How to program attiny85 on-board without separate leads?

Question

Another newbie question.

I’m planning on ordering my first ever printed PCB that would be a simple 3 mm LED driver controlled by a ATtiny85.

Now… I could program the chip using a SOIC-8 to DIP-8 extension board with a small rubber-coated alligator clip holding it in place for the duration of the programming or having separate programming leads on my design, but since jlcpcb currently offers free assembly, I’d rather take advantage of that, and as I would want to minimize the PCB size (I would like it to fit into a 1:100 size AH-64 Apache model), it shouldn’t be much bigger than a CR2032 3V battery.

I’ve seen some clips available possibly for this purpose, but I’m not sure whether these are for only intended of holding the chip between the jaws or can they be used on-board as well?

Answer 1

This type of test clip works well for SO8, when they are mounted on a PCB.
Just make sure you leave a little space around the chip for the clip to fit. But it really doesn't require very much space.

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There are many manufacturers of these, this is just one example.

I’ve seen some clips available possibly for this purpose, but I’m not sure whether these are for only intended of holding the chip between the jaws or can they be used on-board as well?

If this is the type of clip you were referring to, they actually don't work very well for loose chips, pretty hard to get a good grip even though it is possible. But there are much more suitable ZIF sockets for loose chips available.