#66 AT Tiny85 Digispark - Arduino UNO alternative? An introduction!

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Sometimes you only need a cheap, tiny microcontroller and the Atmel Tiny85 may be just the job. It's physically small (the clue's in the name) but it has lots of capability - just not very many GPIO pins.

Don't get me wrong; Microchip/Atmel are not promoting this chip as any kind of substitute for a full-blown ATmega328P but in some cases (like my simple fridge door alarm in Video #41 & #42) the AT Tiny85 could easily be sufficient.

And this Digispark (as Sparkfun call their implementation) can use I2C (software emulated) so you can always extend the number of pins with a pin extender too!

This video introduces you to this miniscule device and shows you its capabilities as well as its limitations - I'll explore it further in a future video but for now this may whet your appetite. And given its extremely low cost (about £1 or $1.40) it's worth investigating.

Allowing it to be programmed via the Arduino IDE is relatively straightforward (although I wish I had discovered the Sparkfun page to walk me through the process before I had single-handedly struggled through!) and it's just easy to use.

And, just like the Leonardo it can connect to Windows and act as a keyboard or mouse (but caution! watch what happens in the video) without any further drivers.

Lots of helpful links (but watch the video regarding installation)
http://www.electroschematics.com/1210...

Connecting your device (watch the video first though):
1. http://digistump.com/wiki/digispark/t...

2. http://digistump.com/wiki/digispark/t...

Updated files for Arduino IDE integration
https://github.com/digistump/Digistum...

Data sheet:
http://www.atmel.com/images/atmel-258...

Additional boards manager entry:
http://digistump.com/package_digistum...

The DigiKeyboard.h (turns the device into a Windows keyboard)
Note: this is now deprecated but still works just fine. Or use the one in the 'Updated Files' above.
https://github.com/digistump/Digispar...


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