A Really Beefy Arduino Clone

Arduino boards are really incredible pieces of technology that have in some ways fueled the so-called “Maker Movement.” Like any piece of technology, however, they don’t include absolutely everything you might need for a project. With various shields and other components, their capabilities can be expanded, but how much easier would some projects be if the functionality you needed was already built-in?

Ryan Bates reports that he likes the Arduino and its associated hardware, but hates the fact that they have “dinky female headers.” After all, if you want to work consistently, and not have to either solder or keep plugging wires into a breadboard over and over, screw terminals can be a big improvement.

Inspired by the popularity of his “Venduino” miniature vending machine, and that it took a bit of work to to set it up electrically, as well as the fact that he wanted a board that was capable of easily replicating Sanni’s N64 controller test, he decided to create his custom Arduino clone.

Aside from screw terminals, he also included several other useful bits into his design, such as a better power supply, connections for six PWM servos, accommodations for a Nokia 5110 LCD display, and a jumper for the built-in pin 13 LED.

The resulting “Beefy ATMEGA328P” can be had from his store for $45 assembled and including a Nokia LCD, or $12 as just a PCB and LCD. It looks like a great board for anything that you need to be flexible connection-wise, but rugged too.