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> I can see that things like these would be a good step up for those who were originally not even using PLCs I agree that that's what Arduino thinks the market

> I can see that things like these would be a good step up for those who were originally not even using PLCs I agree that that's what Arduino thinks the market is, but I disagree that their conceptual market will buy this. Arduino-branded hardware is typically 5x the cost of the clones (remember, it's OSH) at no noticeable improvement in quality. DIN-rail mountable arduino clones and modules with I/O isolation that run on 24V power already exist at very reasonable price points, and from reputable dealers such as Automation Direct. I've used ruggedized modules such as Industruino (although their prices have definitely gone upmarket) and they're nice. IME, the only people who buy actual Arduino hardware are either beginners who don't realize that the much less expensive clones are every bit as good, or business buyers who don't really care, because it's not their money. But maybe I'm wrong and there's enough of a price-insensitive market to make this a success. I certainly hope so. I'm a freelancer, so the bigger the market, the better for me :-) I have designed & built an arduino clone-based product that mounts on DIN rail because the hardware it communicates with also does. Multiple installations running large machine control applications without a hitch. The clones are fine.

liminalsunset 4y ago
I definitely see where you're coming from and I think these are valid points. In my personal experience though, there definitely does exist a market of "price insensitive, as long as it's under x". I think Arduino probably fits in there. I feel like at least based on the quality of some boards vs clones that I have, there are definitely cases where I would have been "fired for not buying Arduino [IBM]" due to stuff like weird USB serial chips requiring driver hackery etc. And I've definitely been in the situation where you tell someone it requires some part that costs "several hundreds of dollars" and they're like "oh no problem that's not an issue at all", because they were looking at the magnitude and not penny pinching. I suppose that would be the market for this kind of thing. There's the other thing that you mention, where if you're using Arduino for this purpose, you might not be experienced enough to trust yourself to choose the right clone. Arduino provides sane defaults and generally the installations I've seen in the wild tended to use fairly close to "defaults".
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  You may have run into a counterfeit FTDI chip, then. The normal $5 arduino clones from reputable manufacturers often have genuine chips. The $2-3 ones are trouble.
  - duskwuff 4y ago
    Most of the clones have stopped even using the FTDI knockoffs nowadays. There are alternative USB-to-serial chips from other manufacturers, like the CH340 series, that work very well.
vvanders 4y ago
Yeah Automation Direct is already in this space with their Arduino PLC[1] which has compatibility with their existing modules/etc. I'm only adjacent to the space and have use their stuff for some home automation but from what I've seen it's more important that you can get replacement parts and reliability. [1] https://www.automationdirect.com/open-source/home https://www.automationdirect.com/open-source/home
- wrycoder 4y ago
  $43 - $66 https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/programmable_controllers/productivity_open_(arduino-compatible)/controllers_-a-_shields#start=0 https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/progra...

liminalsunset 4y ago

I definitely see where you're coming from and I think these are valid points. In my personal experience though, there definitely does exist a market of "price insensitive, as long as it's under x". I think Arduino probably fits in there. I feel like at least based on the quality of some boards vs clones that I have, there are definitely cases where I would have been "fired for not buying Arduino [IBM]" due to stuff like weird USB serial chips requiring driver hackery etc. And I've definitely been in the situation where you tell someone it requires some part that costs "several hundreds of dollars" and they're like "oh no problem that's not an issue at all", because they were looking at the magnitude and not penny pinching. I suppose that would be the market for this kind of thing. There's the other thing that you mention, where if you're using Arduino for this purpose, you might not be experienced enough to trust yourself to choose the right clone. Arduino provides sane defaults and generally the installations I've seen in the wild tended to use fairly close to "defaults".

pclmulqdq 4y ago
You may have run into a counterfeit FTDI chip, then. The normal $5 arduino clones from reputable manufacturers often have genuine chips. The $2-3 ones are trouble.
- duskwuff 4y ago
  Most of the clones have stopped even using the FTDI knockoffs nowadays. There are alternative USB-to-serial chips from other manufacturers, like the CH340 series, that work very well.

vvanders 4y ago

Yeah Automation Direct is already in this space with their Arduino PLC[1] which has compatibility with their existing modules/etc. I'm only adjacent to the space and have use their stuff for some home automation but from what I've seen it's more important that you can get replacement parts and reliability. [1] https://www.automationdirect.com/open-source/home https://www.automationdirect.com/open-source/home

wrycoder 4y ago
$43 - $66 https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/programmable_controllers/productivity_open_(arduino-compatible)/controllers_-a-_shields#start=0 https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/progra...