The Maker movement is sweeping the globe, and more and more development boards catering to various needs are emerging. This is certainly good news for Makers, as it not only provides more options but also makes prices more affordable. However, with so many development boards available, from the well-known Arduino and Raspberry Pi to the newly emerged Intel Edison and MediaTek Linkit One, or even the Taiwan-developed BananaPi, selecting the right platform can be a significant challenge for novice Makers.

Among all the development platforms for Makers, Arduino is arguably the most popular and widely used platform. With an increasing number of users, Arduino has also launched many family products. When considering cloned and derivative circuit boards, the choices can become overwhelming and difficult to navigate.

In this regard, MakerPRO’s technical lead, Lu Xiangyang, points out that before choosing an Arduino product, one must first consider the purpose of using Arduino—whether it is for learning, education, or developing electronic applications. The former typically uses the Arduino UNO, which has evolved to the third version, Arduino UNO R3, since its launch in September 2010, making it a suitable development board for beginners. For the latter, there are many options, such as Arduino Yun or Arduino Tian, which are very suitable for IoT application development.

As for which one to choose, it depends on the Maker’s application, including how much hardware resources, flash memory, pins, USB, etc., are needed. If the design is more complex and the original development board cannot handle it, a board with more resources must be selected. Additionally, Lu Xiangyang also reminds that in certain situations, such as development boards that are about to be phased out or have already been discontinued, Makers should avoid purchasing them, as the manufacturer’s support resources may gradually decrease.

In addition to the official Arduino, there are currently many cloned circuit boards or other manufacturers’ boards compatible with Arduino on the market, such as Intel’s Galileo and MediaTek’s Linkit One. Lu Xiangyang states that some development boards emphasize providing more features or meeting different demands, allowing Makers to switch to their own development boards after becoming familiar with Arduino. For instance, Galileo offers more interfaces and features and has greater connectivity with PCs; Linkit One provides multiple wireless communication interfaces all in one. Ultimately, the choice of which manufacturer’s development board to use still depends on the application.