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Arduino Launches Plug-and-Play Modules for Long-Range Sensor Projects

86 points by WaitWaitWha 3mo ago

KaiserPro 3mo ago
ISn't this just https://www.sparkfun.com/qwiic https://www.sparkfun.com/qwiic or https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-adafruit-stemma-qt/what-is-stemma https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-adafruit-stemma-qt/wh... ?
- relaxing 3mo ago
  No, it’s not just QWIC connectors. It is just the time-honored maker tradition of finding a cool IC and building a dev board around it for the hobbyist. There’s a i2c multiplexer chip, an i2c buffer, and a nicer motor driver. Article title is nonsensical.
bluescrn 3mo ago
What I liked about the older, simpler Arduino was that you could move an ATmega328p project from an Arduino board to a chip on a breadboard then to a custom PCB with minimal complexity - with just hobbyist-level skills. But the boards and modules just seem to be getting ever more complex, with lots of tiny SMD components, removing that path.
- relaxing 3mo ago
  Robotic pick and place board assembly means through-hole components are going the way of the dodo. Sorry. Adafruit sells breakout boards for various SMT packages so that with a little solder reflow work you can adapt that shiny new chip to your breadboard. https://www.adafruit.com/category/475 https://www.adafruit.com/category/475
  - Joel_Mckay 3mo ago
    >pick and place board assembly means through-hole components are going the way of the dodo The factories willing to do SMD mixed with through-hole high-power electronics is shrinking. However, package constrained power dissipation limits on SMD technology is real. Depends on what your firm builds. =3
- engineer_22 3mo ago
  Sometimes you get lucky and the smd components have larger packages you can hand solder, but the price for assembly in a Chinese pcb shop is so cheap I don’t think I want to hand solder
- ACCount37 3mo ago
  There are modern MCUs that require a total of 5 passives and a dream. Sure, they're still QFN at best, but they're within that "hand soldering" range. Not to mention that both factory made custom PCBs and pre-assembled PCBs are cheaper than ever nowadays.
superxpro12 3mo ago
I thought arduino was on everyone's shit lists for trying to go closed source? Did that change?
- relaxing 3mo ago
  Qualcomm still sucks, but there’s not much Qualcomm in this.
- JKCalhoun 3mo ago
  Not for me, still in Camp-Teensy.
holoduke 3mo ago
A bit of topic , but I wonder if people who are starting in this field not directly start on esp32 platforms. It's so damn easy to develop with AI on these platforms. In the past we spend a week on lcd drivers alone. Now one can build an entire application that controls other devices via serial, has its own fancy UI, has all kind of useless features like 40 languages, its own webserver, OTA, demo modes and more. With Arduino I am not sure what you get these days
- ivanjermakov 3mo ago
  I just started with esp-idf because I can't stand all the bloat of Arduino/Platform.io/ESPHome. Especially now where working with unfamiliar tech stack is easier than ever.
  - Joel_Mckay 3mo ago
    The Esp FreeRTOS projects are a great little ecosystem, and will offer quite a bit more insight than Arduino pseudo-C++ silent-polled architecture. In general, it depends what you want out of the ecosystems. For quickly setting up a proof of concept, an Arduino used to be good for the exhaustive documentation, examples, community, and labs. The modern Arduino integrated product line is now similar to other locked ecosystems like FPGAs. It no longer lets students learn by burning out $10 parts they made. The only people having fun now are the folks building those trademarked modules. Probably wise to avoid LLMs if you are a student, and check out the $6 Pi Pico 2 if interested in low-level firmware build processes (it also supports the old Arduino IDE if you get stuck.) Best of luck =3 Lab: https://learn.adafruit.com/using-raspberry-pi-pico-pico-2-with-arduino/rp2040-arduino-blink https://learn.adafruit.com/using-raspberry-pi-pico-pico-2-wi... Pico 2: https://www.mouser.com/en/new/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-pico-2 https://www.mouser.com/en/new/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-pico... https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Raspberry-Pi/SC1632?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtTz4c6chlxkMBV999dnzqSKHkuQ%2FsMs%2FYSHjmkBT8nmw%3D%3D https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Raspberry-Pi/SC1632?... Breadboard and common components to build and blink LED lights (set everything at 3.3v to start exploring): https://www.amazon.com/EL-CK-002-Electronic-Breadboard-Capacitor-Potentiometer/dp/B01ERP6WL4 https://www.amazon.com/EL-CK-002-Electronic-Breadboard-Capac...
