AVR USB ISP Programmer

These AVR programmers are based on Thomas Fischl’s USBasp design and connect to your computer’s USB port. Not only are they quite compact (70x20mm), but the design is really elegant. The USB interface is achieved by using an atmega8 processor and the rest is done in firmware.

Being an Open-source hardware (OSHW) project, released under the GNU General Public License, you are free to download the schematic and firmware from Thomas’s website, but then you have a chicken and egg problem. In order to load the USBASP firmware onto the atmega8 on the programmer, yes you guessed it, you need an AVR programmer. Much easier to buy one fully built and programmed.