What's a Lira?

The Lira is a microcontroller (a tiny, tiny computer) based on the popular Arduino architecture. It was designed to fulfill the following requirements:

  • Tiny (2.15" x 0.85"; ~1.8 square inch board area).
  • Inexpensive (<$15 unit cost, even in Quantity: 1).
  • Easy to build (even by those with little soldering experience).
  • Compatible with the Arduino IDE, Arduino C and hardware commonly used with the Arduino.
  • Open Source and free to build, modify and distribute!

What can I do with it?

The Lira can be used to control robots, make music, autopilot a model aircraft, log data, perform calculations or virtually anything else a tiny computer could be used for.

Is the Lira an officially licensed Arduino?

No, not yet. We have been in touch with the official Arduino team and we hope they will consider adding it to their lineup. Until then, it would be more accurate to call it an "Arduino-compatible" microcontroller.

Where can I get one?

Currently the Lira is being manufactured by Lyratron. It will be offered in 3 forms: kit, naked board and fully assembled.

Is the Lira Open Source?

Yes! All design files are available here:

Lira.zip

You don't need a license to make your own Lira. All you need is the ability to create a 2-layer circuit board with through-hole plating, and a handful of parts. If you can't manufacture the board yourself, no problem! We've open sourced the design on BatchPCB, so you can order boards to be manufactured directly from them in any quantity: https://batchpcb.com/pcbs/102749

Bill of Materials:

  • Lira PCB (1)
  • ATmega328 microcontroller (1)
  • Capacitor, ceramic .1uF (1)
  • Capacitors, electrolytic 10uF (2)
  • Resistor, 10k (1)
  • Header pins (36)
  • Voltage regulator, 5v (1)
  • Ceramic resonator, 16 MHz (1)

To program it, you'll need an FTDI cable, or an FTDI breakout board + mini USB cable. You'll also need to download the Arduino IDE:

http://www.arduino.cc

Can I get support for the Lira?

Lyratron will provide basic customer support after the Lira is officially released. Until then, we cannot guarantee that we will have time to answer questions.

(cc) BY 2012 Peter Alaric DeSimone