Data Sheet

USBSERIAL USB Serial Adapter Quickstart Guide

The USB Serial Adapter plugs into a USB port on your computer and provides you with a

hardware serial port at the other end. Compatible with both 3.3V and 5V logic, and pin-

compatible with the popular FTDI cable header.

Board Features

Micro USB socket. Connect to your computer using the supplied micro USB cable.

I/O breakouts. Access to the MCU I/O pins, accessible by replacing the firmware in the MCU.

ATmega16u2 MCU. Microcontroller that converts between the virtual USB serial port and the

hardware serial port.

ICSP header. Load new firmware into the MCU to use the USB Serial Adapter as a general-

purpose microcontroller dev board.

RX LED. Illuminates when receiving data on the serial port.

TX LED. Illuminates when transmitting data on the serial port.

Power LED. Illuminates when power is provided to the serial port.

6-pin serial header. Hardware serial port in FTDI-cable compatible format. The ends labelled

"BLACK" and "GREEN" correspond to the coloured wires in a typical FTDI cable to indicate

orientation.

DFU jumper. Shorting this jumper puts the MCU into DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode.

Output voltage switch. Selects 3.3V or 5V output to the device connected to the serial port.

Driver Installation

The USB Serial Adapter is designed to appear as a virtual serial port to your computer, in the

exact same way as a typical Arduino board.

For Linux and MacOS X, no drivers are needed. The USB Serial Adapter will be detected and

supported automatically.

For Windows, you must install a ".INF" configuration file just as you would for an Arduino

board. If you have previously installed the Freetronics .INF file when using an Eleven, EtherTen,

or any of our other boards, you probably don't need to do anything and the USB Serial Adapter

will be detected and supported automatically when you first plug it in. If you have never used a

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USBSERIAL USB Serial Adapter Quickstart Guide The USB Serial Adapter plugs into a USB port on your computer and provides you with a hardware serial port at the other end. Compatible with both 3.3V and 5V logic, and pincompatible with the popular FTDI cable header. Board Features Micro USB socket. Connect to your computer using the supplied micro USB cable. I/O breakouts. Access to the MCU I/O pins, accessible by replacing the firmware in the MCU. ATmega16u2 MCU.
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Freetronics board before, please follow the steps shown here for installation of the USB driver. This only needs to be done once. Connecting The Hardware 1. Connect the USB Serial Adapter to your computer using the supplied micro USB cable. 2. Check that the output voltage switch is in the correct position for your device. The selected voltage will be supplied to your device through the 6-pin header on the pin labelled "VOUT". 3.