We enter in Arduino/MAPLE field 5 years after the design was introduced, and
this allowed us to see and skip all the errors the Arduino inventors did :-)
We had the possibility to read current customer feedback and to implement what
they wanted to see in the original Arduino.
1. Original Arduino/MAPLE uses linear power supply, this limits the input
voltage range. We designed the power supply to accept power from 9 to 30V DC
thus making possible to take virtually any power supply adapter on the market,
also enable application which are in industrial power supply 24VDC.
2. We carefully selected all components to work reliable in INDUSTIRAL
temperature range -25+85C so the board can be used in INDUSTIRAL applications
while the original design is to Commercial 0-70C operating temperature.
3. The original Arduino/MAPLE design is not good for portable applications
as consumes too much power with the linear vltage regulators, we put ULTRA
LOW POWER voltage regulators and the consumption is only few microamps,
which enables handheld and battery powered applications.
4. We add Li-Ion rechargable battery power supply option with BUILD-IN on
board charger, so when you attach battery it is automatically charged and kept in
this state until the other power source (USB or external adapter) is removed and it
AUTOMATICALLY will power the board - no jumpers, no switches!
5. Our board have UEXT connector which allow many existing modules like
RF, ZIGBEE, GSM, GPS to be connected.
6. Our board have SD-MMC card
7. Our board have CAN driver on board
8. Our desing allow RTC - Real Time Clock.
9. We made our design noise immune.
10. We use separate voltage regulator for the Analog part, which allow the
ADC to be read correctly without the digital noise pickup.
11. Optionally if someone need higher precision and temperature stability in
Analog reading we have provision on the board for Aref preciese source.
12. The LEDs and the BUTTONs are on the edge of the board so there is easy
access even if the boards have shields on them.
13. All components are LOWER than the connectors, so the shields do not interference
with them.
14. mini USB connector is used which is common and used in most cell phones,
so you do not have to buy other cables
15. Original Arduino design had flaw and the connectors were not spaced at
0.1" this make perfo board use impossible, to keep the compatibility we have same
spacing but we add next to this connector on 0.1" which customer can use with perforated
boards.
16. All signals on the connectors are printed on top and on bottom of the board,
so when you check with probe you know exactly which port you are measuring.
17. 4 mount holes make board attachment easier