More and more established companies are using Kickstarter to try out new ideas. Launched personnally by FTDI's CEO Fred Dart the new Arduino compatible board NerO is such a project. The NerO project differs slightly from most crowd-funded projects in that the development phase has already been completed. The rest of the world may now decide if it will be commercialised or not.

The NerO is a revisited Arduino Uno with a much more energy-efficient switched-mode power supply capable of providing up to 1 A at 5 V (when powered from 9V or 12V) to application shields without overheating. Besides more power, the overal design has been improved on several points: power and status LEDs that remain visible when shields are plugged on the board, an On-Off switch and a now almost standard micro USB connector. The board is FCC and CE certified making it usable for commercial applications too.

Now on Kickstarter, the target is only £1500.