FreakLabs FREDBOARD v1.0

Arduino-Compatible Breadboard Prototyping Platform

User Guide

Page 1FREDBOARD v1.0

Document Revision History

Date Description2011-11-07 v1.0A Document creation

Page 2FREDBOARD v1.0

SpecificationsThe FreakLabs FREDBOARD is designed for rapid prototyping of electronic circuits or for learning electronics along with embedded pro-gramming using the Arduino.

With an integrated breadboard and an Arduino compatible subsystem, this board is ideal for people that need to rapidly prototype a mixed hardware/software design. A breadboard is the fastest way to implement a hardware circuit and is the ideal way to quickly generate a prototype for a proof-of-concept circuit. However it’s often the case that the hardware alone isn’t enough. Many circuits require software functionality to control various properties of the circuit. This can be as simple as processing button pushes to more complex functionality like communicating with a PC.

The Arduino platform makes embedded programming much more ac-cessible to a large audience of people by simplifying the interface and the amount of programming required. There is a huge community around the platform that is constantly providing open source libraries and drivers. When coupling breadboard based hard-ware prototyping, the vast libraries available for the Arduino, and its ease of use, its like embedded electronics development on steroids.

The board also contains an auxiliary connector which interfaces to two pushbuttons and four LEDs. The pushbuttons are active low and already have a pullup resis-tor. The LEDs are active high and already have a current limiting resis-tor. Both of these peripherals are ready to be directly plugged into the breadboard or an Arduino pin.

The board uses an FTDI USB/Serial interface IC to connect to a PC. This chip is slightly more expensive than other USB bridge ICs, how-ever it has the best driver support among Linux, Mac, and Windows OSes. Pain free PC interfacing is definitely worth the extra cost.

An optional ruggedized enclosure is also available for this board for people that want a portable development platform. The ruggedized enclosure consists of an ABS plastic hard case and a ruggedized silicone

bumper that comes in various colors.

QuicK SpecS

MCU: ATMega328P

Memory: 32 kB Flash/2 kB RAM

Expansion: Ardu-ino-compatible shield connector

Power: Ext 5VDC, USB

Options: Rugge-dized enclosure

Page 2FREDBOARD v1.0

Page 3FREDBOARD v1.0

Connectors, Jumpers and SwitchesThe board contains a number of connectors, jumpers, and switches:

1. Power Input Jumper. The power input jumper is used to select between using the external DC jack or the USB to power the board.

Jumper Posi-tion

DC Adapter Power

Top

USB Power Bottom

2. Auxiliary Connector. The auxiliary connector interfaces to the two pushbuttons and four LED peripherals on the board. The peripheral is labeled on the board next to the corresponding connector pin.

Page 4FREDBOARD v1.0

Uploading CodeCompiling and uploading user code into the FREDBOARD is very simple:

1. Download the Arduino IDE. The first thing you need to do is get the Arduino IDE and install it. It can be found at the Arduino site.

2. Open the IDE and add code. We’re going to take a shortcut and open up one of the default examples that comes with the Arduino software. Go to the “File/Examples/Ba-sics” menu and select “Blink”.

3. Select the board. Go to the “Tools/Board” menu and select “Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (3.3V, 8 MHz) w/ATMega328”. Don’t worry that it specifies 3.3 volts. We actually run at 5V but the main thing is to get the clock frequency and chip correct. In the case of the FREDBOARD, it uses an ATMega328 running at 8MHz.

Page 5FREDBOARD v1.0

4. Select the serial port. Plug the USB connector into the FREDBOARD and select the serial port that it’s connected to.

5. Click on the “Upload” icon. The code should compile and start uploading. You’ll also see the serial port’s TX and RX LEDs blinking on the FREDBOARD.

