I've done a little work on my "Minimalduino" Arduino-compatible board design lately:- Moved the fourth standoff mount hole to line up with the Uno's new fourth standoff hole (which they didn't make aligned to the one across the way!).
- Fattened up the traces to make it more home-etcher-friendly: .016" and .024" traces, .018" min. separation.
- Spread out the components, reduced the jumper count, and removed the I2C header.
- Added pads for a mini USB jack, for power only. (I'm not sure about the grounded heat sink of a 7805 shorting to the 5V trace so I put in a solder bridge, but it's fine for making at home using real wires for the top layer jumpers.) So many options for powering this sucker!
Thinking about running this at 3.3V, I don't think it would work right for programming or for running with the FTDI cable attached.
Update: I had some v.97 boards made (DorkbotPDX order ftw!), same as .96 but with curvy traces and a few parts moved a little, here's one assembled:
Hi Jeff; I really like your board; the uC at a jaunty angle is a pretty cool. Have you had any made by PCB fabricators that I can order from?
ReplyDeleteOther than being able to be powered by mini-USB cable you don't really have a point of differentiation from other minimalist boards such as the Volksduino or KitTen.
What would be awesome is an FTDI programmable Arduino form-factor board with auto power switching. A contradiction in terms, I know, but I think the demand is there.
Just a suggestion...
Thanks heaps also for your work on the Arduino compatible hardware list, it's my first port of call when deciding which Arduino is best suited to a project.
Best regards,
Denis.