What is this thing and I why do I need it?

You've spent hours prototyping and perfecting your cool idea with the Arduino platform and want to make your widget more permanent. Your project relies on an Arduino but you don't want to sacrifice your Uno by leaving it connected to your widget forever. On top of that you've noticed that most of the I/O pins on the Arduino Uno are not even being used! What you need is a smaller dedicated microcontroller. Atmel makes the ATmega series that can be found on the Arduino Uno, Mega, and other popular boards. What you might not know is that they also make a smaller series called the ATtiny series. These "tiny Arduinos" have fewer I/O pins and cost less than $2 in single quantities! You can even sample a couple for free from Atmel's site! With a little setup you can write code for the ATtiny series right in the Arduino IDE software. The only problem is that you need a special ISP (in system programmer) programmer to attach to your ATtiny. However, some excellent developers wrote some code that make it possible to use your Arduino Uno as an ISP programmer! There's one catch. In order to use your Uno as a programmer you have to put your ATtiny on a breadboard, connect several jumper wires. For older bootloaders it's also necessary to put a capacitor on the reset pin. Most people follow this tutorial. I still found this very difficult.

My solution?

The ATtiny prototype shield allows you to develop an idea by starting out on the breadboard. Write code in the Arduino IDE and tweak your design until it's perfect. Once you've got it to a point where you want to deploy it, transfer it to a more permanent perforated board. Use the ATtiny proto shield to move your Arduino code to an ATtiny microcontroller. Your project will now be available as a dedicated circuit board that you can take with you anywhere. No more buying expensive Arduino prototyping shields that you are afraid to use because they are a one time use product. The ATtiny prototype shield comes with smaller prototype cartridges that are so inexpensive that you don't need to feel bad about using them up. When you need more cartridges just come back here to stock up!

Features

• Arduino Compatible

• Program ATtiny 25/45/85 & 24/44/84

• Access to Arduino pins from proto board

• LED on pin 13

• Reset button

• Arduino/breadboard are not included

Quick Start

For Arduino IDE 1.6.4 or newer.

• Add the ATtiny board files to the Arduino IDE menu. See this tutorial

• Open the "ArduinoISP" sketch from the example menu, and flash it to your Arduino Uno.

• Insert ATtiny proto shield into Arduino

• Insert one Atmel ATtiny chip for example the ATtiny85

• Open up the blink sketch from the examples.

• Select Tools -> Board -> ATtiny

• Select Tools -> Processor -> ATtiny85

• Select Tools -> Clock -> 1MHz(internal)

• Change the sketch so that pin 2 blinks instead of pin 13.

• Upload sketch onto the ATtiny and watch the LED blink

See documentation link on the right for a more detailed explanation

Changelog

v3.0 (this is the version that is shipped) This version simplified the design by eliminating the programming header and jumper pin header. Pin 13 still has an LED as well as pins 8 and 9. When using the "ArduinoISP" these LEDs act as "heartbeat" and "error" indicators. The copper traces were all rerouted and are much neater.

v2.0 The biggest change is the addition of female headers that run along side the breadboard. These allow the proto board to stack right on the base shield. It's like a little shield on top of a bigger shield. The Arduino pins are brought up to the proto board, as well as 5V and GND. There is enough room to have a proto board stacked on top, with the breadboard underneath. There were some minor layout changes and the addition of a 6 pin ISP programming header.

v1.0 This version includes programming sockets for both 8 pin and 14 pin ATtiny microcontrollers. There is a reset button and an LED connected to pin 13. There is a jumper pin header to switch between programming mode and standard use mode. This header along with the capacitor is necessary for older versions of the Arduino bootloader.