Tutorial: Getting Started with STK600 and ATMega2560

Introduction:

The objective of this tutorial is to get you familiar with development environment of STK600 and ATMega2560.

In this tutorial, we will cover the tools, concepts, and example programs required to start working with the STK600 kit. In addition, a quick how-to of utilizing USB Logic Analyzer for debugging and testing is provided (we don't want more burned servo). Hopefully you will find this tutorial helpful in getting your project going.

Hardware Summary

The STK600 starter kit is shipped with a device board with a ATmega2560 AVR microcontroller.

The STK600 starter kit contains the following components: STK600 starter kit evaluation board Device board with an ATmega2560 MCU USB cable Various of cables For this tutorial, we need the following cables: Two 10-wire cable One 2-wire cable USB cable

The STK600 can source power to the microcontroller through the USB cable. The power switch turns the STK600 main power on and off. The red LED is lit when power is on, and the status LED will turn green. The green LED beside the VTG jumper indicates that the target voltage is present.

STK600 Features 

• 8 onboard switch button
• 8 onbaord single color LEDs
• Onboard reset button

STK600 Block Diagram

ATmega2560 microcontroller Features

• 256KB self-programming Flash Program Memory
• 8KB SRAM
• 44096 Bytes EEPROM
• 16 Channel 10-bit A/D-converter
• JTAG interface for on-chip-debug
• Up to 16 MIPS throughput at 16 MHz
• 1.8 - 5.5 Volt Operation
• Max 86 I/O pins
• System clock 8MHz (default fuse setting: divided by 8)
• 0 - 2 MHz @ 1.8 - 5.5V, 0 - 8 MHz @ 2.7 - 5.5V

Tool Chain/Development Environment

We will make use of WinAVR, which provides the GCC compiler that we will use; AVR Studio 4, which provides the integrated development environment we will develop on. In addition, we will also need TeraTerm for debugging purpose. We will use UART (Universal Asynchronous receiver/transmitter) serial communication to output data to the Terminal.

WinAVR

Download and install WinAVR from the following URL: 

http://winavr.sourceforge.net

AVR Studio 4

Download and install AVR Studio 4 and Service Pack 3 from the following URL: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=2725

TeraTerm

Download and install TeraTerm from the following URL: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html

Tool Chain/Development Environment

We will make use of WinAVR, which provides the GCC compiler that we will use; AVR Studio 4, which provides the integrated development environment we will develop on. In addition, we will also need TeraTerm for debugging purpose. We will use UART (Universal Asynchronous receiver/transmitter) serial communication to output data to the Terminal.

WinAVR

Download and install WinAVR from the following URL: http://winavr.sourceforge.net

AVR Studio 4

Download and install AVR Studio 4 and Service Pack 3 from the following URL: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=2725

TeraTerm

Download and install TeraTerm from the following URL: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html

Tool Chain/Development Environment

We will make use of WinAVR, which provides the GCC compiler that we will use; AVR Studio 4, which provides the integrated development environment we will develop on. In addition, we will also need TeraTerm for debugging purpose. We will use UART (Universal Asynchronous receiver/transmitter) serial communication to output data to the Terminal.

WinAVR

Download and install WinAVR from the following URL: http://winavr.sourceforge.net

AVR Studio 4

Download and install AVR Studio 4 and Service Pack 3 from the following URL: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=2725

TeraTerm

Download and install TeraTerm from the following URL: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html

Getting Started

Before writing any programs, we need to setup the hardware and connect it to your PC.

Step1: Connect device card to STK600

Put the device card on the STK600 and lock it as shown in the picture below. 

 

Step2: Connect JTAG cable

Then, connect the JTAG programming interface using a 10-wire cable as shown in the picture below. 

 

Step3: Connect USB

Finally, connect STK 600 to your PC using the USB cable and turn the power switch to on. 

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Before we really get started...

Note: When we first time connect the STK600 to PC, AVR Studio may ask you to update firmware. Click OK.

Setting connection between STK600 and PC

After opening AVR Studio4, click on the connect icon. 

 



Select STK600 as the programmer and USB as the port, then click on Connect.

 



In the Main tab, select JTAG as the programming interface. 

 



Now, we are ready to write some program.

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Programming on STK600-ATMega2560

Create Project and Compilation

Create Project 

 



Select AVR Simulater as the debug platform and ATmega2560 as the target device 

 



Write some program 

 



We can add source files or header files by right click on the folders. 

To compile/build the project, Press F7 , or Build -> Build 

Uploading to target device

Finally, we can upload the program (HEX file) after we build the project. Click on the "Connect to the selected AVR programmer" icon. 

 



Then, in the Program tab, check "Input HEX file" in the Flash panel and click "..." to browse the project folder for the HEX file 

A file dialog pops for choosing the HEX file. The HEX file is located in "default" under the project folder. 

Selecte the HEX file and click "Program". 

 

But I want Eclipse...

Folks who dislike the build-in editor of AVR Studio, do not worry. There is a Eclipse AVR plugin. The Eclipse AVR will work with WinAVR and uploads programs using AVRDude. Unfortunately, uploading in Eclipse with STK600 does not work properly. See: 

1.Link 1

2.Link 2

We'll get back to this and try to get it working.

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Example programs

The following programs require connecting corresponding I/O ports or cables.

Blinking a LED

The following is a simple program that lits LEDs

 
/* File: main.c */
#include <avr/io.h>

int main(void)
{
 // Set Data Direction of PORTB to output
 DDRB = 0xFF;

 // Set all pins to 1 (LEDs are active low)
 PORTB = 0xFF;

 PORTB = ~(_BV(PINB0) | _BV(PINB2) | _BV(PINB4) 
  | _BV(PINB6));
}

The following is a simple program that blinks LEDs

 
/* File: main.c */
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <util/delay.h>

int main(void)
{
 DDRB = 0xFF;
 PORTB = 0xFF;
 
 for(;;) {
  PORTB = ~(_BV(PINB0) | _BV(PINB2) | _BV(PINB4) | _BV(PINB6));
  _delay_ms(500);
  PORTB = 0xFF;
  _delay_ms(500);
 }
}

Hello World

The following program demonstrate how to print message to Terminal

First, you need to install TeraTerm and connect the STK600 to PC using RS232 cable.

Then copy uart.h and uart.c (UART driver) to the project folder and add them to "Header Files" and "Source Files".

Also, uart_test.c is the main program. The UART driver can be useful when debugging your project.