What is the most important aspect of development board design? Each designer may have their own explanation.
After you have sorted out the circuit and component selection, I believe the most important factors are size and interfaces, especially for microcontrollers.
Let’s examine some representative development boards to see the pros and cons of their designs.
First is the essential Arduino UNO R3, which appeared quite early but still remains a mainstay in many maker projects.
The size of the Arduino UNO is quite standard among development boards, and there are still many boards on the market that mimic its dimensions, aiming to adapt to the Arduino UNO hardware ecosystem.
It features a large USB B-type interface and a DC interface, both of which are sturdy and durable, and I have rarely seen issues with these two ports.
Upon careful examination of Arduino’s choices, you’ll find that durability is a key focus; stability is their primary design goal.
Regarding the crucial I/O interfaces, they chose a female header, which is better than a male header because it is less prone to bending. I have encountered many cases where male headers bent while being used.
Another interesting point is that Arduino likely implemented fool-proofing by staggering the female headers instead of using a symmetrical design, also helping to differentiate interface functions.
Arduino has also created hardware that complements this interface, known as a shield, which is essentially another expansion board that fits with the Arduino UNO.
This allows for many functionalities to be expanded easily; just plug it in and it works without the need for complex circuit setups. Additionally, multiple shields can be stacked together.
However, the use of female headers also brings its own issues.
Although female headers are less likely to bend, there is a risk of male headers breaking inside. Don’t ask me how I know; I’ve broken one before. This directly leads to the pin being rendered useless.
If you’ve used the Arduino UNO, you must have encountered issues where the connection was loose, causing the program to be correct but not running. This can be due to using low-quality Dupont wires or the use of female headers, where a spring clip inside can easily become loose if plugged in too much.
Another inconvenient aspect of the Arduino UNO is that although it has many interfaces, you can only use a limited number of them because there are simply too few VCC and GND pins.
If you want to build a smart car, you either need to buy a shield or use a breadboard to connect the pins, or directly connect several wires together into one interface. This operation can get messy and is prone to issues; troubleshooting which Dupont wire is improperly connected can be a nightmare.
You’ll find that many clone boards solve some of these problems; some add a row of holes next to the female headers, allowing you to solder on male headers or additional pins if any interface fails, plus they can add more VCC and GND connections to accommodate additional components.
Some boards even come with three rows of male headers pre-installed, making it particularly convenient for servos, as the servo interface can be plugged in directly.
If you often use shields, you won’t face many issues for small tests or learning. However, Arduino’s approach seems to be aimed at selling their shields, considering that a shield costs nearly as much as the development board itself.
Arduino seems to have recognized the limitations of the Arduino UNO, leading to the creation of another form, the Arduino Nano.
It has two main features: one is its small size, making it convenient for projects, as the Arduino UNO is too large.
The other is that this time the Arduino Nano uses male headers, directly solving two problems: the size stacking issue of female and male headers, and unexpectedly, male headers can perfectly fit with breadboards. You can directly plug the development board into a breadboard, making it very convenient to adapt to various circuits, provided that the spacing of the male headers matches the breadboard’s dimensions.
This form is currently the most widely used among development boards. Many boards now adopt the Arduino Nano form.
It is compact and easy to expand. However, there are very few shields for this form, and in most cases, you need to create your own expansion boards. Additionally, due to the lack of the fool-proof design seen in the Arduino UNO, you need to be careful when assembling. If you accidentally insert it the wrong way, you might be lucky and nothing happens, or you could be unlucky and burn the development board.
That’s all for today. If you have anything to say, remember to leave a comment below. See you next time.
Orange Pi 5 Plus
https://m.tb.cn/h.UvJ9BtH?tk=E55ddo53pIo
Friendly NanoPC-T6
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