Hi there,
this is my first post here. I am a developer and I have many years of experience with "credit-sized" computers like Raspberry Pi. I have read that Arduino is quite "simpler" than RPi - I don't think so because I've never used Arduino before Now I would like to start programming microcontrollers with Arduino because I like and idea to program autonomous microcontroller for simple tasks. I would like to program wide range of microcontrollers e.g. Atmega328, ATTiny85, other microcontrollers (as wide range as possible with one Arduino board).
I am going to buy my first Arduino board but I have no idea which to choose. Any advice please?
I am looking for cheap Arduino board which is able to program (bootloader, IDE) as many types of microcontrollers as possible.
peter12:
I have read that Arduino is quite "simpler" than RPi
That's an understatement. Simpler, much simpler. But that doesn't make them easier to use, arguably on the contrary!
The Pi is a complete computer, OS and all, all kinds of communication on board, heaps of storage and memory.
Microprocessors don't even have an OS, have limited memory and communication on board, and overall have a very different use case (though with microprocessors like the ESP8266 which has a.o. a complete web server built in, the distinction is getting a bit blurred).
RPi and an Arduino are two different fields. RPi runs an OS and it's basically just messing with Linux. Arduino is (on most boards) OS less and is more or less controlling the hardware directly, nothing watching you etc. A RPi has more compute power but is more poer hungry and because of the OS layer in between not very good for real time applications.
So it depends on what you want, do you want to mess with Linux and/or networking or more about really controlling electronics?
As for a first Arduino, I would go for an Nano. That IS breadboard friendly oppose to the Uno but beside that is actually the same (ATmega328p). You could buy a clone in China for 2 dollar or so. If you do, it would be nice if you at least donated some money to Arduino. Even if you donate 5 dollar it's still cheaper then the original
That really is a loaded question. When you know nothing, I would say arduino is the easier. I used windows based computers, so Linux in itself is learning Greek, and that's just to use RasPi. Nothing seems intuitive to me. Arduino (C++) on the other hand is a bit easier to grasp.
If you are determined to use these, why get just one? I have several pro-mini's, an Uno, 2 Mega's, a few Feather's, a couple Teensy's, and then the Pi's-, a 2, a 3, and several zero's. One day I hope to find the power switch on them ....(kidding).
To me IMHO, it's not the board, it's the language that is the biggest obstacle.
I would recommend a Nano 3. Why? Because if you want to experiment with bare chips like attiny then you will probably be working with breadboards. Nano is breadboard compatible. Uno and Mega are not.
You can use Nano to develop your code ("sketch") and then use the Nano as an ISP programmer to load the code into an attiny84/85/atmega328 etc.
With "simpler" I meant it has no OS, etc, I understand and agree that Rpi and Arduino are not the same products in the same category. I know there are for different use cases.
In my case I am looking for more controlling electronics now and play with it straightforward without OS.
You're not limited to just Arduinos of course. The ATmega328P is several years old at this point, and the microcontroller industry has not sat on its ass in the meantime. I've recently been branching out into Microchip PICs and got some PIC16F18857s (among many others), and the amount of peripherals they've been able to cram on the newer micros is crazy.
There's also lots of ARM based stuff, like STM32 boards and Teensy. I haven't tried those as much, but that's the next place I'm jumping into.
There is not much fun if you don't have some stuff to connect to it (lcd, leds, buttons, etc). If you don't have anything, I would go for a starter kit. If you have stuff from your Pi days ( ), be aware that the Pi IO pins are 3.3V and you might want to choose your Arduino accordingly. For the same reason, you can not connect output pins of a 5V Arduino directly to a Pi.
If you have stuff from your Pi days ( ), be aware that the Pi IO pins are 3.3V and you might want to choose your Arduino accordingly.
Or get familiar with logic level shifters. Many popular sensors are 3v, which isn't a problem for Pi, just plug and play. To make the same sensors work on 5v controllers, level shifters and regulators are put on the module too, but one could use the 3v pin of the controller and seperate level shifters to do the same.
Now I would like to start programming microcontrollers with Arduino because I like and idea to program autonomous microcontroller for simple tasks. I would like to program wide range of microcontrollers e.g. Atmega328, ATTiny85, other microcontrollers (as wide range as possible with one Arduino board).
