I have this project that I wanted to make and I decided to buy a whole bunch of Arduino Nanos for about 2$ each and I was wondering what would be cheaper: use an Arduino nano for 2$ or an atmega or something like that. Are there any advantages over using microchips in your projects as oppose to Arduinos? And also which one would be easier to use, because I know for the microchips you would need to attach your Arduino to it and upload the code then wire everything back up again. For one of my projects, I have a servo attached to a 4x4 keypad which takes up 8 digital outputs. I was thinking, for me to buy a microchip with that many outputs and inputs I might as well use an entire Arduino. Am I right or should I just buy the microchips?
stuartfong:
I have this project that I wanted to make and I decided to buy a whole bunch of Arduino Nanos for about 2$ each and I was wondering what would be cheaper: use an Arduino nano for 2$ or an atmega or something like that.
I guess that would depend on the cost of your components. So find out the cost of those components (each of them, including the cost to design/build/assemble), and you'll have your answer.
Thanks for the quick reply, but what I'm wondering is that for my larger projects that consist of say a servo an LCD and a potentiometer would it be cheaper to use an arduino nano clone for 2$ each or a microcontroller with that many outputs and inputs?
stuartfong:
Thanks for the quick reply, but what I'm wondering is that for my larger projects that consist of say a servo an LCD and a potentiometer would it be cheaper to use an arduino nano clone for 2$ each or a microcontroller with that many outputs and inputs?
I see. If your project works very nicely for 2 dollars, then that sounds like a good choice. If you later need something more substantial, then you could also go for the bigger arduinos (or its clones).
The Nano is built around a microchip, the Atmel Atmega328, you would never be able to replicate it for less than $2.
Ive built a few products directly, using an MEGA 328 IC blasted with a bootloader. It wasn't about cost, I use genuine Arduino for prototyping, more form factor and fitting everything on one board.
It cost me somewhere around £4 to £5 for the parts looking at an old invoice. That is just for the parts without a board / pcb and assuming a stable, regulated 5v supply is already available.
You'll also probably need an AVR RISP programmer and FTDI cable if you go standalone. The costs soon add up.
Simple, inexpensive Arduino ProMinis are a good alternative.
For larger projects when it comes to more memory and I/O a DIP version Atmega1284P becomes attractive.
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arduinos are meant to be used in the prototyping stage when all your stuff is being tested in breadboards. When you move to the next stage you use a microntroller chip when you start soldering stuff into perfboard.
However for simple projects I use arduino clones because they are cheap and easy to program.