins (8) and (10) swapped on the connector. (This will hopefully change with a new pcb version)
the Miabot Pro and the MSCcam have secondary processors as well as their main processor. These both have a smaller 6-pin programming connection (see 6way convertor).
older models of the Miabot Classic use a 10-way variant of the standard header pinout

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Hardware connections

The commonest programming lead is our standard ' robot programming lead', which just plugs into a PC parallel port. This is supplied with all user-programmable systems (e.g. robot packages), and needs no additional external hardware.

For more serious use, we recommend the AVRisp serial programmer, which -