element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet & Tria Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • About Us
    About the element14 Community
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Japan
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      •  Vietnam
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Raspberry Pi
  • Products
  • More
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi Forum Lowest cost ARM + Arduino headers expansion for Pi
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Quiz
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join Raspberry Pi to participate - click to join for free!
Featured Articles
Announcing Pi
Technical Specifications
Raspberry Pi FAQs
Win a Pi
Raspberry Pi Wishlist
Actions
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 31 replies
  • Subscribers 687 subscribers
  • Views 4055 views
  • Users 0 members are here
  • raspberry_pi
Related

Lowest cost ARM + Arduino headers expansion for Pi

morgaine
morgaine over 13 years ago

As Eben Upton has often said, Arduino and Raspberry Pi don't really compete significantly because they're so different (maybe just 10% overlap).  They should instead be regarded as complementary.  When the rather meagre hardware interfacing of the Pi is not enough for your project, combining an Arduino with your Pi will often provide a very effective mix of extensive low-level interfacing and high-level programmability.

 

However,  traditional Arduino boards are based on 8-bit microcontrollers, and although these are perfect for a huge range of applications, there are times when it is desireable to use an ARM microcontroller when interfacing with the Pi's ARM1176, and not only for ARM symmetry.  Some things are simply easier to do with a 32-bit processor, and if processing speed matters in your application then an ARM microcontroller will almost always leave the 8-bit micro way behind.

 

Unfortunately your options become somewhat limited if you want to use an ARM microcontroller board yet still want to enjoy the ability to use Arduino "shields", the many hundreds of daughterboards that can plug into an Arduino board's headers and which make Arduino such a singularly impressive ecosystem.  Although the Arduino organization will soon be releasing their own ARM-based Arduino Due using an Atmel SAM3X8E device (a Cortex-M3), it's not officially out yet (despite having been sighted on flickr), and not many third parties have tackled this empty spot in the market.

 

The best known are probably the Maple from LeafLabs http://leaflabs.com/devices/maple/ , and the Olimexino-STM32 from Olimex http://www.olimex.com/dev/olimexino-stm32.html which offers quite a lot more and yet is cheaper (£16.96 from Farnell).  Both are based on an ARM Cortex-M3 from ST, and offer a degree of Arduino header compatibility.

 

Well, this area is about to be given an interesting shakeup, courtesy of yet another ARM licensee, Freescale.  Their Kinetis KL25Z Freedom Board is now on pre-order at Element 14:

 

  • http://www.element14.com/community/community/knode/dev_platforms_kits/element14_dev_kits/kinetis_kl2_freedom_board
  • http://uk.farnell.com/freescale-semiconductor/kl25z128vlk/board-kinetis-l-series-kl25z/dp/2115294?COM=freedompage_knode ,

 

and you really can't go wrong at its board price of £8.10 + Arduino header form factor . image

 

Admittedly the Kinetis KL25Z's KL2 microcontroller is a Cortex-M0 which is the little brother of the Cortex-M3, but for hardware interfacing that will often be more than ample and is still a huge step up from the 8-bit AVR.  What's more, it's highly likely to undercut the price of Arduino's about-to-be-released Arduino Due, so things may get quite interesting in this market niche.

 

[Added note:  the Kinetis KL25Z board uses  uses a Cortex-M0+, not M0  -- see post 16, http://www.element14.com/community/message/54650#54650 ]

 

For expanding the Pi (and the BeagleBone too) into the Arduino niche, the Kinetis KL25Z looks extremely good to me. Admittedly, it won't provide anything like the power of an STM32F4-Discovery board which uses a Cortex-M4  http://uk.farnell.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f4discovery/board-eval-stm32f4-discovery/dp/2009276?Ntt=STM32F4-Discovery , and at £9.96 from Farnell this Discovery is the very clear price-performance leader.  However, the Kinetis KL25Z has the Arduino form factor, and that may make all the difference.  YMMV !!

 

Very interesting times ahead! image

 

And just in case that isn't tempting enough, ST's Discovery range has a Cortex-M0 version, the STM32F0-Discovery http://uk.farnell.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f0discovery/eval-board-cortex-m0-stm32f0/dp/2096251?Ntt=STM32F0-Discovery which is even cheaper at £5.88.  If Arduino headers aren't essential but you want the cheapest possible Cortex-M0 board to expand your Pi, beating £5.88 on sheer price will be very hard.  It's fairly safe to predict that the Cortex-M0[+] range is going to have a colossal impact.

 

 

Morgaine.

  • Sign in to reply
  • Cancel
Parents
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago

    image

     

    I'm not sure what communication channels exist between Element 14 admins and Farnell product store admins, but if the means are available, it would probably be a good idea to put a thumbnail of this clear picture of the Freedom KL25Z in place of the image they're using "for illustrative purposes only" at http://uk.farnell.com/freescale-semiconductor/freedom-kl25z/board-kinetis-l-series-kl25z/dp/2115294?Ntt=2115294 (assuming that this is similar to the final one of course, which seems likely).

     

    It's probably confusing a lot of people that the store image is so dramatically different (a prototype?) from the end product. image

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
Reply
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago

    image

     

    I'm not sure what communication channels exist between Element 14 admins and Farnell product store admins, but if the means are available, it would probably be a good idea to put a thumbnail of this clear picture of the Freedom KL25Z in place of the image they're using "for illustrative purposes only" at http://uk.farnell.com/freescale-semiconductor/freedom-kl25z/board-kinetis-l-series-kl25z/dp/2115294?Ntt=2115294 (assuming that this is similar to the final one of course, which seems likely).

