Controlling Things Through ATmega-USB Thingy

The project is a sort of prototyping board that is comprised of an ATmega8 with USB which makes it possible to control things via USB while having all other pins available at connectors.

All the stuff that can be downloaded for this article comes packed in this release and the USB drivers for different Atmel chips are available in some sites. To send/receive to/from an ATmega, a command line tool comes together with the USB drivers. The 8-bit binary values can be entered on the command line which sends command to the ATmega where the matching pins are being set. The highest bit decides whether PORTB or PORTC will be set while the sole pins of the ports are controlled by the remaining 7 bits. The command line converts string in integer-values.

Two connections for servos were made along with two pin sockets that provide easy access. A USB hub is preferred in order to avoid damaging the USB port of the computer since the servos used draw too much current for USB port. To make the device work, the firmware should be flashed and the fuses for external quartz should be set.

Click here to see the rest of the project.