Arduino: How to Use Arduino Boards

3/9/2023 11:26:58 AM

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform that includes software and programmable circuit boards, allowing beginners to build electronic projects by writing simple code. The article provides an overview of Arduino, including different board types, basic components, how to use the boards, and project ideas like an automated plant watering system.

The electronics world is evolving at an astonishing speed, leading to the launch of many innovative electronic devices every other day. Although many hardware and software solutions empower developers to develop new electronic products, Arduino remains a popular choice, especially for new programmers or students with minimal programming experience.

Arduino provides a full-fledged ecosystem to create DIY (Do It Yourself) projects without hassle. Therefore, this article thoroughly explores everything you need to know about Arduino, including its types, basic electronic components, and the working principle.

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open-source electronic platform that helps to build electronic projects. It includes both software or IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and a physical programmable circuit board (microcontroller). The users use IDE to write code in simplified C and C++ and upload code to the physical board, which then commands the connected components/devices to perform as required. For example, you can program it to light the LED whenever the user presses the button. Besides that, it can also take input data from the sensor and then make the corresponding actions easily.

Arduino was created in 2005 by Massimo Banzi and his students and colleagues at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Italy. They built Arduino for students who don't have prior programming experience. However, it gradually got attention and became a popular device. Today, Arduino is used in millions of projects and applications.

Different Types of Arduino Boards

Since the application area of Arduino has expanded a lot, there are now many types of Arduino boards for different projects. Below is a quick glimpse of some of the popular types of Arduino boards:

1. Arduino Uno

Arduino Uno is the most widely used Arduino board that provides everything to start using the Arduino. It is powered by an ATMega328P microcontroller and comes with 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog inputs, a power jack, a USB port, and a rest button.

2. Arduino Nano

Arduino Nano is a compact version of Arduino Uno. It has the same connections as Uno, i.e., 14 digital pins, 8 analog pins, and a reset pin. The pre-soldered headers make it convenient to use with breadboards. However, there is no power jack like in the Arduino Uno.

3. Arduino Leonardo

Arduino Leonardo is a bigger board compared to Arduino Uno, which is powered by an ATmega32U4 chip compared to the ATMega328P chip in Uno. It comes with 20 digital pins, 12 analog pins, and 7 PWM pins. It also comes with a built-in USB communication, which eradicates the need for a USB to UART bridge chip. This makes it possible to connect it to the computer as a HID (Human Interface Device).

4. Arduino Mega

As the name implies, Arduino Mega is a bigger and more powerful Arduino board that is powered by an ATmega2560 microcontroller. It comes with 54 digital pins, 16 analog pins, and 4 serial ports. It is best suited for more memory and processing power, mainly for applications related to 3D printing, robotics, home automation, etc.

5. Arduino Giga R1 WiFi

The Arduino Giga R1 WiFi is an upgraded version of Arduino Mega. It comes with wireless capabilities and 32-bit computing. It comes with an STM32H747XI dual-core microcontroller containing a 240 MHz Cortex-M4 processor and 480 MHz Cortex-M7. This empowers the board to provide advanced parallel processing for applications such as machine learning. It comes with 76 digital pins, 14 analog pins, and 2 DAC outputs. It is best suited for advanced robotics and IoT projects, complex data acquisition, signal processing, wireless monitoring, etc.

Besides the above five types of Arduino boards, you will need many other types as well, including Arduino Micro, Arduino Nano Every, Arduino Mini, Arduino MKR Zero, Arduino Due, and many more. In short, a wide variety of Arduino is available today to fulfill basic to advanced needs.

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