I did a search but maybe I didn’t use the right magic words.
Is there anything like the PICKit 2 for AVR? I don’t want to reinvent the wheel if there is already a portable device that can be loaded with a hex (as data, not as code) and drive the ISP pins properly to program an AVR in-circuit with that same hex (now “persisted” to the target AVR as code).
There isn’t anything like that for the AVR, AFAIK. You could always build a portable device to program the AVR, using an AVR or something else, or use a bootloader to put code into it via a serial port.
I was afraid of that… but on the upside it seems like it’ll be a fun project. 8)
It’s easy to build your own; I did a board where an Atmega3250 would program an Atmega8. Kanda does make what you are looking for, but I have never used it - http://www.kanda.com/browse.php3?node=72
/mike