Welcome back to another action-packed blog post where I answer your most burning questions about Arduino!
(If you haven’t seen the other posts about what is Arduino, What can you do with it, and what’s better Arduino vs Raspberry Pi, check them out now before reading this post).
Recently whilst (whilst is my favorite word), chatting with a buddy of mine about the applications of Arduino, he asked if Arduino could be used in real products?
He specifically wanted to know if he could buy an off the shelf Arduino board like an Uno(1) or Nano(2) and sell it as part of his own electronic widget.
Example time!
Let’s say that you came up with an idea for a stellar electronic gadget, lets call it the Gizmo3000!
The Gizmo3000 needed electronic control so you turned your trusty arsenal of Arduino boards.
My personal favorite the Arduino Nano because its small, and is one of the most popular boards in Arduino line up with lots of code snippets available.
After feverishly working on the Gizmo3000 and getting it to work just right, you have a eureka moment where you realize, “Hey… wait… I think others would really love this. Maybe I can sell it”.
Now this is where the questions come in.
- Can I sell a product with an Arduino board inside?
- Is an off the shelf Arduino board robust enough to ship with?
Well, lets dig into each one of these questions one by one.
First… Can I sell a product with an Arduino board inside?
The answer? YES!
You can absolutely sell your own widget which is run by an Arduino board inside.
In fact lots of companies start off this way.
While one could argue that it’s cheaper to make your own board and sell it with that inside instead, I say, skip that part in the beginning.
Why?
For a few reasons.
- Cost | Unless you order thousands of your own custom PCB’s with your own design, I can guarantee it will not be cheaper.
- Design time |This is a big one, depending on the complexity of your custom board, moving from your Arduino prototyped version of the Gizmo3000 to a full blown custom PCB can take weeks to months to develop. If you want to hit the market with a new electronic product, do it the fastest way possible which is with an off the shelf board.
Is an off the shelf Arduino board robust enough to ship with?
The answer? YES!
There is some miss leading information out there that an off the shelf Arduino board wont handle the rigors of being deployed to the field. This is false (with some caveats).
Chances are your Gizmo3000 doesn’t have the need to meet the rigors of military or space requirements.
If that’s the case an off the shelf board will work perfectly.
In fact, do you remember a little known company called Makerbot?
You know, the juggernaut that opened the worlds eyes to 3D printing in the early 2000’s?
Well… they used Arduino compatible board inside and shipped with it!
They shipped thousands of units with it too!
If it’s good enough for a company like Makerbot, its likely good enough for the Gizmo3000.
Pretty neat right?
Oh and fun little side note, this makerbot you see above, is mine. It has over 10K hours of print time on it and I only recenlty replaced it.
Talk about a workhorse!
So that’s it, a definitive YES, you can ship with an Arduino.
NOW are you looking for a DEFINITIVE way to finally get started in your own electronics adventure?
Well then I invite you to check out Dr.Duino’s Maker Academy.
Even if you have never touched electronics or coding before ANYONE of ANY skill level can jump right in and start creating some pretty incredible projects in just a few hours.
How you ask??
Well, that’s the secret sauce and sadly, the HARD part.
These days given the billions of videos on youtube, countless kits on Amazon and now the new kid on the block, chatGPT, where do you even begin?
It can feel absolutely overwhelming.
But what if I told you there’s a very straight forward way to get started which is 100% guaranteed to not just get you started on your Arduino and coding journey but also have you thrive along the way.
Would you jump at that opportunity?
If you said yes, then I want to personally invite you to check out what I call Dr.Duino’s Maker Academy made by yours truly.
It’s 100+ hours of binge worthy content which will take you from zero to Arduino super hero in no time flat.
From getting your computer setup to learning how to code in just 15 minutes per day to building your very own Satellite Hunter and everything in between, I guarantee this is the very best way to dip your toe into Arduino!
So if you’re interested in finally getting started with electronics and coding then click the link below to start your 7 Day FREE trial of Dr.Duino’s Maker academy.
Oh and when you sign up for the premium, I’ll even send you an IoT E-Book ($50 Value) completely FREE!
