The original board was based on the Atmel ATmega328P and cost approximately $10 per unit. In larger machines, up to 72 of these boards could be installed, making the total hardware cost significant.
The redesigned board uses the much more cost-effective CH32V003J4M6 microcontroller, reducing the per-board cost to approximately $2.70 — a saving of more than 70% per board. Across a fully populated machine, this results in substantial overall cost reductions without sacrificing functionality.
Several design improvements were also made during the redesign process. The DIP switch and dedicated ICSP programming header were removed, simplifying the PCB layout and reducing component count.
Programming is now handled directly through the IDC header using a WCH-LinkE programmer. Unlike the ATmega328P, which required a full ICSP interface, the CH32V003J4M6 only requires a single programming/data pin, further simplifying both the hardware design and manufacturing process..