Blog on Arduino Uno rev3

Basics of Arduino Uno –

Arduino is an open source programmable circuit board that can be integrated into a wide variety of makerspace projects both simple and complex. This board contains a microcontroller which is able to be programmed to sense and control objects in the physical world. By responding to sensors and inputs, the Arduino is able to interact with a large array of outputs such as LEDs, motors and displays. Because of it’s flexibility and low cost, Arduino has become a very popular choice for makers and makerspaces looking to create interactive hardware projects.

How to Use an Arduino Uno?

Arduino Uno can detect the surroundings from the input. Here the input is a variety of sensors and these can affect its surroundings through controlling motors, lights, other actuators, etc. The ATmega328 microcontroller on the Arduino board can be programmed with the help of an Arduino programming language and the IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Arduino projects can communicate by software while running on a PC.

Hardware -

The hardware consists of an 8-bit Atmel AVR microcontroller or a 32-bit atmel ARM with complementary components to facilitate programming and incorporate into other circuits. Some shields communicate with the Arduino board directly over various pins, but many shields are individually addressable via an I²C serial bus, allowing many shields to be stacked and used in parallel. Official Arduino’s have used the mega AVR series of chips, specifically the ATmega8, ATmega168, ATmega328, ATmega1280, and ATmega2560. A handful of other processors have been used by Arduino compatibles.

Software:

The Arduino IDE is a cross-platform application written in Java, and is derived from the IDE for the Processing programming language and Wiring project. It is designed to introduce programming to artists and other newcomers unfamiliar with software development. It includes a code editor with features such as syntax highlighting, brace matching, and automatic indentation, and is also capable of compiling and uploading programs to the board with a single click. There is typically no need to edit makefiles or run programs on a command-line interface. The Arduino IDE comes with a C/C++ library called “Wiring”, which makes many common input/output operations much easier. Arduino programs are written in C/C++, although users only need to define two functions to make a run-able program:

· setup() — a function run once at the start of a program that can initialize settings.

· loop() — a function called repeatedly until the board powers off or reset.

Features of Arduino Uno Board

The features of Arduino Uno ATmega328 includes the following.

· The operating voltage is 5V

· The recommended input voltage will range from 7v to 12V

· The input voltage ranges from 6v to 20V

· Digital input/output pins are 14

· Analog i/p pins are 6

· DC Current for each input/output pin is 40 mA

· DC Current for 3.3V Pin is 50 mA

· Flash Memory is 32 K

· SRAM is 2 KB

· EEPROM is 1 KB

· CLK Speed is 16 MHz

Arduino Uno Pin Diagram –

The Arduino Uno board can be built with power pins, analog pins, ATmegs328, ICSP header, Reset button, power LED, digital pins, test led 13, TX/RX pins, USB interface, an external power supply. The Arduino UNO board description is discussed below.

Input & Output

The 14 digital pins on the Arduino Uno can be used as input & output with the help of the functions like pinMode(), digitalWrite(), & Digital Read().

Pin1 (TX) & Pin0 (RX) (Serial): This pin is used to transmit & receive TTL serial data, and these are connected to the ATmega8U2 USB to TTL Serial chip equivalent pins.

Pin 2 & Pin 3 (External Interrupts): External pins can be connected to activate an interrupt over a low value, change in value.

Pins 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, & 11 (PWM): This pin gives 8-bit PWM o/p by the function of analogWrite().

SPI Pins (Pin-10 (SS), Pin-11 (MOSI), Pin-12 (MISO), Pin-13 (SCK): These pins maintain SPI-communication, even though offered by the fundamental hardware, is not presently included within the Arduino language.

Pin-13(LED): The inbuilt LED can be connected to pin-13 (digital pin). As the HIGH-value pin, the light emitting diode is activated, whenever the pin is LOW.

Pin-4 (SDA) & Pin-5 (SCL) (I2C): It supports TWI-communication with the help of the Wire library.

AREF (Reference Voltage): The reference voltage is for the analog i/ps with analogReference().

Reset Pin: This pin is used for reset (RST) the microcontroller.

Physical Characteristics

The physical characteristics of an Arduino board mainly include length and width. The printed circuit board of the Arduino Uno length and width are 2.7 X 2.1 inches, but the power jack and the USB connector will extend beyond the previous measurement. The board can be attached on the surface otherwise case with the screw holes.

Applications of Arduino Uno ATmega328

The applications of Arduino Uno include the following.

· Arduino Uno is used in Do-it-Yourself projects prototyping.

· In developing projects based on code-based control

· Development of Automation System

· Designing of basic circuit designs.

Advantages -

· Not much knowledge required to get started

· Fairly low cost, depending on shields you need

· Lots of sketches and shields available

· No external programmer or power supply needed

Disadvantages -

· No understanding of the AVR microcontroller

· Sketches and shields can be difficult to modify

· No debugger included for checking scripts

· You get no experience of C or professional development tools