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ButtLoad (2007)
ButtLoad is my major finished AVR project. Based on the Atmel Butterfly development board, ButtLoad is specially written firmware which converts a low-cost official Atmel Butterfly evaluation board into a smart ISP programmer for other members of the Atmel AVR family.
Above: The official ButtLoad logo.
Compatible with AVRStudio and the entire ISP-enabled AVR family, ButtLoad (written in the C language) is similar in operation and function to the Atmel AVRISP. Unlike the original AVRISP however, ButtLoad offers the unique ability to store a complete program - including flash, EEPROM, fuse and lock byte data - into its onboard non-volatile memory for later programming without the necessity of a computer.
In its simplest form (3V targets only), ButtLoad can be constructed with nothing more than the stock Butterfly board; no existing programmers or hardware modifications are needed. ButtLoad can be expanded easily for USB connectivity (thanks to Nard Awater's work) and/or 5V target programming with minimal extra circuitry.
ButtLoad is being used all over the world by many people in both commercial and non-commercial applications. One such application is in Scott Coppersmith's TeslaPhonic Organ.
The ButtLoad project is open source and currently in version 3.0. It is compatible with the full range of Atmel AVR microcontrollers. To compile ButtLoad, you will need to have the latest WinAVR distribution installed.
Above:
Internals of a ButtLoad prototype.
Photo courtesy of Nard Awater
ButtLoad is licenced under the GPL licence, included in the \Support\ directory.
If you like ButtLoad and appreciate the amount of work I have put into it, please consider donating a small amount via PayPal using the link on the right side of this page.
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