next topic »

[on:]

Hi there,

I'm in the process of evaluating the feasibility of creating an Arduino compatible board based on the 328P-MU which is the same uC of the UNO or Duemilanove but it came in a 5x5 mm QFN 32 package, suitable for ultra small applications.

Anyone ever worked on this? Advices? Tought?

Thanks,

FV

[Reply #1 on:]

Smaller than an Arduino Nano?

[Reply #2 on:]

Yeah, using small package SMT capacitors, the ATMEGA 328 in QFN32 package and 0.05" spaced pins and possibly using a 4 layer PCB is actually possible to reduce the size considerably.

The goal would be to design a board at least 1/2 the size of the Nano.

[Reply #3 on:]

The goal would be to design a board at least 1/2 the size of the Nano.

The Duemilanove is at least half the size of the Nano.

Perhaps you meant "at most".

[Reply #4 on:]

Yep, sorry.. I'm Italian and sometime I get confused with language..

X = size of the Pro Mini
Y = size of an arduino compatible board based on QFN32

It should be possible to reach:
Y <= X/2

[Reply #5 on:]

Connectors have been the usual problem.  If you're willing to do 1.27mm connectors on four sides, you can get a lot smaller.
But it will also be a lot harder to use.  How about offset 2.54mm connectors on top and bottom?  Either set could still plug into a breadboard.

[Reply #6 on:]

Hi westfw, thanks for your suggestion.

I actually thought about that as a possibility.. It could work, I should do some designs as tests to check for it's feasibility..

Anyway, I don't think that breadboard compatibility is actually important as I imagine this board to be used in very specific applications. Eg, It could be a good thing to have for people already having PCB designing experience and they could just as a building block in size constrained applications when they would need to add Arduino intelligence to their designs..

[Reply #7 on:]

I think that's a cool idea. I've been thinking about a shield for high altitude balloon/rocket tracking, and having a much smaller Arduino available would be cool for some variants.

[Reply #8 on:]

I think this SIP version is pretty cool. I am going to try this and the ardweeny when I finish my supply or promini's.

[Reply #9 on:]

Development started.

See:
http://www.varesano.net/blog/fabio/femtoduino-designing-ultrasmall-arduino-compatible-board-atmega-328p-qfnmlf32
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1293672993/0