Arduino - Overview

Arduino is a prototype platform (open-source) based on an easy-to-use hardware and

software. It consists of a circuit board, which can be programed (referred to as a
microcontroller) and a ready-made software called Arduino IDE (Integrated
Development Environment), which is used to write and upload the computer code to
the physical board.
The key features are −
 Arduino boards are able to read analog or digital input signals from different sensors
and turn it into an output such as activating a motor, turning LED on/off, connect to
the cloud and many other actions.
 You can control your board functions by sending a set of instructions to the
microcontroller on the board via Arduino IDE (referred to as uploading software).
 Unlike most previous programmable circuit boards, Arduino does not need an extra
piece of hardware (called a programmer) in order to load a new code onto the
board. You can simply use a USB cable.
 Additionally, the Arduino IDE uses a simplified version of C++, making it easier to
learn to program.
 Finally, Arduino provides a standard form factor that breaks the functions of the
micro-controller into a more accessible package.
Board Types
Various kinds of Arduino boards are available depending on different microcontrollers
used. However, all Arduino boards have one thing in common: they are programed
through the Arduino IDE.
The differences are based on the number of inputs and outputs (the number of
sensors, LEDs, and buttons you can use on a single board), speed, operating voltage,
form factor etc. Some boards are designed to be embedded and have no programming
interface (hardware), which you would need to buy separately. Some can run directly
from a 3.7V battery, others need at least 5V.
Here is a list of different Arduino boards available.
 Arduino boards based on ATMEGA328 microcontroller

Board Name Operating Clock Digital Analog PWM UART Programming

Volt Speed i/o Inputs Interface

Arduino Uno R3 USB via

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
ATMega16U2

Arduino Uno R3 USB via

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
SMD ATMega16U2

Red Board 5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1 USB via FTDI

Arduino Pro 3.3v/8 FTDI-Compatible

3.3V 8MHz 14 6 6 1
MHz Header

Arduino Pro FTDI-Compatible

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
5V/16MHz Header

Arduino mini 05 FTDI-Compatible

5V 16MHz 14 8 6 1
Header

Arduino Pro mini FTDI-Compatible

3.3V 8MHz 14 8 6 1
3.3v/8mhz Header

Arduino Pro mini FTDI-Compatible

5V 16MHz 14 8 6 1
5v/16mhz Header

Arduino Ethernet FTDI-Compatible

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
Header

FTDI-Compatible
Arduino Fio 3.3V 8MHz 14 8 6 1
Header
 LilyPad Arduino FTDI-Compatible
3.3V 8MHz 14 6 6 1
328 main board Header

LilyPad Arduino FTDI-Compatible

3.3V 8MHz 9 4 5 0
simple board Header

Arduino boards based on ATMEGA32u4 microcontroller

Board Name Operating Clock Digital Analog PWM UART Programming

Volt Speed i/o Inputs Interface

Arduino Native USB

5V 16MHz 20 12 7 1
Leonardo

Pro micro Native USB

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
5V/16MHz

Pro micro Native USB

5V 16MHz 14 6 6 1
3.3V/8MHz

LilyPad Arduino Native USB

3.3V 8MHz 14 6 6 1
USB

Arduino boards based on ATMEGA2560 microcontroller

Board Name Operating Clock Digital Analog PWM UART Programming

Volt Speed i/o Inputs Interface

Arduino Mega USB via

5V 16MHz 54 16 14 4
2560 R3 ATMega16U2B

Mega Pro 3.3V 3.3V 8MHz 54 16 14 4 FTDI-Compatible

 Header

Mega Pro 5V FTDI-Compatible

5V 16MHz 54 16 14 4
Header

Mega Pro Mini FTDI-Compatible

3.3V 8MHz 54 16 14 4
3.3V Header

Arduino boards based on AT91SAM3X8E microcontroller

Board Name Operating Clock Digital Analog PWM UART Programming

Volt Speed i/o Inputs Interface

Arduino Mega USB native

3.3V 84MHz 54 12 12 4
2560 R3
 Arduino - Board Description
In this chapter, we will learn about the different components on the Arduino board.
We will study the Arduino UNO board because it is the most popular board in the
Arduino board family. In addition, it is the best board to get started with electronics
and coding. Some boards look a bit different from the one given below, but most
Arduinos have majority of these components in common.
Power USB
Arduino board can be powered by using the USB cable from your computer. All you need to do
is connect the USB cable to the USB connection (1).

Power (Barrel Jack)

Arduino boards can be powered directly from the AC mains power supply by connecting it to
the Barrel Jack (2).

Voltage Regulator
The function of the voltage regulator is to control the voltage given to the Arduino board and
stabilize the DC voltages used by the processor and other elements.

Crystal Oscillator
The crystal oscillator helps Arduino in dealing with time issues. How does Arduino calculate
time? The answer is, by using the crystal oscillator. The number printed on top of the Arduino
crystal is 16.000H9H. It tells us that the frequency is 16,000,000 Hertz or 16 MHz.

