So, a bunch of the ATMega AVRs have the ability to work on very low voltage (down to 1.8V) and also, to require extremely low current – less than 1mA! This is 1/10th of what the typical Arduino setup uses, so, for extremely low power applications (such as a super-minimalistic solar setup), it’s worth considering.
But of course, there is a catch. Current is a function of both Vcc voltage and clock rate. The lower the active current, the slower you have to go – but as a side benefit you can also lower the voltage:
A low-voltage, low-frequency Arduino requires a special bootloader build – since the default bootloaders are made for substantially faster clock rates, and 3.3V/5V voltage.
Setting up a slowduino bootloader
Here is a precompiled bootloader for an ATMega168-based arduino, using the internal RC clock:
ATmegaBOOT_168_slowpoke_1mhz_int.zip
(Download, then unzip, which will create the ATmegaBOOT_168_slowpoke_1mhz_int.hex file)
This bootloader is derived from the “atmega” family of bootloaders (for the diecimilia in particular) but with the following differences:
- 1MHz clock frequency
- Internal oscillator, for a truly minimalistic design
- A change of the brownout threshold to 1.8V (from the default 2.7V)
- And since the internal oscillator is not as precise as an external piezo, a change of the serial baud rate to 4800 (from the default 19200)
Installing the bootloader in the Arduino development environment
The special-purpose bootloader file (the ATmegaBOOT_168_slowpoke_1mhz_int.hex file) needs to be placed together with the rest of the “atmega” family of booloaders. I am using a Mac, so for me it is:
cp -a ATmegaBOOT_168_slowpoke_1mhz_int.hex
/Applications/Arduino/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/arduino/bootloaders/atmegaCreating a new “board”
In order for the Arduino development environment to recognize the new bootloader, the “boards.txt” file (on the Mac, /Applications/Arduino/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/arduino/boards.txt) needs to be modified. A new entry must be created for this bootloader.
slowpoke_1mhz_int.name=Slowduino 1MHz Internal RC Clock
slowpoke_1mhz_int.upload.protocol=stk500
slowpoke_1mhz_int.upload.maximum_size=14336
slowpoke_1mhz_int.upload.speed=4800
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.low_fuses=0x62
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.high_fuses=0xde
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.extended_fuses=0x00
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.path=atmega
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.file=ATmegaBOOT_168_slowpoke_1mhz_int.hex
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
slowpoke_1mhz_int.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F
slowpoke_1mhz_int.build.mcu=atmega168
slowpoke_1mhz_int.build.f_cpu=1000000L
slowpoke_1mhz_int.build.core=arduino
##############################################################
Burning the bootloader on an ATMega168
With the assumption of availability of an Arduino of some sort that one can use as an ISP:
- Go through the Arduino-as-ISP setup here (look at the bottom of the page, image on the left for the setup with internal clock). Don’t forget to do the necessary reset-disable dance as needed.
This is the setup that was used to test this blog post!
- Fire up the Arduino development environment
- Select “Tools/Boards/Slowduino 1MHz Internal RC Clock”.
- Select “Tools/Burn Bootloader/w/ Arduino as ISP”
And if all is well, a “Done burning bootloader” message will eventually appear. It will take some amount of time, since everything is happening at 4800 baud.
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