Uber-mini ATtiny85 ISP! hits Kickstarter

Designed by Ben Escobedo, the open source ATtiny85 ISP! can probably best be described as a breakout prototyping board for Atmel’s ATtiny85/45/25 lineup.

“My idea is to allow [Makers] to take advantage of the ATtiny85 chip’s potential, while using the familiar Arduino IDE and [harnessing the] super awesome support from the Arduino community,” Escobedo explained in a recent Kickstarter post. “Lots of existing Arduino code ports over easily, and where it doesn’t there are special libraries (TinyWire, I2C LCD etc) modified for use especially with the ATtiny series.”

According to Escobedo, the goal of the ATtiny85 ISP! Kickstarter initiative is not to make money, but rather, to bring the ATtiny85’s capability to wider community of Makers.

“All design files and schematics will be immediately released to the public upon successful funding of the project goal,” he said. “Money raised from Kickstarter will go towards sourcing boards, obtaining components and getting shipping supplies.”

Aside from Atmel’s ATtiny85, key platform specs include:

• Easy to use 6-pin AVR ISP header
• Use with standard Arduino IDE or AVR StudioA
• Allows FULL use of the 8K memory on the chip (no bootloader needed!)
• All pins broken out for use, none restricted
• LED power light
• On-board reset button
• Simple to assemble due to through hole construction
• Easy to swap programmed chip for a more permanent project
• Supports external crystals and resonators.

Interested in learning more about Ben Escobedo’s ATtiny85 ISP! Kickstarter initiative? You can check out his official project page here.