     

    It's probably confusing a lot of people that the store image is so dramatically different (a prototype?) from the end product. image

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
Children
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago in reply to morgaine

    Yay, somebody did update the Farnell store product image, and with a nice angle shot of the board.

     

    Well done, unknown admin! image

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago in reply to morgaine

    ARGGGGGG!!!!  It was supposed to be mid-July.

     

    From Farnell UK's product page -- http://uk.farnell.com/freescale-semiconductor/freedom-kl25z/board-kinetis-l-series-kl25z/dp/2115294?Ntt=2115294


    Manufacturer:
    FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR
    Order Code:
    2115294
    Manufacturer Part No:
    FREEDOM-KL25Z

     

    Availability: Awaiting Delivery

     

    2652 will be available for delivery on 25 Sep, 2012

     

    Supplier lead time 90 days

     

    Price For: 1 Each

    Minimum Order Quantity: 1

    Order Multiple: 1

    Unit Price:    £8.10     

     

    What happened?  It was on 30-day lead time. image

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • jamodio
    jamodio over 13 years ago in reply to morgaine

    Have you seen the boards from Olimex ?

     

     

    Like https://www.olimex.com/dev/imx233-olinuxino-maxi.html

     

    -J

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago in reply to jamodio

    Yep, I've been active on this thread for months -- http://www.element14.com/community/message/46754#46754/l/new-kid-on-the-block--meet-olinuxino

     

    However, the imx233-OlinuXino series of boards isn't in any way comparable with Freescale's KL25Z Freedom board, which is a bare-metal microcontroller board featuring a Cortex-M0+ and not a Linux board featuring an applications SoC.  It's more comparable with Olimex's Olimexino-STM32 microcontroller board -- http://www.olimex.com/dev/olimexino-stm32.html --- of which I have a couple, and which is a very nice Cortex-M3 board with Arduino-like headers for shields and a built-in Li-Po battery charger.

     

    My interest in Freescale's Cortex-M0+ board is because of its KL25Z128VLK4 SoC's extreme low power capability -- I've got a range of standalone projects lined up for it because of that feature and its Arduino-compatible headers.  It may be best in class currently for low power operation.

     

    For non-standalone use, and in particular for extending the Pi's low-level and realtime capabilities by interfacing a microcontroller board to it, I might as well use my STM32F4-Discovery boards, they're extremely well featured and like the Freedom board, cost well under a tenner.

     

    But I was really looking forward to using the Freescale.  It just proves the general rule, never plan ahead on using something that isn't in stock, because until it's in stock it's vaporware and can be delayed indefinitely.

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • GregC
    GregC over 13 years ago in reply to morgaine

    Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    My interest in Freescale's Cortex-M0+ board is because of its KL25Z128VLK4 SoC's extreme low power capability -- I've got a range of standalone projects lined up for it because of that feature and its Arduino-compatible headers.  It may be best in class currently for low power operation.

     

    But I was really looking forward to using the Freescale.  It just proves the general rule, never plan ahead on using something that isn't in stock, because until it's in stock it's vaporware and can be delayed indefinitely.

     

    Hello Morgaine,

     

    I fully understand your frustration and I am really sorry for this misunderstanding as Freescale always communicated on an availability of the Freedom board for September 25th and they will respect this planing.

     

    I would like clarify that the Hardware is ready, fortunately it is not a vaporware, as some boards were exposed during FTF America in June.

    Freescale just want to warranty the best Out-Of-The-Box customer experience providing with the board the right software ecosystem, which means a wide IDE offer (compiler, debugger ...), tutorials or wiki pages, software examples, additional drivers ...

     

    Documentation from the board is currently in review but it should be available soon. I will let you know when it will be online.

     

    Freescale and Element14 are now developping some demo runing on Freedom in order to record them and share the video with the Community.

    If you, Morgaine, or any user from the Community have an interest for a specific feature or operating mode (for example : low-power modes, core or peripheral performances), don't hesitate to share your expectation and the team will try to record some demo implementing those functions.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago in reply to GregC

    Righto Greg.

     

    I understand fully that engineering products are ready when they're ready, and not before.  The disappointment stems from Farnell previously quoting 30 days' lead time, and now quoting 90 days.  Whether they made a website mistake or were misinformed by Freescale, I don't really know nor care, but the error occurred and has resulted in disappointment.

     

    Life goes on, and I'm still looking forward to the board when it comes out. image

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • morgaine
    morgaine over 13 years ago in reply to GregC

    Greg C wrote:

     

    If you, Morgaine, or any user from the Community have an interest for a specific feature or operating mode (for example : low-power modes, core or peripheral performances), don't hesitate to share your expectation and the team will try to record some demo implementing those functions.

     

    Well I think you already scored full marks for your demo illustrating the extremely low power operation of this microcontroller versus competing ones (although I seem to recall that the competitors tested were all 16-bit micros and hence not ARM -- a clear omission, unless I remember it incorrectly).  Since low-power is your forte, that is indeed a good thing to focus on.

     

    But speaking of power, mobile applications aren't usually powered by hand-cranked capacitors image, so perhaps a Li-Po charger circuit would be a useful addition to include at some time in the future.  It's one of my favourite features on the Olimexino-STM32 board which I mention here so often, but it's quite likely that your Cortex-M0+ would be able to run significantly longer off the same Li-Po charge.

     

    Morgaine.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2026 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube