While it is true, today, Arduino is considered one of the best open source electronics creation platforms that exists worldwide. Which, to deliver a complete experience, it is based on free software and hardware, it is versatile, powerful and easy to use both by creators and developers, as well as by beginners. Since, with the use of their plates, it is possible to build optimal projects.
Therefore, Arduino has been classified as one of the main elements of what concerns DIY culture and maker fever globally that, for nobody is a secret that, is in continuous growth. For this reason, today, people can take better advantage of technology and the Internet of Things to devise quality projects.
Now, given its expansion, the truth is that it also Genuino plates are known in many parts of the world. Which has created some confusion in people and, therefore, they do not know which brand is better. However, it is essential to know what is the difference between both platforms and what story is behind it.
Arduino and Genuino Are they the same company? Which is better?
As we indicated previously, Arduino is defined as a company that provides different models of boards at the free hardware level and besides that, it also provides a development environment known as “Arduino IDE” that operates as an optimal free software. Through these, it allows build digital and interactive devices that manage to control and / or detect real world objects.
Added to this, at present, it is distinguished an extensive international community that day after day presents new multidisciplinary projects to share with Arduino fans, in order to showcase the remarkable capacity that this platform guarantees. Thus, it focuses on bring and facilitate the use of electronics and programming, without the need for advanced knowledge.
On the other hand, Genuine refers to a brand from arduino.cc which was created by the founders of Arduino with the aim of providing solutions and selling your plates and / or products outside the United States. That is, it was born as an initiative to offer two programming environments and other models of Arduino boards manufactured by different companies, in order to simplify the execution of electronic projects in other continents.
That is why, the difference between Arduino and Genuino, specifically, it is at the brand level and by the name they receive. Since, in reality, they are the same, with the distinction that Genuino plates are those that are sold and distributed outside the United States and Europe. Now this difference was a decision made by the very founders of Arduino for legal reasons. Because the Arduino boards are officially destined for the US market; while out of it, look for Genuine plates.
Thus, in short, the Arduino and Genuino boards share the same components, features and build quality. In this way, they are classified as the same boards under a different brand that will be distributed according to the area of the world where each user is located (Arduino is for the United States and Genuine for the rest of the world). For that reason, It is not possible to make a comparison between both platforms to define which is the best.
History of this confusion Why was Genuino born and what was the first plate that was manufactured under this brand?
In 2005, Massimo banzi (who at that time was a student of the IVRAE institute), created the Arduino platform with the aim of providing a better learning to all those students of electronics and computers of the same institute. Since, in that time, get a microcontroller board it was not a simple task due to its high cost.
However, over time, this small project expanded globally and acquired unparalleled power. Since, thanks to its capabilities, users and fans were able to find infinite applications for the different models of Arduino boards. Both in electronics and computing, as well as in mechanical, robotics, home automation, 3D printers, etc..
In view of this, Arduino LLC evidenced the global need for other companies to enable them to create, develop, manufacture, distribute and sell original Arduino boards. Well, in this way, it would increase innovation within the Arduino ecosystem and optimize its great recognition. But unfortunately, Gianluca Martino one of the company’s partners did not agree with the initiative.
This reason, led to a division within Arduino and since then, a new brand known as “Genuine” in 2015. Basically, in principle, it distinguished itself as the “gringa Arduino” and since then, it began to operate in Europe and other areas outside the US, making use of its new official website which is www.arduino.org. Which, even with the same components, facilitated the sales of these plates outside the country, without having legal problems with the partner who was reluctant to accept this decision.
Next we will see the first manufacture of this brand:
Genuine UNO, the first plate manufactured by this brand
Starting in 2015, the new Arduino division began to manufacture its electronic boards and, in this case, the first one was the Genuino UNO. Which, mainly, is characterized by containing an 8-bit AVR ATMega328P microcontroller, 14 digital input and output pins, 6 analog input pins and 6 digital PWM input and output pins.
Apart from this, it has a Reset button and features an operating voltage of 5V, a limit input voltage between 6-20V and a recommended input voltage between 7-20V. Added to that, provides a 16 MHz clock speed, its flash memory is 32 KB and its flash memory for bootloader is 0.5 KB.
Another of its most interesting particularities is that it has the ability to detect the environment by receiving inputs from many sensors that control lights, motors and other actuators that provide more functionalities. In addition to this, it stands out as the best Genuine board to get started in electronics and coding, so it is the most used of all this family.
Other Genuine plates …
- Genuine Micro: It was developed in conjunction with Adafruit and is an ATmega32U4 based microcontroller board. It has a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, 20 digital input and output pins, a reset button, an ICSP header, and a micro USB connection.
- Genuine Mega: This is one of the most powerful boards of all, considering it has Atmel AVR 8-bit MCU ATmega2560. It also has 54 input and output pins, a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a power connector, a USB connection, an ICSP header, a reset button, etc.
- Genuine 101: This is the next generation of the Arduino UNO board and is the most exclusive model of the Genuino brand. Among its most interesting features, we find that it contains a 32-bit Intel processor, exhibits a 32 MHz clock speed, its module has two small cores, incorporates a 6-axis gyroscope and Bluetooth IE communication.
- Genuine ZERO: This board has an Atmel ARM Cortex M0 + 32-bit SAMD21 processor, has an Atmel Embedded Debugger (EDGB), supports up to 3.3V instead of 5V, has a 256 KB flash memory, its clock speed is 48 MHz , etc.