Installing ATtiny45 / ATtiny85 support in Arduino Here’s the pinout of the ATtiny45 and ATtiny85: Installation instructions for the Arduino software are available for Windows and for Mac OS X.ĭownload: Arduino software, attiny45_85.zip The ATtiny45 / ATtiny85 Microcontroller You’ll need the Arduino software (version 0022) and a plugin to add support for the ATtiny45/85. from Sparkfun or from Digi-Key)įor more information, see our list of materials and parts and our list of prototyping supplies. ATtiny45 or ATtiny85 (8-pin DIP package).

Arduino Uno or Duemilanove (w/ an ATmega328, not an older board with an ATmega168).

To program them, we’ll use a port of the Arduino core libraries created by Alessandro Saporetti and slightly modified by HLT. We like to use both of them with paper circuits and other craft electronics. They are almost identical, except that the ATtiny85 has twice the memory of the ATtiny45 and can therefore hold more complex programs. This tutorial is obsolete! See the updated version of this tutorial (with support for Arduino 1.0). The ATtiny45 and ATtiny85 are small (8-leg), cheap ($2-3) microcontrollers that are convenient for running simple programs. The programmer even breaks out the IC pins to female headers so you can easily prototype around the ATtiny without pulling and plugging it over and over.This tutorial shows you how to program an ATtiny45 or ATtiny85 microcontroller using the Arduino software and hardware. After installing the proper board definitions, you simply program it the same way you would any other Arduino board. Just slot an ATtiny with a DIP footprint into the socket, plug the programmer into your USB port and start up the Arduino IDE. The Tiny AVR Programmer plugs directly into your USB port and provides a programming socket for the ATTiny45 and 85. The standard method for programming the ATtiny ICs involves a breadboard, lots of jumper wires and a hardware programmer, but David Mellis over at MIT Media Lab has simplified the process by laying out this handy USB programmer. The ATtiny45 and 85 are a couple of really cool little MCUs but did you know you can program them in Arduino? That’s right, now you can shrink your Arduino projects down to “tiny size” by moving your code straight over to these small but capable ICs.

Sparkfun attiny programmer