Freeduino (Arduino Clone Kit)

The Freeduino is a great kit for those interested in the Arduino platform. It is essentially identical to the Arduino Diecimila, but made with through-hole components to allow for easy assembly as a kit. I assembled mine in about 30 minutes. Unlike my homebrew Arduino, the Freeduino shares the Arduino's form factor and therefore is interchangeable with the pre-assembled board (including compatibility with the various shield kits that are available for the Arduino). Another benefit of the Freeduino is that, due to its onboard female headers, it allows for prototyping without the use of a solderless breadboard.

Pictured above is a side-by-side comparison of the finished Freeduino kit (on the left) and my scratch built Arduino.