Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Arduino Mega. For each shield you are considering, make sure it will work with your par-
ticular Arduino.
Spotting a counterfeit or clone
There is one more thing to note here. Where it says Mega, you'll notice that there is no Ar-
duino trademark on the board. The Arduino team restricts the usage of its trademark for
manufacturers that pay a license fee and work with the team to ensure quality. In this case,
this board is almost assuredly not an official Arduino Mega. Go to
http://arduino.cc/en/
Products/Counterfeit#.UxkWsfldVHI
to find out more about how to spot a counterfeit.
As the hardware for Arduino is also open source, some manufacturers take this design and
provide new and different designs form factors. These are considered Arduino clones. You
will need to rely on the quality of the manufacturers of these clones, so consider that be-
fore purchasing.
Arduino Due
If you need even more processing speed, the most powerful of all the Arduino lines is the
Arduino Due. The following is an image of this product:
Choosing the Arduino Due
The Arduino Due is truly at the top of the line as far as processing power is concerned.
This unit uses the AT91SAM3X8E7 processor, which is an ARM Cortex processor. It is
the same type of processor that many cell phones use. It also offers 512 KB of memory
and lots of analog and digital I/O pins. Shields that are made to fit the Arduino Mega or
Uno often will fit the Arduino Due, but it is always good to check before purchase. For
most starter projects, you'll not need the power of the Arduino Due.
