swamplander

I might not have a clue what I'm talking about here... just picking some stuff up from stuff I've read.

I'm working on a few projects that are all based on the Netduino. Some have two components that talk to each other (like a 'box' in one part of a room doing stuff and another 'box' in another part of a room doing stuff). I know I can use a Netduino in both of them and figure out the wire[less] communication, but my question is:

Can I, instead of buying two Netduinos, can I buy a microprocessor and once I've got everything working the way I want it, flash the microprocessor with my program, wire everything up and remove the Netduino?

Why do I want to do this? Might be a way for a cheaper project. Again, I'm not looking for a "why would you do that" response... looking more for feasibility to learn stuff.

I'm an experienced SW engineer, but a noob when it comes to .NETMF & hardware. I've started working on my first project (garage controller that will monitor & control the open state of the garage doors & manage the sprinkler system) and thinking through the organization of where I want stuff.

Right now the sprinkler system controller is on the far end of the garage (about 40' from the door to the house where the garage door openers are). I'd like to put this single controller I'm building with a Netduino Plus 2 but had a concern/question about length of the wires. I wasn't planning to go wireless for cost reasons & because the distance seems a bit too far for Bluetooth reliability.

Thinking about the sensors I'm making to monitor the open state of the garage doors... the wires from the controller will be roughly 35-45' long & the wires to the sprinkler system valves will be even further... 50' or so. I understand I need to use a relay to power the 24V sprinkler valves and was planning to put that in the controller. Are either of these two wires (sensors for the garage door / sprinkler valves) too long or am I concerning myself with something I shouldn't worry about?

Another question about the connections to the controller box. I planned to create a serial connector for the garage door sensors on the exterior of the box to make the connections a bit cleaner, but I'm not sure if serial will work to power 4x 24V sprinkler valves (or if I can have 1x serial connection for each valve). Is that doable? If not, what other options would I have?