Overview

MikroElektronika's BIGAVR6 development board offers features similar to those of the EasyAVR6 but for 64 and 100-pin AVRs. The high-quality development board incorporates a high-speed programmer and provides I/O devices from pushbutton switches and LEDs through to two RS-232 serial ports, serial EEPROM and real-time clock. The BIGAVR6 supports AVRs in the AT90CAN, AT90USB and ATmega families via plug-in SIMM-style MCU cards and is supplied with an 64-pin ATmega128 card.

High-Speed USB-2.0 Programmer

The BIGAVR6 features an on-board state-of-the-art very fast USB 2.0 AVRprog2 programmer (also compatible with USB1.1) and is supplied with easy to install drivers and Windows-based AVRFlash programmer software. Programming support is provided for virtually all AVRs in the AT90CAN, AT90USB and ATmega families with software updates freely available for continued support of future AVRs. If you're using one of MikroElektronika's mikroBASIC, mikroC or mikroBASIC PRO for AVR compilers then you can compile your project and program an AVR with a single click.

Useful I/O Devices

To make testing programs easy and allow you to quickly configure hardware without the need to manually wire up time-consuming and possibly tempermental prototypes the BIGAVR6 incorporates a number of useful I/O devices including:

• 86 LEDs to show the status of the AVR's I/O lines.
• 86 push-button switches to simulate digital inputs on the AVR's I/O lines (configurable as active-high or active-low).
• Potentiometer to simulate analog signal on AVR's A/D input.
• Two RS-232 interfaces with female DB9 connectors.
• USB connector for use with USB-enabled AVRs.
• CAN interface with MCP2551 CAN transceiver.

• Microchip 24AA01 1Kbit serial EEPROM with I2C interface.
• Dallas/Maxim DS1307 real-time clock with I2C interface and battery backup.
• Connector for optional 16x2 character LCD.
• Connector for optional 128x64 graphic LCD.
• Controller and connector for optional touchscreen overlay.
• Socket for optional Dallas/Maxim DS1820 1-wire temperature sensor.

Other Features

Other useful features of the BIGAVR6 include:

• SIMM-style MCU card socket for MikroElektronika 64 and 100-pin MCU cards (64-pin ATmega128 MCU card supplied).
• Reset circuit with reset pushbutton.
• On-board rectifier and voltage regulator and power supply from PC's USB port or optional mains adapter.
• AVR ISP connector providing compatibility with other AVR programmers/debuggers.
• JTAG connector supporting in-circuit debugging and firmware programming.
• AVR's I/O pins brought out onto IDC headers for further expansion and connection of add-on I/O boards.
• Configurable pull-up and pull-down resistors provided on all I/O lines.
• Contrast adjustment for optional character and graphic LCDs.
• Clearly labelled DIP switches and jumpers for easy configuration.
• All pins clearly labelled on underside of board.

It Doesn't End There

The BIGAVR6 is supported by an extensive and ever-increasing range of optional I/O add-on boards that connect easily to it's expansion connectors to further extend its functionality and offer support to whatever project you may be working on. The range of boards currently include:

• Ethernet (Ethernet controller with SPI interface).
• RS-485 (RS-485 transceiver for connection to AVR's UART).
• LIN (LIN transceiver for connection to AVR's UART).
• EasyBee (ZigBee module for connection to AVR's UART).
• EasyBee3 (ZigBee/MiWi/MiWi P2P module with SPI interface).
• EasyBT (Bluetooth module for connection to AVR's UART).
• IrDA (IrDA compliant module for connection to AVR's UART).
• IrDA2 (wireless RS-232 over infrared board for connection to AVR's UART).
• RFid reader.
• Bipolar stepper motor driver.
• Digital potentiometer.
• mikroDrive (Darlington array for high-power control).
• ADC (12-bit A/D converter with SPI interface).
• DAC (12-bit D/A converter with SPI interface).
• R2R DAC (low-cost D/A add-on board based on an R/2R network).
• Compact Flash card reader.
• mikroSD card reader.
• Serial RAM.
• SmartGPS.
• SmartGSM/GPRS.
• SmartMP3.

Plus:

• Adapters for various character and graphic LCDs.
• Interfacing adapters.
• Prototyping boards and adapters.

Please note that character and graphic LCDs, touchscreen overlay, DS1820 temperature sensor and RS-232 serial cable are not included with the BIGAVR6 and should be ordered separately if required - see accessories for details and to order.