Can I use a surface mount Atmega32U4 in lieu of a Teensy 2.0 in a custom design I'm working on?
You can surely do, but the MCU alone won't suffice. You can read the whole thread (trust me, it won't take much) to see how other users accomplished that. Also, the datasheet is your friend
Right, I figured, but I'm having trouble understanding what else I need. There are a lot of surface mount components that I don't understand the purpose of on the Teensy. The basic idea here, I guess, is to replicate a (the necessary parts of) a Teensy on the PCB.
I am reading this thread, and researching stuff on my own, but I could definitely use direction, and would greatly appreciate it. I'm working on this on my own of course, but I'm nonetheless flailing about. I've never done this before.
So, supposing I use the surface mount atmega, I need to put a bootloader on it and program it. What software can I use to program it? Can I just use arduino software? How difficult is what I'm proposing here?
Is there a tutorial for designing a PCB with an integrated controller?