Arduino (Part 2)

Having never dealt with the Arduino's software package before, I wasn't sure what to expect. It is a simplistic Java application which provides a very user friendly environment to write your programs (or sketches as they are called) in. The programming syntax used is similar to C, but the environment has many useful functions already built in so it's very easy to do simple tasks such as set a pin as an output or toggle an output on & off. As someone who has used other languages, PICBasic for example, I can attest to how intuitive these functions are when compared to manually setting register ports in BASIC. Like in C you can also create your own functions and call them, making this a very powerful language despite its simplicity.

The installation of the Arduino software is fairly straightforward, even on Linux, and I encountered no issues. In Ubuntu it entails downloading the application from the Arduino Software page and following their well written instructions. These mainly involve installing Java and removing a package which inadvertently thinks the Arduino is a braille reading device and grabs your computer's USB port. Left out of the instructions is an issue which caused me some problems; the Arduino software should be run with root privileges in order to gain access to the USB port and consequently the Arduino board. This is done by opening the terminal and executing the following commands:

cd /home/username/Arduino-0010 (navigates to the Arduino software's folder)
sudo ./arduino (runs the Arduino software script with root permissions)

The application will now launch. Once running I selected my board under Tools - Board - Arduino Diecimila (currently the newest board design and bootloader) and picked my USB port under Tools - Serial Port - /dev/ttyUSB0. Since I built my Arduino from scratch, my ATMega168 did not come pre-burned with the Arduino Diecimila bootloader. The bootloader functions as a sort of operating system for the microcontroller, allowing you to transfer files over a serial port instead of having to re-burn the entire firmware every time you change your program, thus simplifying the entire process. In order to burn the bootloader I plugged my AVR programmer into the 6 pin ISP header on the board and selected Tools - Burn Bootloader - w/ USBtinyISP. The software displays its progress on the bottom of the screen and lets you know when it has finished burning the file to the chip. To check if the bootloader is running properly follow this guide (since the various bootloaders behave differently). Next I wrote a simple LED flasher sketch and after plugging in the FTDI cable I successfully uploaded the sketch to the board and it ran perfectly.