Just came across this
http://www.roboticsindia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=229
I suppose it uses an Atmega8 instead of the FTDI. Nice idea. Would save a lot of Money. But will this be an efficient idea? Will it work with others(168, 328, 648)? Is it possible to program these using an Atmega8 instead of the FTDI. (3-5 x Atmega8s instead of 1 FTDI)
Any ideas of how it can be made cheaper?
cheers,
pracas
Link does not work for me.
Lefty
The link works here.
If you don't need shield compatibility and you don't count the seperate FTDI board, the RBBB is very simple and cheap.
http://moderndevice.com/RBBB_revB
Or you can make your own
oh ok! forgot to mention the most important thing!
The cheapest usb arduino?
They are USB with the USB board attached 
I've been playing with the Teensy
http://www.pjrc.com/teensy
$18 with no pins, fully assembled and tested. It's built on a USB AVR. Very small, much smaller than a NANO. About the size of a mini-wheat 
USB powered. Has a few extra IOs too. It was awesome to plug in this teensy board and have the Arduino code just work on it.
The Iduino from Fundamental Logic
Kit = $18.00
assembled = $24.00
http://www.moderndevice.com/products/bbb-kit
this is what I have, it does not have sheild compatibility or a ftdi chip, so once you add a serial port converter (which is what i use since my pc has a serial port) your looking ~20 bucks, but getting a ftdi cable with it will run you as much as a full arduino ... depends on what your application for it is i guess, but as a arduino its cheap
then they have the really bare bones board, same situation but starts at like 12.50$, aside from that the only cheaper version would be...
sometimes on ebay you can get all the parts to an arduino for like 7 bucks, and you could just "dead bug" it
I've been playing with the Teensy
Teensy USB Development Board$18 with no pins, fully assembled and tested. It's built on a USB AVR. Very small, much smaller than a NANO. About the size of a mini-wheat Smiley USB powered. Has a few extra IOs too. It was awesome to plug in this teensy board and have the Arduino code just work on it.
Can you still use the Arduino IDE with it? Serial communication is the same as with Arduino?
How about bootloader?
RE: Teensy
Teensy USB Development Board
Can you still use the Arduino IDE with it?
Yes.
Serial communication is the same as with Arduino?
Yes. It's presented to the computer as a serial device. The baud rate is ignored (it's always 12Mps).
I have several version 1 Teensy's. It's my understanding from the website that the version 2 can be presented as other devices (like a keyboard).
How about bootloader?
Present, functional, and tiny.
ok, thank you very much. I went ahead and ordered one.
The cheapest USB arduino is probably a RBBB type board (or made yourself) with one of those $3 USB phone cables that happens to be a USB/Serial converter... (I've even contemplated laying out a PCB with the appropriate "phone cable" connector space, but having to actually buy a phone-compatible connector would get rid of a bunch of your cost savings, and doing JUST the PCB wouldn't be very secure, and it doesn't usually have power in the cable, so...)
I bought one of the Nokia data cables for my arduino, it worked fine for receiving but it wouldn't send or program the arduino. I gave up to it in the end. If I want a cheap USB arduino I go for a cheap Duemilanove clone from Ebay....
so once you add a serial port converter (which is what i use since my pc has a serial port) your looking ~20 bucks
Not necessarily. I have 5 RBBBs that cost me less than $8 apiece, and only 1 RS-232 level shifter (although I'm building a second one, using a MAX3232, for more-reliable communication with some fussy equipment that doesn't seem to like mere inverted TTL). A couple of them are part of projects that don't need RS-232 (much less USB), and a couple more will be. So the cost of the level shifters really comes out to only about $1 per Arduino (plus my time for assembly).
Having the ability to plug a full Arduino environment (less shield compatibility) into a project at that price makes it possible to build permanent gadgets that I couldn't afford to keep if I were paying full price for Arduinos with FTDI chips that are completely useless (to me) once the firmware is downloaded.
Having an FTDI (or level shifter) built into every Arduino makes sense for some folks (like those using it as a "PC I/O board"), but it's not fair to assume that as a cost when there are also many folks for whom it doesn't.
If you're leaving the level shifter plugged into your BBB project all the time, you should probably consider using one of the Freeduino serial boards from Fundamental Logic or NKC: the MAX232 offers more-reliable communications, and the finished assembly is usually more compact and sturdy than an BBB+shifter combination. Plus you get the option of using shields for projects where they're useful.
Ran
with one of those $3 USB phone cables that happens to be a USB/Serial converter...
:o :o :o
can someone expand on this!?