Question for Yuri & other Arduino users

Question for those of you that are really experienced w/ Arduino.

I just bought an UNO about 4-5 weeks ago, and have been teaching myself the code and the circuitry. The last time I wrote code, it was in “Clipper” for dBase III+ (read: a long time ago).

I’ve got the thing reading a DS18B20 successfully, running PID, and writing to an LCD the way I want. I’ve got it running on breadboards now, controlling a crock pot. My code is crude and mostly plagiarized, but is working exactly like I want it to. I’m cooking a lamb sous vide right here on my desk.... pretty cool. I’m asking it for 135.00F and it’s giving me 135.05F. So, it’s time to come off of the breadboard an onto something permanent.

The original plan was to install the UNO in my control box, and make a shield (practicing w/ the PWM project I have in other threads). Then I found the Arduino “nano” on ebay for $12, and decided to use that. I was going to make a board, and install the nano on it like a chip. Then...

Finally, I just finally “got it” what they mean by prototyping platform. Don’t laugh, but I just figured out that the intent is to get the project working, then rip the 328 off of the UNO, install it into a 28 pin socket on my own board, and then use the UNO over & over & over again with a fresh 328 each time.

I notice that Yuri went the shield route.

Further, I don’t see too many projects where people have just removed the 328 and used that... so the question is: Why not? I have to make a board regardless of the decision. A new 328 w/ the UNO bootloader is <$5, and it would seem MUCH easier to integrate a DIP28 onto my own board rather than adapt the Arduino (UNO or Nano, either one) to it. What is it that I’m not realizing?

I think its more for convenience. With an uno, you don't have to; do much soldering, work on a stripboad, build a power supply, and have a separate ftdi programmer. An atmega328 stand alone is much cheaper and more compact. That's the way I like to go.

There's a page on the arduino site http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard which explains how to use an arduino on a breadboard. I play around with little arduino projects all the time, I always build a circuit on a breadboard, get it working, and solder it up. I basically only use my arduino board as an in circuit programmer to put the bootloader on new 328's, and I use it to connect the breadboard to USB as per the above link.

Good luck!

Make sure to add in proper circuit protection and an input capacitor for voltage stabilization, other than that there is nothing wrong with removing it from the Arduino and soldering it down to your own HW. Be sure to use proper ESD protection too!

luke_l said:

There's a page on the arduino site http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard which explains how to use an arduino on a breadboard. I play around with little arduino projects all the time, I always build a circuit on a breadboard, get it working, and solder it up. I basically only use my arduino board as an in circuit programmer to put the bootloader on new 328's, and I use it to connect the breadboard to USB as per the above link.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I actually read that a few weeks ago, but comprehended none of it. Now looking it over again (with a few weeks under my belt), it all makes perfect sense and describes pretty much *exactly* what I'm talking about.