Arduino really is a fantastic open-source physical computing platform. It is based on a simple microcontroller board, and a great free development environment (IDE) for writing software for the board. No wonder it gained the hearts of an enormous maker community.
I started playing around with Arduino some months ago and it is really great. One problem I was having though is that you have to stack quite some shields only to have basic functionality (buttons, lcd, comms, ...). No to forget additional power supply, extra breadboard, cabling, ... Can become quite a mess on your desk!
2 months ago I found this Arduino prototyping board. It's called the "Arduino Protoshield" and is made by the Italian company Gtronics.
Personally, I think this is a great solution to explore the world of Arduino, here are some great features:
- big breadboard but still quite compact, only 185x205x30mm (wxdxh)
- swapping from Arduino UNO/LEONARDO to NANO, MICRO or MINI is fast and easy
- lcd and buttons for easy HMI (Human Machine Interfacing)
- red led + green led + potentiometer
- 2 extra prototyping areas with more than 400 soldering pads for additional prototyping parts
- all Arduino I/O and power pins duplicated 2 times near the breadboarding area (above and below) for easy connection
- predisposition of
- extra I/O-header connections
- a servo connection
- external 7-9VDC power supply
- additional ICSP connector to use NANO and MICRO with standard shield
- connection for USB to serial adapter in order to communicate with NANO, MICRO, MINI
- pre-wired pins for led, potmetr, LCD, servo, ... but can be reassigned
- clear pin labels on each connection point
I ordered the "protoshield plus base kit" complete with extra components and wires for less than €60. Three days later, the fun could begin started.
In my next blog item I will show you how I modded the "protoshield plus" board with extra features to make it even better!
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