Arduino vs. Feather

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ngreene740
 
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Arduino vs. Feather

Post by ngreene740 »

For capstone Electronics Engineering Technology projects (college senior level):
1) Which platform has a wider (more versatile) array of shields and/or wings: Arduino with Adafruit shields, or Feather with Wings?
2) Are the prices comparable?
3) Is one platform more convenient for rapid prototyping?
4) Are the programming languages the same (or similar)?
5) Which platform has a more extensive software library?
Thanks.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Arduino vs. Feather

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

1) Which platform has a wider (more versatile) array of shields and/or wings: Arduino with Adafruit shields, or Feather with Wings?
You specify "Adafruit shields". We definitely have a wider variety of Wings than Shields. If you were to count all shields by all manufacturers, the answer might be different.
2) Are the prices comparable?
The Wings tend to be equal or lower in cost compared to Shields with similar functionality.
3) Is one platform more convenient for rapid prototyping?
That is somewhat of a subjective question. I find that the wide variety of both Feather processors and Wings gives me a lot of flexibility. In addition, the Doublers, Triplers and many header options make it easy to combine lots of boards without having to resort to jumpers.
4) Are the programming languages the same (or similar)?
5) Which platform has a more extensive software library?
All of our Feathers are compatible with the Arduino IDE. So the language and libraries are the same. Some of our Feathers also support programming in CircuitPython and/or MakeCode.

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: Arduino vs. Feather

Post by Franklin97355 »

I think the Arduino Uno (or Adafruit Metro) are better for a prototyping class because the footprint is bigger and easier to handle. The Metro footprint has more 'shields' because it has been along far longer than the feather and the processors are similar so you don't miss out unless you have a specific need for it's capabilities.

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