Arduino Uno and Neeeew York City!

Dave Hrynkiw
September 29, 2010

Arduino Uno in Stock at Solarbotics!We're back from the Open Source Hardware Summit and the Maker Faire! Did lots; learned lots; got lots of touristy things done too.

One of the main highlights was meeting and listening to talks by three of the principle members of the Arduino team.  They took pity on English-speakers, and named the new revision the Arduino "UNO" which we now have in stock, along with the upgraded Arduino Mega 2560. Here (in short) are the principle differences between the Duemilanove and the new Uno:

  • It uses the same microcontroller as before, but is on a new re-branded board ("Uno") with slicker packaging & graphics. Oh, and a logo too!
  • The pin lables are a bit tighter, and better show how they are used (hardware PWM is marked with a "~")
  • Stickers! And neat paperwork explaining warrantee, how it was made and tested, and how each purchase helps protect a 1/2 square meter of Madagascar forest. Cool.
  • CE / FCC certification. This is an important one, which assures electronics performance & noise control. Not an inexpensive proposition - kudos on getting this certification!
  • Smaller bootloader - gives you more space for code for sketches!
  • Better 3.3V regulator on board (old 3.3V came from FTDI chip, which was a bit wimpy)
  • MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE: Replacement of the FTDI USB/TTL interface chip with an ATmega8U2 microcontroller. It's apparently cheaper, faster and definitely a whole lot more flexible. There's even a separate ICSP header on the UNO to let you reprogram this second microcontroller to make your Arduino UNO appear to be something vastly different USB device to your operating system.

The Open Source Hardware Summit was a busy day (went by very quick) and in general was quite well attended. Practically all the rock-stars of the genre were there, and all the talks were well worth the price of admission. We were happy to put our sponsorship behind an event of this quality, as it brought out very interesting discussions. I won't delve too deep into it here - view the archived video of the event, and see for yourself!

MORE POSTS

November 23, 2003
Sumovore gets 'Best Engineered' Award at...

Solarbotics came back from the 2003 Seattle Fall Robothon with a 'Best Engineered' award for our Sumovore Mini-sumo kit! We'll get a picture of it up online shortly, but in the meanwhile, take a boo at our pictures of our trip there! Read More...

February 10, 2016
Solarbotics at the Calgary City Teachers...

Solarbotics will be at the Calgary City Teachers' Convention Thursday & Friday February 11-12, 2016. We will demo a variety of educational kits for teachers to use in classrooms, including introductory kits to develop skills in programming, mechanical construction, and soldering. Come put a face to the name at booth 326 and find out how […]

August 28, 2012
Project Mon(Tues)day: Pinewood Lowrider

Jerome, our squiggly-bearded intern from many moons ago that created the BeetleBot, just pointed us towards this totally pimpin' pinewood derby car. The author from sliptonic.com shows how he made his sweet lowrider with hydaulic(esque) action by using a small micro-servo for each wheel, an Ardweeny for brains, and a 9V battery for power. The […]

November 22, 2005
ECRG Sumovore Success!

Just got word from the Eastern Canadian Robot Games that Sumovores SWEPT the top 3 positions of 23 entries in the amateur class mini-sumo (Good job Jess Billers with "Lovebug")! Well done guys!

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.