In terms of the sparkfun’s perspective, what advantages would the Artemis have in comparison to Sparkfun Development board? What disadvantages? Thank you in advance! 
Hello!
The Apollo3 is more of a purpose built board to do one specific task and doesn’t expose a lot of I/O pins. Artemis uses the same processor and exposes a lot more I/O pins so that would probably be a better bet for you since it’s more flexible. The Apollo does include 2 microphone where the Artemis only has one so that would be a disadvantage, but it’s not really that hard to add [another mic if you needed too.](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9868)
In relation to the Artemis using the same processor, is there virtually no difference in pin configuration? As in, if I were to replace the apollo3 processor with the larger Artemis processor and configure the pins to the same place, I would have have an apollo3 development board?
Hi garzarobm - I’m glad you asked this.
I think there is a little ambiguity going on here that I’d like to resolve.
Firstly in your original post you mentioned a “Sparkfun Development board” but that term applies generally to many of our products. TS-Chris made a good assumption that you probably mean the [SparkFun Edge. The Edge was our first board built around the Ambiq Apollo3 microcontroller.
The other item you mention is the Artemis which we might safely assume means the [Artemis Module. This is opposed to the various development boards that use the Artemis module like the:
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RedBoard Artemis (Arduino Uno R3 clone)
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RedBoard Artemis ATP (Similar to an Arduino Mega)
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RedBoard Artemis Nano (A smaller form factor for the Artemis)
No matter what these products all use the same exact microcontroller. They differ by size, location and number of pins broken out, and additional features included onboard.
If taken with the assumptions above the posed question is a little confusing. The Artemis module and a development board have quite different intended uses. The module itself needs supporting circuitry and to be soldered into another design. A development board is usually ready to “plug and play” with a USB cable to a computer.
If we assume that you are asking about the Edge board vs. Artemis-based development boards then we’re beginning to make sense. Remember - there is only one microcontroller that we are talking about (the Ambiq Apollo3). When you say “As in, if I were to replace the apollo3 processor with the larger Artemis processor” it makes me think that you think there are two different processors (microcontrollers). There is only one. The Artemis module is a small board that we’ve designed to include a few convenience functions for the Apollo3 and to make it easier to include in designs.
To answer this question:
“As in, if I were to replace the apollo3 processor with the larger Artemis processor and configure the pins to the same place, I would have have an apollo3 development board?”
Yes. Assuming by “apollo3 developent board” you mean the Edge board (because the other Apollo3 development boards already use the Artemis module) although you could not do it without making a new version of the Edge PCB.
So - as for which Apollo3 development board you would like to use:
The Edge board is the only one that currently has a camera connector built-in. This may change in the future but not guaranteed. Thats a reason to use the Edge. Some reasons not to include the low number of I/O pins available and the lack of a built-in USB-serial bridge IC.
The Artemis based dev boards all expose a much larger number of I/O pins, include digital microphones (as opposed to the analog versions on the Edge) and have built-in USB-serial converters.
All of these options can run the same software.
Hope that helps answer your question!](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15484)](SparkFun Edge Development Board - Apollo3 Blue - DEV-15170 - SparkFun Electronics)
Wow, thanks so much for the informative response liquid! Looking at all the many boards that came out, some utilizing similar/exact parts or on-board components (radio, resistors, computer processors, etc) and some utilizing similar/same software, it easily can get confusing about what is the proper title for what I am describing. I would like to comment that I enjoy the compatibility that the both the Artemis-based development boards and the Edge board offer. It makes diving into another board easy so props to Sparkfun for that!
In regards to the question that was brought up, I was indeed assuming the “Ambiq Apollo3” processor was used in both Artemis and the Edge board; however, the difference in the boards which I noticed were in the form factors (previously revealed to me). Please mistake me if I’m wrong, but the Artmeis-based development boards (at least the ones I looked at) , carry the the apollo3 processor inside the Artemis module? This changes things in how easy it is to solder the processor and the size of the mcu?
- This allows, theoretically assuming you were to solder the board yourself, easier removal or insertion of the module?
Some other questions I had were:
2.Would you say that the apollo3 on the edge offers size advantage, if minute changes in size were critical to making a “micro” board
- If you were to remove an on-board component (through “de-soldering” or removing on the PCB), would this cause any damages to the processor or board? For example, if we remove, say the camera before mentioned in the thread, would this cause any power drainage, other malfunctions even if we do not utilize the camera? I’m assuming that the pin would turn into a short, and I’m not sure if you would have to ground it or do any other procedures before shutting off that pin.
In regards to the question that was brought up, I was indeed assuming the “Ambiq Apollo3” processor was used in both Artemis and the Edge board; however, the difference in the boards which I noticed were in the form factors (previously revealed to me). Please mistake me if I’m wrong, but the Artmeis-based development boards (at least the ones I looked at) , carry the the apollo3 processor inside the Artemis module? This changes things in how easy it is to solder the processor and the size of the mcu?
Exactly!
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Yes.
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Generally no. In some special cases yes, for example if you did not intend to use the bluetooth then using the Artemis module would force you to have space for a bluetooth antenna… but in almost every case the Artemis module is as small as you can get for all the required support components for the Apollo3. Here’s a link to a pdf of the board layout of the module. You can see from the red layer that the components are as tightly packed as can be. The blue layer is the bottom copper including the pads that you can connect to. https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_Ar … is_brd.pdf
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No, leaving the camera unconnected would not cause any problems. Rather than being a “short” (which generally means a 0-resistance connection to an unintended target, and often is used to mean a direct connection of power lines to ground) it would cause an “open” circuit which is much less of a problem (generally considered harmless). So you would not need to take any particular action
Thank you for your kind help 