A-Star 32U4 Micro Questions

Hi, I have some questions that I want answered before I but my A-Star 32U4 Micro controllers.

  1. Can I just plug the A-Star 32U4 Micro right into Atmel Studio 6.2 IDE that my Orangutan uses, or do I need to use Arduino’s IDE?

  2. What programming language does the A-Star 32U4 Micro use? Is it C++?

  3. If I connect a speaker to the correct pins would the A-Star 32U4 Micro be able to play notes like my Orangutan can?

Hello.

The A-Star 32U4 programmable controllers are general purpose breakout boards for the ATmega32U4, so you can use them with almost any development environment or language that supports the ATmega32U4. However, the A-Star 32U4 controllers ship with a preloaded Arduino-compatible bootloader and with the software add-on for the Arduino IDE we provide, you can easily program the controllers with the Arduino IDE.

If you want to program the A-Star controllers with Atmel Studio, you can probably use the same programmer you use for programming your Orangutan controllers. Alternatively, the bootloader supports AVRDUDE, so you could generate a .hex file using Atmel Studio and load the program onto the A-Star using AVRDUDE. You can read more about this in the “Programming using avr-gcc and AVRDUDE” section of the A-Star 32U4 User’s Guide.

If you are using a low power buzzer, you should be able to directly drive it with one of the PWM pins on the A-Star. If you are driving a more powerful buzzer/speaker, you might consider adding a MOSFET for controlling the buzzer. You can find an example circuit using a MOSFET to control a buzzer on page 3 of the A-Star 32U4 Prime LV schematic diagram.

- Jeremy

Sounds good Thanks!

Hi, I have finally got my, “A-Star 32U4 Micro”, and am not sure how to connect 3 of pololu’s, “momentary Mini Pushbutton Switch: PCB-Mount, 2-Pin”, for use as a user selection option.

Say I want to use pins 0,1,2 for my 3 push buttons, where would I connect the 2nd contact?
Would one end of my button go to the pin spot(0,1,2) and the other button end go to ground?

Also, for hooking up my speaker to the PWM pin where does the other pin from the speaker go, Ground?
Thanks!

In both cases, you would want the other pin connected to ground. For the pushbuttons, you will probably also want to have the internal pull-ups enabled on the microcontroller’s pins. As for your speakers, you should make sure the pin you are using to drive your speaker can deliver the necessary current. If not, you might consider adding a MOSFET to drive the speaker.

- Jeremy