Figure 1-6
Arduino Nano
The downside of the Nano is that because it is so much smaller than an Uno, it cannot
accept Uno-sized shields.
Bluetooth
The Arduino Bluetooth (
Figure 1-7
) is an interesting device
as it includes Bluetooth
hardware in place of the USB connector. This allows the device to even be programmed
wirelessly.
The Arduino
Bluetooth is not a cheap board, and it is often
cheaper to attach a third-
party Bluetooth module to a regular Arduino Uno.
Lilypad
The Lilypad (
Figure 1-8
) is a tiny, thin Arduino board that can be stitched into clothing for
applications that have become known as wearable computing.
The Lilypad does not have a USB connection, and you must use a separate adaptor to
program it. It has an exceptionally beautiful design.
Figure 1-7
Arduino Bluetooth
Figure 1-8
Arduino Lilypad
Other “Official” Boards
The previously described Arduino boards are the most useful and popular ones. However,
the range of Arduino boards constantly changes, so for a complete and up-to-date picture
of
the
Arduino
family,
see
the
official
Arduino
website
list
at
www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Hardware
.
Arduino Clones and Variants
Unofficial boards fall into two categories. Some just take
the standard open source
hardware designs of Arduino and build a cheaper one. Some
names you can search for
boards of this nature include the following:
• Roboduino
• Freeduino
• Seeeduino (yes, with three
e
’s)
More interestingly, some Arduino-compatible designs are intended to extend or improve
the Arduino in some way. New variants are appearing all the time, and far too many exist
to mention them all. However, the following are some of the more interesting and popular
variants:
• Chipkit, a high-speed variant
based on a PIC processor, but
which is fairly compatible
with Arduino
• Femtoduino, a very small Arduino
• Ruggeduino, with is an Arduino board with built-in I/O protection
• Teensy, a low-cost nano-type device
Conclusion
Now that you have explored the Arduino hardware a little, it’s time to set up your Arduino
software.
