I'm working on an interesting controller project that involves overcurrent monitoring of 8 outputs, I have solved the main problem of current spiking in incandescent loads, but that involves 1/2 of an op amp chip and some caps and resistors, which when multiplied by the 8 outputs, winds up being a mess of routing, more parts to place etc. I am running the main controller that handles the user interface on an atmega2561, but have used some really tiny attiny45 chips in the past and have been impressed with their functionality and lack of any other components needed to run them. What I'm wondering is, is it good practice to replace the discrete overcurrent monitoring components with an attiny45 chip at each output? It could monitor the shunt resistor easily in software and integrate the current x time that my discrete parts are doing now. The cost hardware-wise would go down, the number of board components would go down, routing would get easier... seems like a no brainer, just wondering if there's a downside I'm not seeing....