Program a standalone arduino

Occasionally I get this question from the arduino forum: “How do I program a stand-alone arduino? (atmega328 chip with arduino bootloader)”. I have a few ways to do this:

1) Buy a USB-TTL converter and make sure your standalone has headers on GND/5V/Tx/Rx/Reset. Use the adapter to program or communicate with the standalone. This will cost you anywhere between $6 and $20, depending on where you get your adapter and whether it automatically resets the arduino for programming. If it doesn’t, you need to hit upload, then once the bytes information is displayed in Arduino IDE, hit the reset on the standalone to receive programming. The following one is sold at sparkfun.com for $15.

2) This option is free. Use an arduino board, remove its atmega328 chip. Then also make sure your standalone has headers on GND/5V/Tx/Rx/Reset. Then use jumper wires to connect the arduino board to your standalone and you’re good to go. You will have to have an arduino board all the time.

3) If neither 1 or 2 apply to you, say you don’t have headers on GND/5V/Tx/Rx/Reset but your standalone is sitting inside a socket. Remove the standalone chip and insert it into an arduino board to program. This is ideal if you want to program a bunch of chips before you start. It will be benefitial to have a ZIF socket. You can effortlessly mount and unmount the chips.