ninjagoo 3mo ago
From Arduino's Terms & Conditions [1], Section 8.2: "8.2 User shall not: - translate, decompile or reverse-engineer the Platform, or engage in any other activity designed to identify the algorithms and logic of the Platform’s operation, unless expressly allowed by Arduino or by applicable license agreements; or - extract or make copies of the information contained in the Platform (except with respect to Content owned by other users), make derivative works from the Platform, reuse the Platform, or make any other use of the Platform other than as set forth in these Terms or as permitted by applicable law." Does anyone really want to use an "open-source" maker/tinkering platform with such egregious rules against tinkering? [1] https://www.arduino.cc/en/terms-conditions/ https://www.arduino.cc/en/terms-conditions/
- VerifiedReports 3mo ago
  And with such poor value for the money. When an Arduino costs as much as a Raspberry Pi 4, it's eliminated from contention.
- bobmcnamara 3mo ago
  Consider yourself Qualcommified.
- deckar01 3mo ago
  The “Platform” is just the website. They are saying don’t hack our servers. There is a caveat for content published under an open source license (like the docs).
  - deleted 3mo ago
    [deleted]
  - ninjagoo 3mo ago
    > The “Platform” is just the website Arduino is the platform, not the website. From the same terms and conditions, in the first 2-3 paragraphs where they define the terms: "The use of the Arduino Platform and the Services (each as defined below) available on, from, or through Arduino.cc (“Site”) ..." "By using the Site, the Platform, or the Services, you declare to have read and accepted ..." "If you are under 18 years of age, you may use the Site, the Platform, and the Services only with the consent and supervision of your parent or legal guardian." Further, in section 1.1: " ... and to further develop the Arduino open source ecosystem (collectively, the “Platform”). The use of the Site, the Platform, and the Services is governed by these Terms ... "
PinguTS 3mo ago
"Long-Range" sensor projecs? Is the long range in the room with us? It is I2C not very well known for long ranges. Especially with motors and electric drives and their EMI I2C is not the best decision. From the title I was more in "Oh, what type of long range wireless they have opted for?" and didn't expect I2C. For long range wired I would consider more a RS485 or CAN. Short ranges like in a small robot arm, a small car, and alike I2C maybe enough.
- walrus01 3mo ago
  For "long range", at least longer than wired i2c, I was expecting current gen zigbee, zwave800, or something LoRA based.
- donquichotte 3mo ago
  There is really no good reason to ever use I2C, except if that's the only interface your peripheral supports. Debugging a stuck I2C bus, and attempting to un-brick the bus for a stuck slave (disabling ISRs, unhooking DMA, reconfiguring pins to GPIO, clocking the slave out of its coma and then doing everything in reverse) is just not worth it. EDIT: I was hoping for HaLow WiFi!
  - wildzzz 3mo ago
    Yeah there's a reason why all of the high reliability chips I use only come with SPI interfaces. The last time I used i2c for anything but hobbyist stuff was in college.
  - contingencies 3mo ago
    No. I2C is popular for a reason. It is cheap, fast enough, well understood, available everywhere, uses less lines and less physical space than almost all alternatives (excluding one wire buses which are far less standardized and far more limited), and supports multi-drop. This thing should be called what it is: an I2C multiplexer. Such things are not new.
- wildzzz 3mo ago
  They offer some sort of booster module for runs up to 30m. Not exactly long range but it is for i2c. Although at that point, I'd rather just do something different than buying two of these extenders for super long runs.
boguscoder 3mo ago
Title made me think elrs receivers
- yonatan8070 3mo ago
  Yeah I also figured this would be somwthing based on LoRa or some other IoT wireless protocol for devices you can stick a battery onto and throw in the middle of nowhere
ge96 3mo ago
long range as in the wire is long vs. sensing long distance right?

