OpenSprints Electronics could be made using cheaper, less expensive chips, but we settled on the Arduino Duemilanove to open up development for not only software but hardware development. The form factor is the same for the Uno, which would also work.
Assembled kits are shipped with very basic firmware, which works with the current version of SilverSprints. However, we would recommend developing against our latest firmware which has more functionality including false start detection.