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Simple Arm Board
Simple ARM Board Project
Created on: 7 November 2012
This project is an open source hardware ARM microcontroller board. The board is based on a AT91SAM7S256 ARM7 microcontroller from Atmel.
The board was originally designed in January 2009 and has been released as an open source hardware project in November 2012.
The board has a USB device port, an RS-232 serial port with Tx and Rx, and a 20 pin ARM JTAG header. All of the I/O pins of the microcontroller (PA0 to PA31) are available on the headers on the sides of the board.
The board was designed for use in rapid prototyping and experimentation. It can be plugged into pin headers soldered into stripboard for rapid prototyping.
Programming the Board
No programmer is necessary to load firmware to the microcontroller – the board can be programmed via the USB port by connecting the board to a computer with a USB cable. This works the same as for the AT91SAM7S-EK board – see Programming the AT91SAM7S-EK using SAM-BA.
The board can also be programmed and debugged using a JTAG device attached to the JTAG connector on the board.
Programs can be written for the board in the C programming language using the GNU tools for ARM or one of several commercial toolchains.
Power Supply
The board can be powered from the USB port, or by an external 5V power supply through the headers. This is selectable from a jumper.
A 3.3V LDO regulator on the board provides the supply voltage to the AT91SAM7S microcontroller.
Circuit Diagram and Source Files
The board was designed using Altium Designer, so the source files for the schematic and PCB are in Altium Designer format.
The schematic is also available in PDF format.
Download the Source Files
Schematic in PDF format – open_source_simple_arm.pdf (26.9kB)
Gerber files – open_source_simple_ARM_gerber_drill.zip (104.4kB)
Altium Designer files with Gerber files – Open_Source_Simple_ARM.zip (1.0MB)
Related Articles
- Programming the AT91SAM7S-EK using SAM-BA – use Atmel software to program the microcontroller via USB
- Erasing AT91SAM7S Flash using the ERASE Pin – use the ERASE pin of the microcontroller to erase all Flash and lock bits
- AT91SAM7S Microcontroller Circuit – Minimum Supporting Components – minimum components needed to build a AT91SAM7S circuit
- Programming Atmel AT91SAM7S Microcontrollers via USB - Hardware Requirements – hardware setup necessary for programming AT91SAM7S micros via USB
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