README

AVR_Stick_Apps
==============

ATTENTION: FREE PCBS !!!
If you want to find out how to get them check out free_pcbs.txt
There's one catch, tough: You need a German postal address.


AVR_Stick_Apps is intended to be a showcase for V-USB[1] on the Atmel
ATtiny85[2], in particular as used in the Sparkfun AVR Stick[3].


Introduction
------------

The Sparkfun AVR Stick is an development board for the ATtiny85
microcontroller that plugs directly into an USB port. It only uses
a hand full of components and provides USB connectivity through
the V-USB software USB stack.

With the original firmware the AVR Stick acts as a data logging
device that simulates an USB keyboard and outputs the values
it reads from its analog-digital converters.

While this functionality is marginally useful it barely scratches
the surface of what the AVR Stick, or more generally any AVR
microcontroller with a V-USB stack can do.

Therefore this repository provides several demo applications
for the AVR Stick, along with some guides on how to set up
the necessary development environment and install the 
micronucleus[4] USB bootloader for convenient program upload
without an additional programmer.


Getting started
---------------

A quick start guide that demonstrates the basic usage of the
AVR Stick can be found in the file 'Quickstart.txt'.

More detailed information on how to create new applications and
on some of the more advanced features can be found in 'HOWTO.txt'.


Structure of this repository
----------------------------

AVR_Stick_Apps
|
|-apps: Demo applications for the AVR Stick.
|  |
|  |-HelloWorld: Just makes a LED blink.
|  |
|  |-avrsh:      A port of Barry Gian James' avrsh[5] to the AVR
|  |             Stick.
|  |             Note: Due to the size of the app, it can not be
|  |                   used in combination with micronucleus and
|  |                   has to be flashed using a dedicated
|  |                   programmer!
|  |
|  |-AnyKey:     A single-button USB keyboard.
|  |
|  |-HID-RT:     A HID-receiver-transmitter. Demonstrates how to
|  |             set up a command line interface over HID feature
|  |             reports.
|  |
|  |
|  |-SelfReset:  Demonstrates how a watchdog can be used to reset
|  |             the device without any physical interaction, e.g.
|  |             to initiate a firmware update.
|  |
|  \_USBSlacker: Simulates a USB mouse that is moved every couple
|                of minutes so your status in all your collaboration
|                apps stays on active and your boss doesn't see that
|                you are slacking off at work ;).
|
|-images:        Some pictures of the AVR Sticks used for this
|                project.
|
|-misc:            Various files that are not specific to a
|  |               particular application.
|  |
|  |-micronucleus: Configuration files to make micronucleus work
|  |               on the AVR Stick.
|  |
|  |-avrsh:        avrsh.py, a terminal client application for
|  |               the avrsh firmware.
|  |
|  \_v-usb:        hidtool.py, a re-implementation of V-USB libusb
|                  based HID data transfer tool in Python.
|
\_submodules:      References to other git repositories who's code
   |               is reused here.
   |
   |-AVR_Stick:    The original AVR_Stick firmware. The firmware
   |               itself is not used here, but the repository
   |               also contains the schematics and documentation
   |               of the hardware.
   |
   |-micronucleus: The micronucleus USB bootloader that can be
   |               optionally installed on the AVR Stick to get
   |               rid of the requirement for a additional
   |               programmer.
   |
   \_v-usb:        The V-USB stack used in most of the demo
                   applications to communicate with the host
                   computer.


LICENSE
-------

All files in this repository that are derivates of, or linked
with V-USB are distributed under the terms GNU General Public
License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation,
as required by the licensing conditions of V-USB.
(See also LICENS_GPL.txt)

All other files, unless specifically noted, are distributed under
the terms of the ISC license.
See LICENSE_ISC.txt for details.

Copyright (C) 2020 <tickelton@gmail.com>

----------------------------------------

[1]: https://www.obdev.at/products/vusb/index.html
[2]: https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATtiny85
[3]: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9147
[4]: https://github.com/micronucleus/micronucleus
[5]: https://www.instructables.com/id/AVRSH-A-Command-Interpreter-Shell-for-ArduinoAVR/