Arduino announces the release of the new Arduino Due board based on the Cortex M3 ARM processor. The release of the 1.0 Arduino platform in 2011 represented a milestone for Open Source Hardware: after six years of development, Arduino is declared mature and stable.
Once this was achieved, the team applied itself to the new version of Arduino designed to provide more creative options to users. The result of this work is the Arduino Due, a board that provides increased performance and faster connectivity at an affordable price (49 USD MSRP).

Arduino Due is ideal for those who want to build projects that require high computing power such as the remotely-controlled drones that, in order to fly, need to process a lot of sensor data per second. Arduino Due gives students the opportunity to learn the inner workings of the ARM processor in a cheaper and much simpler way than before.To Scientific projects, which need to acquire data quickly and accurately, Arduino Due provides a platform to create open source tools that are much more advanced than those available now.

The new platform enables the open source digital fabrication community (3d Printers, Laser cutters, CNC milling machines) to achieve higher resolutions and faster speed with fewer components than in the past.

Main features of Arduino Due

• The board is equipped with a SAM3X8E processor from Atmel, based on the 32 bit ARM Cortex M3 architecture running at 84MHz.
• USB 2.0 interface running at 480 Megabits that allows Arduino Due to act as a USB Host (so you can interface it to USB devices like mice, keyboards, cameras, mobile phones and more). Arduino Due supports the Android ADK 2012 protocol.
• 12 analog inputs (ADC) with 12-bit resolution and high speed, opening the door to audio applications and signal processing projects that were impossible with Arduino Uno.
• High-resolution Analog outputs (DAC). The board provides two 12-bit outputs that can be used to generate audio signals. The Arduino Due software comes with software examples for a WAV and OGG player.
• 4 high-speed serial communication ports.
• 70 input/output pins.
• High-speed CAN interface. The CAN protocol is used in the automotive industry to network the different components of the car, is now becoming popular in the field of industrial automation thanks to its speed and ability to withstand electrical noise.
• 12 PWM channels.
• 2 I2C bus.

Technical Specifications

• Microcontroller AT91SAM3X8E
• Operating Voltage 3.3V
• Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12V
• Input Voltage (min/max) 6-20V
• Digital I/O Pins 54 (of which 6 provide PWM)
• Analog Input Pins 12
• Analog Output Pins 2 (DAC)
• Total DC Output Current on all I/O lines 130 mA
• DC Current for 3.3V Pin 800 mA
• DC Current for 5V Pin theoretical 1A, recommended 800 mA
• Flash Memory 512 KB
• SRAM 96 KB (64 + 32 KB)
• Clock speed 84 MHz
• Debug access JTAG/SWD connector