The ArduRF1 is a completely Arduino-compatible board. It has the same shape, connectors and CPU as an Arduino Uno R3 and operates at 5V even when battery powered. It has a LiPo battery charger and battery connector on board. The integrated boost converter provides 5V when operating off the battery to maintain shield compatibility.

Why Another Wireless Arduino Project?

Because it hasn't been done right yet. A search through the Arduino wireless projects shows several projects but they all have some shortcomings. Most are better described as 'Programmed with the Arduino Environment' rather than Arduino compatible. Most have no provision to provide power for untethered operation and several projects use ARM CPU's. The ArduRF-family is different in important ways: The family uses the Atmega328 as the CPU. All code developed for an Arduino will run on the ArduRF-family - even libraries that contain assembler code. The ArduRF-family uses the FTDI chip for the USB interface to provide the highest compatibility with all the major operating systems. Code developed on one board will work on the other two boards as well. All three boards use the same wireless transceiver and can operate in the 915MHz, 866MHz and 433MHz license free bands.

What makes it special?

The ArduRF-family consists of three designs, each optimized for a different application environment. The ArduRF1 is a completely Arduino-compatible board. It has the same shape, connectors and CPU as an Arduino Uno R3 and operates at 5V even when battery powered. It has a LiPo battery charger and battery connector on board. The integrated boost converter provides 5V when operating off the battery to maintain shield compatibility.

The ArduRF1 and its CPU operates at 5V and 16MHz - even when running from the battery. The ArduRF1 has the Arduino Uno form factor and uses the FTDI FT231 chip for the USB interface. The form factor, pinout, CPU, and 5V operation ensures that the vast majority of shields will just work. All the experience and working knowledge of Arduino's are directly applicable. The standard IDE and examples continue to work without modification.

The ArduRF1s is a smaller version of the design and maintains all of the features of the ArduRF1 except it operates at 3.3V. All the pins available on an Arduino Uno are brought to connectors on the board edge . The pin pitch is 0.1" and the width is 0.8" making it possible to mount the board on a solderless breadboard and still have two breadboard holes on each side available for connection to other devices.

The third member of the ArduRF-family of boards is the PC2ArduRF1. It is the smallest and lowest cost member of the family and is specifically designed to wirelessly connect a PC to one or more of the other ArduRF1 members.