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Congratulations! You just uploaded your code to the FREDBOARD. You should now be the proud owner of a blinking LED :)

LicenseThe FREDBOARD hardware design is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike license v3.0. Attribution is an option and not a requirement. If you do attribute any deriva-tives of this design to FreakLabs, I’ll think you’re really cool, though :)

Page 7FREDBOARD v1.0

TroubleshootingThere are some common problems that people run into when using the Freakduino board. The following is a list of issues people have had and the fixes for them:

1. Serial port does not work at speed specified in Arduino sketch. This is most likely due to having the wrong “Board” setting in the Arduino IDE. A telltale sign is when you can get the serial output to work properly at twice the baudrate. Normal Arduinos use a 16 MHz clock but the Freakduino uses the internal oscillator on the AVR which runs at 8 MHz. Because of that, the “Tools/Board” setting in the Arduino IDE should be:

“Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (3.3V, 8 MHz) w/ATMega328”

SchematicsSchematics can be found on the following page:

Page 8FREDBOARD v1.0

55

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DD

CC

BB

AA

RESET_N

PB4/MISO

PD0/RXD

PB5/SCLKPB3/M

OSI/O

C2A

VCC5_LED

PB5/SCLK

PB2/SSEL_N/OC1B

DTR_N

PB3/MO

SI/OC2A

PB4/MISO

AREF

RESET_N

PB1/OC1A

PB0/ICP1

AREF

RESET_NPB5/SCLKPB4/M

ISOPB3/M

OSI/O

C2A

PB1/OC1A

PB0/ICP1

PC0/ADC0PC1/ADC1PC2/ADC2PC3/ADC3PC4/ADC4/SDAPC5/ADC5/SCL

PD0/RXDPD1/TXDPD2/INT0PD3/INT1/O

C2BPD4/T0PD5/T1/O

C0BPD6/O

C0A/AIN0PD7/AIN1

PD2/INT0PD3/INT1/O

C2BPD4/T0PD5/T1/O

C0BPD6/O

C0A/AIN0

PB5/SCLKPB5/SCLK

PD7/AIN1

PB2/SSEL_N/OC1B

PD1/TXD

PC1/ADC1PC2/ADC2PC3/ADC3PC4/ADC4/SDAPC5/ADC5/SCL

PC0/ADC0

RESET_N

LED1

LED2

LED3

LED0

VCC5

VCC5

VCC5

VCC5

VCC5

VCC_INVCC3

VCC5

VCC5

VCC5

RESET_N

MCU_RX

MCU_TX

DTR_N

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ISP CONNECTOR

JP8

JP6/THRU

JP8

JP6/THRU

3 2 1456

D4REDD4RED

D5REDD5RED

R27

10k

R27

10k

D6REDD6RED

JP2JP2

3 2 1456

JP3

JP8/THRU

JP3

JP8/THRU

3 2 145678

S4PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

S4PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

126

345

R11330R11330

JP4

JP6/THRU

JP4

JP6/THRU

3 2 1456

R25

10k

R25

10k

R1330R1330

R12330R12330

JP5

JP8/THRU

JP5

JP8/THRU

3 2 145678

D7REDD7RED

U4

ATMEG

A328-DIP

U4

ATMEG

A328-DIP

PC6/RESET1

PD0/RXD2

PD1/TXD3

PD2/INT04

PD3/INT1/OC2B

5PD4/T0

6

VCC 7GND8

PB6/XTAL1/TOSC1

9

PB7/XTAL2/TOSC2

10

PD5/T1/OC0B

11PD6/O

C0A/AIN012

PD7/AIN113

PB0/ICP114

PB1/OC1A

15PB2/SSEL/O

C1B16

PB3/MO

SI/OC2A

17PB4/M

ISO18

PB5/SCLK19

AVCC 20

AREF21

GND22

PC0/ADC023

PC1/ADC124

PC2/ADC225

PC3/ADC326

PC4/ADC4/SDA27

PC5/ADC5/SCL28

D1BLUED1BLUE

C2322uF/6.3VC2322uF/6.3V

R26

10k

R26

10k

D8REDD8RED

R41k

R41k

H3H3X2

H3H3X2

12

34

56

C140.1 uFC140.1 uF

R10330R10330

R13330R13330

C240.1 uFC240.1 uF

R14330R14330

S2PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

S2PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

126

345

S3PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

S3PUSHBUTTO

N-DUAL/SMD2

126

345

R51k

R51k

C250.1 uFC250.1 uF

Page 9FREDBOARD v1.0

