Arduino Explained

Author: Aus Electronics Direct   Date Posted:9 February 2016 

Arduino Explained

Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs such as light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message -and turn it into an output -activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by sending a set ofinstructions to the microcontroller on the board. To do so you use the Arduino programming language and the Arduino Software.

The official website is www.arduino.cc and www.arduino.org.

 

Uno Development Board

The Uno Development Board is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.You can tinker with your UNO without worrying too much about doing something wrong, worst case scenario you can replace the chip for a few dollars and start over again.

Mega 2560 Development Board

The Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560. It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.

IDUINO Nano

The IDUINONano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the ATmega328 or ATmega168. It has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino Duemilanove, but in a different package. It lacks a DC power jack, and works with a Mini-B USB cable instead of a standard one. 

Leonardo Development Board

The Leonardo Development Board is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega32u4 .It has 20 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a micro USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.

How to use these Development boards?

Here we have an example to indicate how to use these boards. In this trail, we flash an led via the IDUINO uno board’s 13 digital pin.

The connection as below:

Download the Arduino latest editionIntegrated development environment(IDE)from this page:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software,

Then install the software, and connect the development board with the computer via USB cable as per below:

Launch the Arduino application, and open File > Examples > 01.Basics > Blink.

You'll need to select the entry in the Tools > Board menu that corresponds to your Develpment Board.

Select the serial device of the Development board from the Tools > Serial Port menu. On the Mac, this should be something with /dev/tty.usbmodem (for the Uno or Mega 2560) or /dev/tty.usbserial (for older boards) in it.

Now, simply click the "Upload" button in the environment. Wait a few seconds - you should see the RX and TX LEDs on the board flashing. If the upload is successful, the message "Done uploading." will appear in the status bar. (Note: If you have an Arduino Mini, NG, or other board, you'll need to physically press the reset button on the board immediately before clicking the upload button on the Arduino Software.)

 

A few seconds after the upload finishes, you should see the pin 13 (L) LED on the board start to blink (in orange). If it does, congratulations! You've gotten Arduino up-and-running.

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