By using this bootloader you can program an Arduino without any external device at all, which is the way the Arduino is meant to be used - as simple as possible.
#Atmel dragon vs ice plus
The Arduino is basically just an ATmega chip plus power supply plus USB-to-serial-bridge and, most importantly, a bootloader. An Arduino can also be used as a programmer, if you have another one lying around. The Dragon has the advantage of being an "official" device and of better quality, but I've programmed AVRs with a €3,- device. So You can use an array of programming devices starting at a few bucks for programming an AVR, Arduino board or not. In this case, it looks like the Atmel ISP protocol was used, which is based on SPI and a timed reset pulse. I'm a little concerned that a microcontroller course doesn't teach the way a program is loaded into the target. If I were to switch over to the Arduino IDE, I am under the impression I can upload the programs made inside directly to the Arduino boards? If so would that be better in the long run over using the AVR Dragon method? Would I still be able to use the avr assembly language skills I've learned for it? Would I be able to use something other than a dragon for my purposes? When I search for the dragon I see several other cheaper items that seem to perform similar functions, but I am not confident choosing one. If I had an AVR dragon would I be able to program the Due in the same way as the Uno? I am also thinking about getting an Arduino Due down the line, however I would like some confirmation that I can continue to use the atmel studios program and debugWire.
I am intending to buy an AVR dragon and arduino uno so I can continue to program them for my own personal enjoyment and use. We coded in assembly within Atmel Studios 7.0 and then were able to load the program onto the Arduino Board.Īs I understand it the AVR dragon was what allowed the atmel studios program to interface with the arduino board and perform the debugwire functionality. I describe it to you as I do not know technical terms for what is actually happening. We connected both to our computers with usbs and to each other with a 6 connection ribbon wire. In that class we used an Arduino Uno and an AVR dragon. Over the past semester I have been taking a course in microcontrollers.