Saturday, October 22, 2011

Should I use the Seeeduino Stalker, FIO or an Arduino Duemilanove with a Shield for Xbee?

The clear winner here is the Seeeduino Stalker, which is set up to house Xbee and has a built in solar regulator. This board is simple to use like Arduino Duemilanove and comes with all of the benefits of the Duemilanove except the USB programming capability.


Stalker Pros and Cons;
  • Built in Solar Regulator
  • Set up for 3.7V lipo
  • Good range 20-60+meters
  • Steady signal reception
  • RX/TX pins set up for Uart programming cable
  • Great entry level unit
  • Fairly slim
  • Comes with SD data logger
  • Is available with a waterproof solar kit for $60 inc p&p. Includes Stalker board, solar panel, 3.7V lipo, Uart, mini USB connector, SD card and waterproof housing.
  • ATmega328V microcontroller
  • Slightly more complicated to program than Duemilanove
  • Xbees are another $25 each and are sold separately.



Arduino Dumilanove with Xbee Pro Shield Pros and Cons;
  • Easily use multiple types of power source
  • Direct USB programming
  • Good range 20-55+meters
  • ATmega328V microcontroller
  • Is about $100 dollars for the shield and Duemilanove
  • Shield obscurs some pins on Duemilanove unnecessarily
  • Comparatively heavy and bulky to other options
  • Xbees are another $25 each and are sold separately

I had a look at another option as well. The FIO is mall and set up for Xbee. I didn't have much success with this but feel it makes a useful comparison to the others.

FIO Board Pros and Cons
  • Is only $25 for the FIO board
  • Light and small
  • 3V regulator
  • Set up for battery and Xbee
  • ATmega328V microcontroller
  • Can be difficult to program. RX/TX pins are confusing for beginners
  • Not as accessible for noob's as Dumilanove or Stalker
  • Not as many inputs/outputs available
  • Xbee's are another $25 each
  • I think i fried my one as it started smoking when i attached an external power source and nothing seems to working on it anymore.

Best across the board unit for entry level users of Xbee and people who want to get started quickly, is the Seeeduino Stalker. Hope this has been useful.

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