Reference

Microcontroller Boards

Propeller Beanie Engineer Hat

Current list of Microcontrollers

EX‑CommandStation currently is designed for Atmel AVR based Arduino and compatible microcontrollers, and some ARM based boards such as the Teensy range. Out of the box, it is compatible with the following boards:

Choosing a microcontroller

With so many microcontrollers to choose from, how do you know which is the best for your needs?

We’ve compiled this simple summary table to help with this:

Microcontroller

Status

HAL/I2C

EEPROM

EXRAIL

JMRI

Network

TrackManager

Comments

Mega2560

Supported

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes [1]

DCC and DC [2]

This is our stable, well supported platform

Uno

Supported

No

Yes

Limited [3]

Yes

No

DCC only [2]

Great for either small layouts with no programming, or a dedicated programmer with JMRI

Nano

Supported

No

Yes

Limited [3]

Yes

No

DCC only [2]

Similar to Uno, but without the convenient Uno footprint

Mega+WiFi

Supported [6]

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

DCC and DC [2]

This is our stable, well supported platform, with WiFi on board, but beware quality issues

STM32 Nucleo

Beta [4]

Yes [5]

No

Yes

Yes

Yes [1]

DCC and DC [2]

Lots of memory and 32 bit architecture, still in the convenient Uno form factor but with more I/O pins

ESP32 WROOM

Beta [4]

Yes [5]

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

DCC and DC [2]

Inexpensive and includes both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, limited in I/O pins

SAMD21

Limited [4] [8]

Yes [5]

No

Yes

Yes

Yes [1]

DCC only [2]

Modern, 32 bit architecture but several caveats around voltage and USB connectivity

Nano Every

Limited [7]

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes [1]

DCC only [2]

Limited support only

Teensy

Limited [7]

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes [1]

DCC only [2]

Limited support only

Will you support other microcontrollers in the future?

Yes, that is on our roadmap, and the current state of progress can be found in our features under development area. New microcontrollers being ported to include ESP32, SAMD21, and the STM32F4xx range as can be seen in Beta microcontrollers - STM32 Nucleo, ESP32, and SAMD.

Boards that will NOT work

WAVGAT Uno clone - This board is NOT 100% Uno compatible. It uses a LGT8F328P processor from a company in China called “Logic Green”. It has no EEPROM and requires a bit of configuration in the Arduino IDE to get it to be seen correctly and compile sketches. It is, however, a good board for developing other applications on because it can be switched to run at 32mHz instead of 16. It also has 12 bit analog pins instead of 10 bit. That means higher resolution readings, 0-4096 instead of 0-1024. It could potentially work as a Command Station with more testing and some code changes, but we will leave that to someone else to attempt. Various other microcontrollers offer more memory, more serial ports and more GPIO pins and are just a better way to go for the future.