Board with general functions for projects?

[ViMor89]

I would like to have some input on what boards exist for uC projects where you want some on-board hw, such as digital/analog I/O, memory, communication etc.

I have looked at Arduino and Parallax but often lack some hw. Any other recommendations? Anyone having experience of "melacs" [link doesnt work]

 

[GreenGiant]

The problem with having more hardware is then you become limited in span of things you can do, with things like the Arduino and the Parallax it is easy (and cheap) to add parts into the circuits very easily

There are shields for the Arduino that have a multitude of different parts built onto them so you can just plug them in and go

What sort of hardware are they lacking in your opinion?

 

[ViMor89]

Well, the Arduino cards for sure has a lot of fun stuff on their cards but not too much on each single card. I'm more looking for a sort of Swiss Army-knife.

Especially in some mechatronics projects it would be handy to have motor controller electronics (relays, H-bridges), I/O and communication (USB/Ethernet) on the same platform.

 

[CocaCola]

Well there is never going to be a single do it all board for every project...

But, I have found the developer boards from http://www.mikroe.com are a solid start... Plugging in another module to get a function is simply enough, they have a ton of plug in boards available...

And the nice thing about these developer boards is all the plug in modules are universal, so if you have their AVR developer board and say their PIC developer board you can share modules across platforms...

 

[(*steve*)]

If there was a board that had *everything* on it, it would be overkill for any project, and possibly too expensive to experiment with.

Development boards are the best you're likely to get. You'll *never* use them in a project, but they typically contain enough stuff that you can play with many of the frequently used peripheral devices.

edit: I really mean evaluation boards. (And I guess, "never say never", but...)