Maxuino – Probots

Starter Guide

Contents
1) Overview
2) Features
3) Programming the board using the Arduino IDE
4) Troubleshooting and getting help

© 2010 www.probots.co.in
1. Overview

2. Features

 Completely open-source. All circuits, PCB designs available for free

 Numerous tutorials and sample code available online
 Onboard MAX232 interface circuit for easy communication with a
computer and other serial devices (GPS modules, GSM Modems,
etc).
 DC plug-in jack for power input.
 Onboard 5V regulator(LM7805) with filtering capacitors and
heatsink. Can accept input voltage in the range 6 – 30V.
 Power Status LED(Green) and a general purpose LED connected to
PIN13.
 The AVCC pin is connected to 5V through a 100 uH inductor for
accurate ADC conversions.
 Quartz crystal oscillator circuit.
 Vin, 5V and Gnd bus provided.


© 2010 www.probots.co.in
3. Programming the board using the Arduino IDE
Setting up the Arduino IDE
To program Maxuino, you will need software to write, compile and
burn programs. Since Maxuino is completely Arduino compatible, you
can use the Arduino IDE for writing, compiling and burning programs
to the board. The Arduino IDE is available for free download at
www.arduino.cc
You will have to download and install the Arduino on the computer
on which you wish to work on Maxuino. Once installed, open the file
boards.txt in a simple text editor (like Notepad in Windows). The files
is present at the following location –
ArduinoIDE-install-directory\hardware\arduino

Once the file is opened in a text editor add the following text at the
end of the text file –

probots.name=Maxuino

probots.upload.protocol=stk500
probots.upload.maximum_size=7168
probots.upload.speed=19200

probots.bootloader.low_fuses=0xDF
probots.bootloader.high_fuses=0xCA
probots.bootloader.path=atmega8
probots.bootloader.file=ATmegaBOOT.hex
probots.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
probots.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F

probots.build.mcu=atmega8
probots.build.f_cpu=16000000L
probots.build.core=arduino

© 2010 www.probots.co.in
 After adding the above text at the end of the file, save the file
without modifying any other part of the file.
The above procedure needs to be done only once, for the first time.

Programming Maxuino
Once the IDE has been setup, you can program the board by
following this procedure –
1. Connect Maxuino to the PC using a serial cable
2. Apply power to the board. You should see the Power LED Light.
3. Then open the Arduino IDE, which contains the code to be
programmed.
4. Click on the Verify button on the top left of the IDE.
5. Once the code is verified it is ready to be programmed to the
board. You will then have to go to Tools -> Board -> Maxuino in
the Arduino IDE
6. Next click on the Upload button on the top left of the IDE.
7. Immediately, press and hold the reset button on Maxuino and
release after a second or two. This will put Maxuino into
programming mode.
8. The code will get uploaded to the board and you will get a
message indicating it on the IDE.

Note:
1. There are a whole lot of example codes built into the IDE. You
can access them under Files -> Examples
2. If you have no program to test your Maxuino, you can select
the Blink program under the Digital submenu of the Examples
menu. It is simplest and easiest program built into the IDE.
Once the Blink program is uploaded to the board, the PGM
LED should start blinking.
3. When Maxuino is first powered on, it will wait for around 5-8
seconds for the user to press the Reset button and send it to
© 2010 www.probots.co.in
 programming mode. So there will be a 5-8 second delay,
between the time you power the board and first line of code
gets executed.

4. Troubleshooting and Getting Help

We are committed to ensure that our customers' projects, designs
and research go as efficiently and as smoothly as possible. And for
this we promise and provide an excellent after-sales support facility.

Due to the nature of the products we sell, we are sure to receive a lot
of request for support. In anticipation of this, we have created a
separate section, "Resources" , where we have many tutorials
covering how to use our products. Your first step to seek support
from us would be to surf through the "Resources" section for
answers to your query.
If our "Resources" section doesn't address your query, mail us
directly at info@probots.co.in for further
support.

When you contact us for support, please keep the following things in
mind -
 you will have to provide us with the invoice
information(order no., date of purchase, etc.)
 provide us with all the required details(operating system
being used, compiler being used, etc)
 do not ask us questions or doubts about products we do not
sell
 do not contact us 2 days before a project deadline for any
sort of immediate or urgent support
 do not mail us a rephrased version of your project
 contact us only if you know what you are doing, do not
expect any sort of help from our side otherwise

© 2010 www.probots.co.in