Utility Shield

../_images/utility_shield.jpg

Required Tools

Bill of Materials

Tip

The pins on the vertical USB plug are very short and fail to protrude from standard thickness (~1.6mm) PCBS. Therefore I recommend ordering thinner boards (~0.8mm) to make soldering the connector easier.

Qty Description Datasheet Vendor
1 Utility Shield PCB   OSH Park
1 Arduino Uno ATmega328 Octopart
1 22 pin ZIF socket 222-3343-00-0602J
1 Male micro USB vertical plug ZX20-B-5S-UNIT(30)
1 Male micro USB shielding ZX20-B-SLDC
1 Female micro USB vertical socket 1051330011
1 Lipo charger IC MCP73831T
1 1206 red/green LED 5977703607F
1 0603 Red LED LTST-C191KRKT
1 Breakaway 0.1” male pins 68001-420HLF
1 Tactile Switch B3FS-1010P
2 0805 100 Ω Resistor  
1 0805 27 kΩ Resistor  
2 0805 4.7 μF Capacitor  
1 0805 10 μF Capacitor  

Setting up Arduino IDE

  1. Download and install Arduino Software
  2. Open up your Arduino Sketchbook folder. It should be located in your main “Documents” folder with the name “Arduino”. If you cannot find it, open the Arduino Application and go to File -> Preferences. The location of your Sketchbook folder is shown at the top of the preferences window. Your Sketchbook folder will have your current projects and a “libraries” folder.
../_images/sketchbook_location.png
../_images/sketchbook.png
  1. Download and unzip Arduino_cerebro.zip
  2. Transfer the “Cerebro_sketches” and “Hardware” folders into your Arduino Sketchbook folder
../_images/transfer_sketches_hardware.png
  1. Transfer the remaining library folders into the “libraries” folder
../_images/transfer_libraries.png

Setting up Utility Shield

To upload firmware, we will be using an Arduino Uno as an In-System Programmer (ISP). The Utility Shield connects to the Arduino Uno to route the programming signals to the correct pins on various AVR microcontrollers.

  1. Connect an Arduino Uno to your computer via USB
  2. Open the Arduino application and go to File -> Examples -> ArduinoISP
../_images/arduinoISP.png
  1. Make the following selections under the Tools menu:
Board: “Arduino/Genuino Uno”
Port: “COMXX (Arduino/Genuino Uno)”

../_images/ISP_config.png
  1. Upload the ArduinoISP firmware by clicking the upload arrow
../_images/upload.png
  1. Connect the Utility Shield to your Arduino Uno
../_images/shield_on.jpg
  1. You are ready to start programming Cerebro , Base Station , IR Remote and Charging Dock