Want to know more about Mignonette? Take a look at our frequently asked questions below.

Yes. Please click on the "purchase" link at the bottom of this page.

We introduced the Mignonette at Maker Faire 2008, which was held in San Mateo, CA (USA) on May 3 and 4, 2008. (see www.makerfaire.com) Since then, we have been involved in several other workshops and conferences.

Currently, we plan on being at the Maker Faire in Austin, TX coming up in October 2008.

Besides curiosity and enthusiasm, none at all!
We have taught well over a thousand people how to make cool things, including people of all ages and backgrounds, even people who’ve never sewn a button. You can successfully complete your Mignonette kit.

A microcontroller is a complete computer on a single chip. It can be programmed, much like a real computer. However, microcontrollers are much smaller than a real computer, in terms of the size of the program or the amount of memory. And the best part is they are much cheaper too! So, there is no mouse, keyboard, or disk drive. Instead, simple input and output simple devices, like switches, LEDs, or even a speaker, can be connected to a microcontroller. With one microcontroller and a handful of these simple devices, lots of really cool things are possible!

Mignonette is an electronic kit. Anyone, even someone with no soldering experience, can assemble the kit in less than an afternoon. Most people can complete the kit in one to two hours. The design features a microcontroller, a 5x7 LED matrix, a small speaker, and a few other miscellaneous components (resistors and capacitors).

The microcontroller comes pre-programmed with a fun game we wrote called Munch. It also comes pre-programmed with a program to test the hardware.

One of the fun aspects of Mignonette is that you can program it with your own game! Starting from scratch, or starting with our Mignonette Game Library, you can develop your own program on a PC (or Mac or Linux) and then download into the Mignonette using a special adapter. Once programmed, it no longer needs to be connected to the PC. (Please see the question below about programming.)

Besides the tools needed for assembly (soldering iron, wire cutters, etc.), and 3 AA batteries to power the Mignonette, no additional parts are needed.

The Mignonette kit comes pre-programmed with a test program and the Munch game. To re-program it, you will need a special adapter called a "programmer". One end connects to a PC via a USB cable. The other end has a 6-pin connector which connects to the Mignonette (that connector is labeled J2).

These programmers have been tested with the Mignonette:

• Atmel AVRISP mkII - pre-assembled, approximate cost US$36
• Ladyada’s USBtinyISP - kit, approximate cost US$22

More information on the Atmel programmer is here.
It is available at Digi-Key (digikey.com) or Mouser (mouser.com).

More information on the Ladyada programmer is here. (purchase from Ladyada)

Other programmers that are designed for Atmel AVR microcontrollers and offer the standard 6-pin connector should work just fine.