Controller pinouts/custom controller

[timwylie]

8 hours ago, Lathe26 said:

There are some SIPO chips that are open-collector outputs (assuming you're referring to SPI-like interfaces from the 7400-series family) but they are a slightly trickier to find.

 

I'm currently using 74xx595, but I'll look into the ones you mentioned. Thanks for the information- I was unaware of open-collector output chips.

[timwylie]

6 hours ago, fdr4prez said:

yes, but 3 ICs (SIPO + 2x 4CH optoisolators) will take more real estate on the board compared to one Maxim IC, more traces to route and more soldering for the sockets (although that's the easy part).

 

Do you have the room on inside your case for the Arduino and the three other ICs?

 

Are you planning on mounting the Arduino to your board, or are you planning to use just the Atmega chip on your board to save space?

I haven't really designed the case yet since I wasn't sure how much space I'd need.

 

I've gone back and forth on using a nano or just using the Atmega chip. There are now compatible boards that are almost the same price as just the chip (https://www.electrodragon.com/product/edmini-dev-board-arduino-compatible/ ). I'm thinking of just using that $1.80 nano compatible board.