How to design an develop a low consumption music player based upon an arduino clone

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INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

Using an Atmega 328P chip without arduino board and with standalone power supply is a powerful, cheap, functional and low consumption solution. This procedure explains how to design and develop a low consumption music player based upon an arduino clone.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Atmega 328P, 8Mhz Resonator, 10kOhm Resistor, DC/DC Step-up Converter with USB 5 Volt output, 3D printed Flexing battery case (1 or 2 battery slots) and/or Battery pack (e.g. 1/2 AA 1.2V or 1 Li-ion 3.7V), 8 Ohm speaker, Button switch, Wiring, Soldering.

PROCEDURE

  1. Setup the arduino clone (Hardware resources, link 1). In order to match the logic of the custom music player firmware (basically to have the music played at the proper frequency rate/speed), it is recommended to use a 8MHz resonator instead of the 16MHz resonator, with  the first option ensuring extra lower power consumption
  2. Using the Arduino IDE (Hardware resources, link 1), burn onto the arduino clone the music player firmware (Software resources, link 1). This includes a function to play melodies, 5 different melodies and a sleep function to lower consumption
  3. Setup the power supply for the arduino clone: one option is to create a 3D printed flexible battery case for a minimum of 1 AA battery or 2 AA batteries (Hardware resources, link 2); second option is to acquire 1 Li-ion 3.7V with wired battery case (this option is quicker to setup the power supply). This includes the DC/DC Step-up Converter with USB 5 Volt output for both battery options, with the second option ensuring lower power consumption (higher voltage conversion efficiency)
  4. Setup the arduino clone and the power supply on a custom board or a breadboard with at least 400 contacts (Image 1)
  5. Connect the 8 Ohm speaker to the arduino clone (digital pin 8) and to the power supply positive pole in series to a 100 Ohm resistor (Image 1)
  6. Connect the button switch to the arduino clone (digital pin 4) and to the power supply poles as applicable for the specific switch (Image 1)
  7. Power the circuit with the batteries. The first short melody will automatically play
  8. Push the button switch to play the next melody. Wait until the playing melody finishes before pushing the button switch for the following melody
  9. Enjoy and figure out how to add new melodies. You are encouraged to share under comments below your musical successes!

IMAGES

Music player hardware with arduino clone, speaker and battery pack
Image 1 – Music player hardware with arduino clone, speaker and battery pack

HARDWARE RESOURCES

  1. How to design and develop a simple, small sized and fully functional arduino clone
  2. How to design and develop a power supply for an arduino clone

SOFTWARE RESOURCES

  1. Music player firmware v4 (.ino file)

CREDITS

  1.  Play a Melody using the tone() function (arduino)
  2. atmega168 Melody Module (fritzing)

DISCLAIMER

The project is provided in the spirit of open source and can be implemented, modified and shared according to CC BY-SA license (see footer). No liability is taken for any issues arising from the provided information.

CHANGELOG

  • 05/SEP/2017 – New release

How to design and develop a simple, small sized and fully functional arduino clone

by

INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

An Atmega 328P without arduino board can achieve the same capabilities of the arduino board, using the same arduino IDE programming and coding environment. Using an Atmega 328P chip without arduino board is powerful, cheap and functional. This procedure explains how to design and develop a simple, small sized and fully functional arduino clone.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Arduino UNO, Atmega 328P, 10kOhm resistor, 16Mhz resonator.

PROCEDURE

  1. Before wiring the two boards, familiarize with the pin configurations of the Atmega 328P on page 3 of the datasheet (Hardware resources, link 1)
  2. Switch on the PC, open the Arduino IDE and connect the Arduino Uno board with USB connection. Select the board and serial port corresponding to the Arduino Uno board in the Arduino IDE>Tools. These are standard steps for Arduino board USB connection (Hardware resources, link 2)
  3. Upload the ArduinoISP sketch onto your Arduino Uno board from the Arduino IDE>File
  4. Wire up the Arduino Uno board and the Atmega 328P on a breadboard (Image 1). The two 18 to 22 picofarad (ceramic) capacitors are optional
  5. Select “Arduino Duemilanove or Nano w/ ATmega328” from the Arduino IDE>Tools >Board menu
  6. Select “Arduino as ISP” from the Arduino IDE>Tools >Programmer
  7. Run from the Arduino IDE>Tools >Burn Bootloader
  8. Once the bootloader is burnt on the Atmega 328P, switch off the Arduino Uno board by disconnecting the USB cable
  9. Remove the microcontroller of the Arduino Uno board
  10. Wire up the Arduino Uno board and the Atmega 328P on a breadboard (Image 2). The two 18 to 22 picofarad (ceramic) capacitors are optional
  11. Switch on the Arduino Uno board by re-connecting the USB cable
  12. Select “Arduino Duemilanove or Nano w/ ATmega328” from the Arduino IDE>Tools >Board menu
  13. Write and upload any program with the Arduino IDE upload command.
  14. Unwire the Arduino Uno board
  15. Provide power supply to the standalone Atmega 328P (Hardware resources, link 3)

IMAGES

Using an Arduino board to burn the bootloader onto an ATmega on a breadboard
Image 1 – Arduino board as an in-system program (ISP)
Uploading sketches to an Atmega 328P on a breadboard
Image 2 – Arduino board as sketch uploader to an Atmega 328P

HARDWARE RESOURCES

  1. Atmega 328P Datasheet
  2. Arduino Uno
  3. How to design and develop a power supply for an arduino clone

SOFTWARE RESOURCES

  1. Arduino IDE

CREDITS

  1. Arduino to Breadboard

DISCLAIMER

The project is provided in the spirit of open source and can be implemented, modified and shared according to CC BY-SA license (see footer). No liability is taken for any issues arising from the provided information.

CHANGELOG

  • 24/JAN/2017 – New release

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