bump a very old thread
it turns out an interesting board that has an 'arduino' configuration is 'Leaflabs Maple'
Leaflabs Maple is an interesting board cos the processor / mcu is an ARM based ST microelectronics STM32 Cortex-M (stm32f103) processor. ST STM32 Cortex family of processors is interesting and 'staggering' if u consider that more than 1.5 billion devices has been manufactured and is 'out there' in the world in real devices. They are inside smart watches (e.g. pebble, sony earlier smart watches), activity trackers (e.g. fitbit), and many small mobile devices, it is probably in the 'spearhead' of the IOT revolution.
In addition, stm32 f103 is *considerably* faster than that in arduino uno. To add, ARM is possibly the *most important* and *most prolific* mcu/embedded platform out there with a massive usage in just about every mobile / wearable device (billions) and has a good number of open sourced tools e.g. gcc supporting it, many of the IDE are available and open sourced as well.
(edit: the STM32 F4* series is considerably faster, and perhaps more 'capable' more ram / flash storage, u'd need to search the sites and review the specs) than F1 series, it may be a better option to start with the F4 series boards, but the STM32 F* discovery series of boards has a different board layout / connectors from the arduino series)
hence this is a good board, way to get into learning about embedded development (i.e. Arduino), ARM programming (in C) - using the Maple IDE and to learn about the st stm family of arm cortex m mcus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STM32
http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/microcontrollers/stm32-32-bit-arm-cortex-mcus.html
https://www.facebook.com/STM32/posts/519024188216839
https://www.facebook.com/STM32/phot...648066242252/1138024442904604/?type=3&theater
http://www.leaflabs.com/about-maple/
http://www.stm32duino.com/
there are many 'maple clones' among which i'm impressed with OLIMEXINO-STM32
https://www.olimex.com/Products/Duino/STM32/OLIMEXINO-STM32/
it is possible to directly order that from Olimex from their web site.
or you can order this board locally from element14 web site and i think there are several others. google for it is best resort.
http://sg.element14.com/olimex/olim...0000002655&searchView=table&iscrfnonsku=false
note that Maple is not the only way to learn about embedded ARM STM32 mcu developments
there is notably STM32 F4 discovery board which is apparently cheaper (edit: and more 'powerful') than OLIMEXINO-STM32. which is available from element14 and various retailers in spore as well as direct from st micro web site
http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en...tm32-mcu-discovery-kits/stm32f4discovery.html
however STM32 F4 discovery board do not have the 'arduino' connectors/headers and that limits the use of the 'arduino shields' which are popular add-on boards for the arduino platform. note in addition that many arduino shields are 5v shields, stm32 is 3.3v would likely present some interfacing problems
to whet your appetite, some 'bleeding edge' 'pro' level stuff done on those stm32 development boards
invaders on stm32 kit development board
https://youtu.be/Eq9p5guqQ-g?list=PLYPRsG-TUM22QaxbQ-rsgSsUjMpnmo2DA
http://www.artekit.eu/space-invaders-for-stm32/
quicktime video on stm32f4 discovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI7VTjuPx_s&list=PLYPRsG-TUM22QaxbQ-rsgSsUjMpnmo2DA&index=9
doom on stm32f429
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRNcfsDIc2A
more videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYPRsG-TUM22QaxbQ-rsgSsUjMpnmo2DA
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnMKNibPkDnF97QnUOFGirl1q0G_4VdDc
cheers,