Dave
The Arduino Mega's design has remained almost unchanged for more than a decade. It still uses the ATMega2560 processor, which is just as old. Arduino released the Due board in 2012, based on the SAM3X8E processor, an ARM Cortex-M3 which was much more expensive than the Mega and only ran at 3.3V, instead of the 5V standard of most other intro level Arduino boards.
In 2015, Atmel (now Microchip) released the SAMC line of processors. This series of processors is based on the ARM Cortex-M0+ core, can run at 3.3V or 5V, and even includes two onboard CAN controllers, making it perfect for industrial applications and hobby applications alike. While the original product line only included an E, G, and J variant similar to the SAMD21, more recently an N variant became available with the same package size as the venerable Mega2560.
The FortyTwo Systems is the first Arduino-compatible board to feature this new processor. The board keeps the same form factor and pulls much of its electrical design from the Arduino Mega.
Project status:
- Toolchain available and tested for Windows x86, Mac, Linux ARM32. Other arches coming very soon.
- PCB designed and tested.
- Bootloader written and tested.
kodera2t
Sandeep Patil
minh7a6