Project Overview
- short description: microcontroller with ethernet
- usability status: beta
- start: April 2006
- platform: Atmel ATmega644
Abstract
With this project, we’ll be creating hard- and software for enabling ethernet on an Atmel microcontroller. fd0 first built a prototype of it on lochraster and then made a fully-featured PCB afterwards, which will be sold as a construction set later on. Everyone with moderate soldering skills will be able to build this device. Only two SMD-devices are used (One is optional – And yes, that’s a feature!).
Features
At first we only had the design-target to create an ethernet-enabled microcontroller platform. But then we thought of all the great things that could be done with such a device and therefore added a lot of different interfaces and hardware. Today, the following features are either built-in or easily available:
- Ethernet and TCP/IP
- Linux command line tool
- RS232
- RS485/422 (half- /fullduplex)
- Dalls 1wire bus
- Infrared Receiver and Transmitter for RC5 Codec, firmware extension necessary for other codecs
- MCA-25 Cellphone-Camera with VGA resolution can be attached (approx 10 Euro on ebay), not yet supported by firmware
- 2MB Data-Flash memory
- I2C
- SPI
Extensions:
- ELV (www.elv.de) and Conrad (www.conrad.de) offer RF-Controlled devices like powerswitches, dimmers, movement detectors, temperature-sensors and many more. All these devices belong to the FS20 series, which ensures ineropability. By attaching RF Modules to the etherrape (sender and/or receiver module), it becomes a fully fledged member of the FS20-system an can control all devices.
Housing:
- We offer a housing with a fully prepared front panel (see pictures below).
- The housing offers space for an additional 80x100mm PCB to accomodate your selfmade extensions.
Hardware
On the pictures you can see that only a few different parts are needed for ether-netting a microcontroller. The later prototypes show the various plugs for all kinds of nifty enhancements. Every unused port pin on the controller is available as a pin.
For more detail: etherrape using ATmega644 microcontroller