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MIS

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H2

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

H2

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

1

H1

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

H1

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

1

H5

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

H5

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

1

H4

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

H4

MO

UN

T_HO

LE/M

OU

NT_H

OLE

1

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DD

CC

BB

AA

VC

C5_IN

VC

C_IN

VC

C5

VC

C3

VC

C_IN

VB

US

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PO

WE

R

J2

PO

WE

RJA

CK

/THR

U-3

J2

PO

WE

RJA

CK

/THR

U-3

123

VR

1

NJM

2845-3.3

VR

1

NJM

2845-3.3

VIN

1

GND2 VO

UT

3

C10

22uF/6.3V C10

22uF/6.3V

VR

2

NJM

2391- 5.0N

JM2845-5.0

LP-2950, D

K#LP

2950CD

T-5.0-ND

VR

2

NJM

2391- 5.0N

JM2845-5.0

LP-2950, D

K#LP

2950CD

T-5.0-ND

VIN

1

GND2 VO

UT

3

+C

9

100uF/10V

+C

9

100uF/10V

C3

22uF/6.3V C3

22uF/6.3V

JP7

JP3/TH

RU

_VE

RT

JP7

JP3/TH

RU

_VE

RT

+C

11

DN

I

+C

11

DN

I

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DD

CC

BB

AA

DMDP

MC

U_R

XM

CU

_TX

TXLE

D_N

RX

LED

_N

FTDI_R

ST_N

VB

US

VB

US

VB

US

VB

US

VB

US

VB

US

MC

U_R

XM

CU

_TX

DTR

_N

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R6

10kR

610k

C1

0.1 uF

C1

0.1 uF

C15

0.1 uF

C15

0.1 uF

J1U

SB

-Mini-A

BJ1

US

B-M

ini-AB

D+

3D

-2

+5V1

GN

D5

ID4

SHLD6 SHLD7 SHLD8 SHLD9

R7

330R

7330

R8

330R

8330

D2

GR

EE

ND

2G

RE

EN

D3

GR

EE

ND

3G

RE

EN

U1

FT232-SS

OP

28

U1

FT232-SS

OP

28

TXD

1

DTR

_N2

RTS

_N3

VCCIO 4

RX

D5

RI_N

6

GND7

NC

8

DS

R_N

9D

CD

_N10

CTS

_N11

CB

US

412

CB

US

213

CB

US

314

US

BD

P15

US

BD

M16

3V3O

UT

17

GND18

RE

SE

T_N19

VCC 20GND21

CB

US

122

CB

US

023

NC

24

AGND25 TES

T26

OS

CI

27O

SC

O28

Page 12FREDBOARD v1.0

PCB LayoutPCB layout file order:

1. Mechanical Dimensions

2. Assembly Drawing - Silkscreen View

3. Assembly drawing - Reference Designator View

4. Top Layer

5. Bottom Layer

Page 13FREDBOARD v1.0

Page 14FREDBOARD v1.0

Bill of Materials

Quan-tity

Reference Manufacturer Part Number Description

5 C1, C14, C15, C24, C25

Various 0.1uF/50V, 0603

3 C3, C10, C23 Various 22uF/6.3V, 0805, MLCC

1 C9 Various 100 uF/10V, Case-D, Tantalum

1 C11 N/A Do Not Install1 D1 Various Blue LED, 08052 D2, D3 Various Green LED, 0805

5 D4, D5, D6, D7, D8

Various Red LED, 0805

1 H3 Various 3x2 Straight male header, 0.100”

2 JP3, JP5 Various 1x8 Straight female header, 0.100”

2 JP2, JP4, JP8 Various 1x6 Straight female header, 0.100”

1 JP7 Various 1x3 Straight male header, 0.100”

1 J1 4UCON 09558 USB Mini-AB connector

1J2 4UCON 05537 DC Power Jack,

2.0 mm center conductor

8R1, R7, R8, R10, R11, R12, R13,

R14

Various 330 ohms, 0805

2 R4, R5 Various 1 kohms, 0603

4 R6, R25, R26, R27

Various 10 kohms, 0603

3 S2, S3, S4 Various SMD SPST Tactile Switch/Pushbutton

1 U1 FTDI FT232RL USB to Serial Con-verter

1 U4 Atmel ATMEGA328P AVR Microcon-troller

1 VR1 NJRC NJM2845-3.3 3.3V Regulator1 VR2 NJRC NJM2845-5.0 5.0V Regulator