86 points by WaitWaitWha 3mo ago

ISn't this just https://www.sparkfun.com/qwiic https://www.sparkfun.com/qwiic or https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-adafruit-stemma-qt/what-is-stemma https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-adafruit-stemma-qt/wh... ?

relaxing 3mo ago
No, it’s not just QWIC connectors. It is just the time-honored maker tradition of finding a cool IC and building a dev board around it for the hobbyist. There’s a i2c multiplexer chip, an i2c buffer, and a nicer motor driver. Article title is nonsensical.

bluescrn 3mo ago

What I liked about the older, simpler Arduino was that you could move an ATmega328p project from an Arduino board to a chip on a breadboard then to a custom PCB with minimal complexity - with just hobbyist-level skills. But the boards and modules just seem to be getting ever more complex, with lots of tiny SMD components, removing that path.

relaxing 3mo ago
Robotic pick and place board assembly means through-hole components are going the way of the dodo. Sorry. Adafruit sells breakout boards for various SMT packages so that with a little solder reflow work you can adapt that shiny new chip to your breadboard. https://www.adafruit.com/category/475 https://www.adafruit.com/category/475
- Joel_Mckay 3mo ago
  >pick and place board assembly means through-hole components are going the way of the dodo The factories willing to do SMD mixed with through-hole high-power electronics is shrinking. However, package constrained power dissipation limits on SMD technology is real. Depends on what your firm builds. =3
engineer_22 3mo ago
Sometimes you get lucky and the smd components have larger packages you can hand solder, but the price for assembly in a Chinese pcb shop is so cheap I don’t think I want to hand solder
ACCount37 3mo ago
There are modern MCUs that require a total of 5 passives and a dream. Sure, they're still QFN at best, but they're within that "hand soldering" range. Not to mention that both factory made custom PCBs and pre-assembled PCBs are cheaper than ever nowadays.

superxpro12 3mo ago

I thought arduino was on everyone's shit lists for trying to go closed source? Did that change?

relaxing 3mo ago
Qualcomm still sucks, but there’s not much Qualcomm in this.
JKCalhoun 3mo ago
Not for me, still in Camp-Teensy.

holoduke 3mo ago

A bit of topic , but I wonder if people who are starting in this field not directly start on esp32 platforms. It's so damn easy to develop with AI on these platforms. In the past we spend a week on lcd drivers alone. Now one can build an entire application that controls other devices via serial, has its own fancy UI, has all kind of useless features like 40 languages, its own webserver, OTA, demo modes and more. With Arduino I am not sure what you get these days

ivanjermakov 3mo ago
I just started with esp-idf because I can't stand all the bloat of Arduino/Platform.io/ESPHome. Especially now where working with unfamiliar tech stack is easier than ever.
- Joel_Mckay 3mo ago
  The Esp FreeRTOS projects are a great little ecosystem, and will offer quite a bit more insight than Arduino pseudo-C++ silent-polled architecture. In general, it depends what you want out of the ecosystems. For quickly setting up a proof of concept, an Arduino used to be good for the exhaustive documentation, examples, community, and labs. The modern Arduino integrated product line is now similar to other locked ecosystems like FPGAs. It no longer lets students learn by burning out $10 parts they made. The only people having fun now are the folks building those trademarked modules. Probably wise to avoid LLMs if you are a student, and check out the $6 Pi Pico 2 if interested in low-level firmware build processes (it also supports the old Arduino IDE if you get stuck.) Best of luck =3 Lab: https://learn.adafruit.com/using-raspberry-pi-pico-pico-2-with-arduino/rp2040-arduino-blink https://learn.adafruit.com/using-raspberry-pi-pico-pico-2-wi... Pico 2: https://www.mouser.com/en/new/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-pico-2 https://www.mouser.com/en/new/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-pico... https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Raspberry-Pi/SC1632?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtTz4c6chlxkMBV999dnzqSKHkuQ%2FsMs%2FYSHjmkBT8nmw%3D%3D https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Raspberry-Pi/SC1632?... Breadboard and common components to build and blink LED lights (set everything at 3.3v to start exploring): https://www.amazon.com/EL-CK-002-Electronic-Breadboard-Capacitor-Potentiometer/dp/B01ERP6WL4 https://www.amazon.com/EL-CK-002-Electronic-Breadboard-Capac...

