Best Approach for Prototyping with Arduino?

Hello everyone.

I'm working on a prototype using Arduino and looking for advice on the best approach.

I need to test different sensors, motors, and possibly a display. Should I use a breadboard for flexibility or go straight to a PCB once the circuit works?

Also, do any recommendations for making connections more reliable during testing?

I've had issues with loose jumper wires before. Lastly, are there any must-have tools or techniques that would make the prototyping process smoother?

Appreciate any insights or lessons learned from your own Arduino projects!

thanks in advance for any help

Actually the Arduino was designed just for the first way of testing you mentioned above. So you aren't the only one who had the trouble with the loose jumper wires. However if you are sure the modules of the sensors, motors or displays work you may designe and make own PCBs for the peripheral devices. In the case you should provide sokets on the PCB for the plugs with the required signals. Making of the cables with the plugs is easy if you use the male and female goldpins for instance .. There is a lot of them offered. Additionally you can use the terminal blocks for the PCB as well. These offer the very stable connections.
Regarding the PCB ... for tests and corrections you may use the universal ones. Attaching of the sockets/ terminal blocks for the plugs/cables there is easy and the connections for all electronic parts are also more stable because these are soldered. But you know, once soldered parts can be irretrievable. Anyway you always can make the circut with the freeform method .....

the standard connections for the Arduino projects ...


the cables with plugins ...



the terminal blocks ...


the universal PCB ...


the freeform method ...

And here to give you an idea on how to make the connections more stable .... it would be better if these goldpin connectors ( the female ones ) on the Arduino module could be repalced with the terminal blocks. But the blocks have the different raster of the endings. So without interference with the module it can be difficult to add them. So it is possible to buy or just make a PCB that is a kind of an adapter. Can you see? The new PCB got the male goldpin connectors for joining with the female ones on the Arduino module ( the same layout that depends on the Arduino type ). But additionally there were added the terminal blocks allowing to connect the standard Arduino single wires. All you need is to mount the Arduino module on the goldpins and screw it with a two plastic screws and spacers. The "sandwich" is well stable with the connections and the terminal bloks allow to connect cables stable for all signals provided by the Arduino module. The same way you may use for connecting of the tested circut. Either you use the terminal blocks also mounted on the tested circut PCB and the standard wires to connect it with the Arduino module or you solder the wire endings to the circut directly with no terminal blocks. The difference for the direct connection is that you don't need the goldpin plugs at one end of the connecting wires. Just the bare endings only that can be solderd to the circut at the correct pads or pins.




The another solution are the universal PCB for the Arduino modules. As you may notice the female goldpin connectors have the long pins that allow to be solderd to the universal PCB and connected to the Arduino module directly. In the way you may assemble your circut on the universal PCB and then connect to the correct pins by soldering. The adventage of the way of the conncting is that there are all the Arduino signals still available for the next universal PCB that can be put at the top. Which way you choose it depends on you only. Soldering is always better than less stable connnectors. Just my humble opinion.






the pic source: the net.