Fermion: FTDI FT232RL Basic Breakout 3.3/5V (Arduino Compatible)

This breakout board utilizes the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC, complementing both official and cloned 3.3V Arduino boards effectively. Its design emphasizes simplicity with a straightforward pinout, enabling seamless compatibility with various serial applications. A key feature is the inclusion of the DTR pin, which offers a practical advantage over the RTS pin commonly found on FTDI cables.

By bringing out the DTR pin, the board facilitates an automatic reset for Arduino targets, allowing new sketches to be uploaded without manual intervention. This functionality enhances efficiency, particularly during iterative development processes. The board is engineered to automatically reset any Arduino board featuring a 6-pin reset connector, further streamlining the development experience.

Aligning this board with your Arduino target is intuitive, with labeled pins BLK and GRN corresponding to the FTDI cable’s black (GND) and green (DTR) wires. This alignment ensures accurate setup, minimizing potential connection errors. The board also includes LED indicators for TX and RX, providing visual feedback on serial data transmission, which enhances troubleshooting capabilities.

When compared to the FTDI Cable, this breakout board offers distinct advantages in terms of size and usability. Although it requires a microUSB cable, its compact form makes it ideal for integration into projects where space is a constraint. While the FTDI Cable benefits from robust environmental protection, the breakout board excels in reducing development costs and increasing user-friendliness through its auto-reset feature.

The board’s design accommodates various Arduino projects, particularly those utilizing our Arduino Pro and LilyPad boards, where the connector type is already established. Adjustments to silk-screened instructions ensure a straightforward connection by linking "TX" to "TX" and "RX" to "RX," further simplifying the programming process.