[Lab] arduino hardware

[Boris Bokowski]

> Alternately if you need to use arduino software, you could just get the
> atmega chip and supporting hardware (crystal, caps, voltage regulator &
> battery terminal if powering off batteries) and build your own board with a
> protoboard from radio shack or similar.  You'll also need to get a
> programmer for the AVR chips which will initially cost more than the cost of
> an arduino but after a few boards will save you lots of money compared to
> buying an arduino for every project.
> Tom

Not sure if this is common knowledge, but the Bus Pirate (US$30 plus
shipping) can be used as an AVR programmer:
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=237

Boris