I am at the final stage of a prototype that needs 30 I/O pins in total. So far I have the project prototyped using a Mega 1280 but I am looking for a more permanent, less expensive option. Sort of like a pro mini board that has no USB circuitry, just a board that has a mega1280, crystal, FTDI connectors and solder pins for each I/O.
Not sure if something like this exists so I would check with everyone here.
Thanks,
Mike
What are you using the pins for?
You may be better to use an Uno and shift register / LED driver chip.
Also if they are input switches, there are ways of combining these with resistors and just using one Analog input, or having a key matrix.
The project is a 50 pin cable tester. Right now I have 7 74HC164 shift registers and 7 74HC151 multiplexers. One I/O is used fore the switch, 6 for the lcd and 20 to control the logic chips.
Is there anything in between the UNO and the Mega for digital I/O? Possibly a clone or something? It would be a shame to have to use a Mega 1280 for the project. One possibility is to grab a blank Mega 1280 board and just solder on the Mega and crystal.
If all you need is more I/O then you should look into using an I/O expander such as the MCP23017 or MCP23S17. Each one gives you 16 I/O pins. If you want something already built up on a shield then look into the 'Centipede Shield'.
Don
Sort of like a pro mini board that has no USB circuitry, just a board that has a mega1280, crystal, FTDI connectors and solder pins for each I/O.
If there is no USB circuitry, what do you need the "FTDI connectors" for? The FTDI chip is what provides the USB to serial capability.