ninjagoo 3mo ago

From Arduino's Terms & Conditions [1], Section 8.2: "8.2 User shall not: - translate, decompile or reverse-engineer the Platform, or engage in any other activity designed to identify the algorithms and logic of the Platform’s operation, unless expressly allowed by Arduino or by applicable license agreements; or - extract or make copies of the information contained in the Platform (except with respect to Content owned by other users), make derivative works from the Platform, reuse the Platform, or make any other use of the Platform other than as set forth in these Terms or as permitted by applicable law." Does anyone really want to use an "open-source" maker/tinkering platform with such egregious rules against tinkering? [1] https://www.arduino.cc/en/terms-conditions/ https://www.arduino.cc/en/terms-conditions/

VerifiedReports 3mo ago
And with such poor value for the money. When an Arduino costs as much as a Raspberry Pi 4, it's eliminated from contention.
bobmcnamara 3mo ago
Consider yourself Qualcommified.
deckar01 3mo ago
The “Platform” is just the website. They are saying don’t hack our servers. There is a caveat for content published under an open source license (like the docs).
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- ninjagoo 3mo ago
  > The “Platform” is just the website Arduino is the platform, not the website. From the same terms and conditions, in the first 2-3 paragraphs where they define the terms: "The use of the Arduino Platform and the Services (each as defined below) available on, from, or through Arduino.cc (“Site”) ..." "By using the Site, the Platform, or the Services, you declare to have read and accepted ..." "If you are under 18 years of age, you may use the Site, the Platform, and the Services only with the consent and supervision of your parent or legal guardian." Further, in section 1.1: " ... and to further develop the Arduino open source ecosystem (collectively, the “Platform”). The use of the Site, the Platform, and the Services is governed by these Terms ... "

PinguTS 3mo ago

"Long-Range" sensor projecs? Is the long range in the room with us? It is I2C not very well known for long ranges. Especially with motors and electric drives and their EMI I2C is not the best decision. From the title I was more in "Oh, what type of long range wireless they have opted for?" and didn't expect I2C. For long range wired I would consider more a RS485 or CAN. Short ranges like in a small robot arm, a small car, and alike I2C maybe enough.

walrus01 3mo ago
For "long range", at least longer than wired i2c, I was expecting current gen zigbee, zwave800, or something LoRA based.
donquichotte 3mo ago
There is really no good reason to ever use I2C, except if that's the only interface your peripheral supports. Debugging a stuck I2C bus, and attempting to un-brick the bus for a stuck slave (disabling ISRs, unhooking DMA, reconfiguring pins to GPIO, clocking the slave out of its coma and then doing everything in reverse) is just not worth it. EDIT: I was hoping for HaLow WiFi!
- wildzzz 3mo ago
  Yeah there's a reason why all of the high reliability chips I use only come with SPI interfaces. The last time I used i2c for anything but hobbyist stuff was in college.
- contingencies 3mo ago
  No. I2C is popular for a reason. It is cheap, fast enough, well understood, available everywhere, uses less lines and less physical space than almost all alternatives (excluding one wire buses which are far less standardized and far more limited), and supports multi-drop. This thing should be called what it is: an I2C multiplexer. Such things are not new.
wildzzz 3mo ago
They offer some sort of booster module for runs up to 30m. Not exactly long range but it is for i2c. Although at that point, I'd rather just do something different than buying two of these extenders for super long runs.

boguscoder 3mo ago

Title made me think elrs receivers

yonatan8070 3mo ago
Yeah I also figured this would be somwthing based on LoRa or some other IoT wireless protocol for devices you can stick a battery onto and throw in the middle of nowhere

ge96 3mo ago

long range as in the wire is long vs. sensing long distance right?