Roey Benamotz has created the Lean Mean Programming Machine (LEMPA) – an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi that includes all the sockets, jumpers, and indicator LEDs necessary to successfully flash a whole suite of popular MCUs.

Benamotz has also  written a Python tool that handles all the nuances of getting the firmware written out.

After you’ve configured the JSON file with the information about your hardware targets and firmware files, they can easily be called up again by providing a user-defined ID name.

This might seem overkill if you’re just burning the occasional hex, but if you’re doing small scale production and need to flash dozens of chips, you’ll quickly appreciate a little automation in your process.