Want to ask opinion on using Arduino with multiple inputs

Using Arduino LEDs and Multiplexing
1

Hi,

I am new to Arduino, and this is my first time in learning it (yeah i know i'm a bit outdated :blush:). My question is, is there any ways of making my own circuit board (not using any completed boards in the market by Arduino) with requirement of taking many data inputs from electrical and meteorological parameters? There are 4 sensors that will be going to use in electrical part while for meteorological part, it is having 3 sensors. And those sensors are used for 1 set of system and for the whole project I will be having more than 1 set of the system (let say 13 sets). I am thinking to use more than 1 of ATMEGA328, but still not decided yet on how to do it. Any suggestion and idea from you guys? Thank you in advance!

2

Welcome to the forum, and I hope your experiences with Arduino are as happy as mine have been! :slight_smile:

The Atmega328 is pretty powerful, but you need to be a bit more specific about "sensors". Are they analog, digital, or what?

3

You can make your own board, sure.

If you use an ATMega328P it will have exactly the same inputs/outputs as a standard Arduino. No more, no less.

4

All sensors are analog. I forgot to mention that I will be using SD card for storing data purpose. Thank you in advance for your response :slight_smile:

5

fungus:
You can make your own board, sure.

If you use an ATMega328P it will have exactly the same inputs/outputs as a standard Arduino. No more, no less.

That is why I am thinking to use more than 1 ATMega328. But still not decided yet on how to maximize the I/O channels for all sensors.

6

You can get analog multiplexer chips. For weather data you won't need thousands of measurements a second.

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11976

7

Thank you for your reply! :slight_smile:

8

A chip like this will let you connect 8 analog devices to a single Arduino pin:

(with three digital pins to select the source)

9

Or if you want more resolution, then external ADC, such as MCP3208, 8 channels of 12 bit inputs, accessed via SPI.