i have an arduino mega... and the reason i'm doing it this way is i want to be able to go beyond the 16 analog and 54 digital outputs of the mega, and i also want to make this project feasible for someone who also just has a uno or something else... basically i'm trying to make a low cost growing system that can handle as many plants or sections of plants that someone might need and i want it to be doable on any arduino.
secondly, i'm using the analog multiplexers because i've got more than enough of them, and i'd like to get more familiar with them... that and i have way more multiplexers than i do diodes at the moment... i like the idea of having a common diode output for all the sensors... really simplifies the coding for the project and takes out the necessity of the multiplexers altogether...
is there any case in which i would want to use analog multiplexers instead of using a common diode output? any advantage or use that i could still put them to if i choose to do the common diode output method you suggested?
thanks for your help.