A new Raspberry Pi expansion board is available by the designer of the Gertboard called the GertDuino. The GertDuino is a GPIO add-on board that works like an Ardino-UNO board plus offers extra features.
The GertDuino features a ATmega328 micro controller that is compatable with the
Ardunio-UNO and can be programmed directly from the Raspberry Pi. The GertDuino can
then be run independently of the Raspberry Pi to control connected devices and Arduino sheilds via it's I/O ports as well as communicate to a connected Raspberry Pi through the GPIO port.
The GertDuino offers additional features not available on the Arduino-UNO including
- RS232 level converter
- 6 buffered LED's
- 2 user buttons
- InfraRed interface ( IrDA)
- Battery powered Real Time Clock
- ATmega48 micro controller
It also has Arduino-UNO compatible connectors, a reset button and uses a 5 Volt supply
but protects a connected Raspberry Pi from receiving a high 5V signal compared to it's
usual 3.3V.
As well at the ATmega328 the GertDuino has a ATmega48 which primarily is intended to be
for a real time clock and a IrDA front end but is also available for the user to program.
The 328 and 48 can be programmed with the Arduino GUI or the GCC Atmel compiler.
The documentation at Farnell Element 14 gives you full details on how to use the GertDuino, install the software on the Raspberry Pi and example programs. http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-64326/l/gertduino-add-on-board-for-raspberry-pi1
For information on how to set-up the Aruino IDE to use with the ATmega 328 see http://projects.drogon.net/raspberry-pi/gertboard/arduino-ide-installation-isp/
A set-up guide has been written at Friends of the Unicorn to make the initial set-up and installation a bit simpler for people who having problems
friendsoftheunicorn.net/content/gertduino-setup
The GertDuino is available at uk.farnell.com and mcmelectronics.com