Hello,
I ask myself a question that many of you will for sure find ridiculous.
Why should it be necessary to add a microcontroller module like this one to an arduino uno board ?
Ridiculous no ?
Alex
Hello,
I ask myself a question that many of you will for sure find ridiculous.
Why should it be necessary to add a microcontroller module like this one to an arduino uno board ?
Ridiculous no ?
Alex
It isn't, and you don't. That module IS an arduino UNO equivalent. Almost.
Its like adding an arduino onto an arduino. Its redundant.
Sometimes you need more processing than a single arduino can handle, so you add a second one. For example, you might have one dedicated to display and keyboard functions and the other for the main processing task.
You essentially have that with GPS and ethernet shields. The shield probably has more capability than the arduino, but cannot be re-programmed.
Usually, people use the pro mini in place of an Uno (or other microcontroller) - they're cheaper (as low as ~$2) and smaller while being code and pin compatible with the Uno; many people develop a project with an Uno, then switch to pro mini when they package it up (thus freeing the more expensive uno for the next project).
Of course, there are certainly reasons to use multiple microcontrollers - maybe you need a dedicated processor to interface with some particularly difficult piece of hardware, or if you need a featureset that is not available on a single microcontroller without buying way more chip than you need. These are all somewhat specialized cases though.