Arduino Reset
You can reset your Arduino board, i.e., start your program from the beginning. You can reset
the UNO board in two ways. First, by using the reset button (17) on the board. Second, you
can connect an external reset button to the Arduino pin labelled RESET (5).

Pins (3.3, 5, GND, Vin)

 3.3V (6) − Supply 3.3 output volt
 5V (7) − Supply 5 output volt
 Most of the components used with Arduino board works fine with 3.3 volt and 5 volt.
 GND (8)(Ground) − There are several GND pins on the Arduino, any of which can be
used to ground your circuit.
 Vin (9) − This pin also can be used to power the Arduino board from an external power
source, like AC mains power supply.

Analog pins
The Arduino UNO board has six analog input pins A0 through A5. These pins can read the
signal from an analog sensor like the humidity sensor or temperature sensor and convert it into
a digital value that can be read by the microprocessor.

Main microcontroller
Each Arduino board has its own microcontroller (11). You can assume it as the brain of your
board. The main IC (integrated circuit) on the Arduino is slightly different from board to board.
The microcontrollers are usually of the ATMEL Company. You must know what IC your board
has before loading up a new program from the Arduino IDE. This information is available on
the top of the IC. For more details about the IC construction and functions, you can refer to the
data sheet.

ICSP pin
Mostly, ICSP (12) is an AVR, a tiny programming header for the Arduino consisting of MOSI,
MISO, SCK, RESET, VCC, and GND. It is often referred to as an SPI (Serial Peripheral
Interface), which could be considered as an "expansion" of the output. Actually, you are slaving
the output device to the master of the SPI bus.

Power LED indicator

This LED should light up when you plug your Arduino into a power source to indicate that your
board is powered up correctly. If this light does not turn on, then there is something wrong with
the connection.

TX and RX LEDs
On your board, you will find two labels: TX (transmit) and RX (receive). They appear in two
places on the Arduino UNO board. First, at the digital pins 0 and 1, to indicate the pins
responsible for serial communication. Second, the TX and RX led (13). The TX led flashes with
different speed while sending the serial data. The speed of flashing depends on the baud rate
used by the board. RX flashes during the receiving process.

Digital I/O
The Arduino UNO board has 14 digital I/O pins (15) (of which 6 provide PWM (Pulse Width
Modulation) output. These pins can be configured to work as input digital pins to read logic
values (0 or 1) or as digital output pins to drive different modules like LEDs, relays, etc. The
pins labeled “~” can be used to generate PWM.
 AREF
AREF stands for Analog Reference. It is sometimes, used to set an external reference voltage
(between 0 and 5 Volts) as the upper limit for the analog input pins.

After learning about the main parts of the Arduino UNO board, we are ready to learn
how to set up the Arduino IDE. Once we learn this, we will be ready to upload our
program on the Arduino board.
In this section, we will learn in easy steps, how to set up the Arduino IDE on our
computer and prepare the board to receive the program via USB cable.
Step 1 − First you must have your Arduino board (you can choose your favorite board)
and a USB cable. In case you use Arduino UNO, Arduino Duemilanove, Nano, Arduino
Mega 2560, or Diecimila, you will need a standard USB cable (A plug to B plug), the
kind you would connect to a USB printer as shown in the following image.

In case you use Arduino Nano, you will need an A to Mini-B cable instead as shown in
the following image.

Step 2 − Download Arduino IDE Software.

You can get different versions of Arduino IDE from the Download page on the Arduino
Official website. You must select your software, which is compatible with your
operating system (Windows, IOS, or Linux). After your file download is complete, unzip
the file.

Step 3 − Power up your board.

The Arduino Uno, Mega, Duemilanove and Arduino Nano automatically draw power
from either, the USB connection to the computer or an external power supply. If you
are using an Arduino Diecimila, you have to make sure that the board is configured to
draw power from the USB connection. The power source is selected with a jumper, a
small piece of plastic that fits onto two of the three pins between the USB and power
jacks. Check that it is on the two pins closest to the USB port.
Connect the Arduino board to your computer using the USB cable. The green power
LED (labeled PWR) should glow.
Step 4 − Launch Arduino IDE.
After your Arduino IDE software is downloaded, you need to unzip the folder. Inside the
folder, you can find the application icon with an infinity label (application.exe). Double-
click the icon to start the IDE.

Step 5 − Open your first project.

Once the software starts, you have two options −

 Create a new project.

  Open an existing project example.
To create a new project, select File → New.

To open an existing project example, select File → Example → Basics → Blink.

Here, we are selecting just one of the examples with the name Blink. It turns the LED
on and off with some time delay. You can select any other example from the list.
Step 6 − Select your Arduino board.
To avoid any error while uploading your program to the board, you must select the
correct Arduino board name, which matches with the board connected to your
computer.
Go to Tools → Board and select your board.
Here, we have selected Arduino Uno board according to our tutorial, but you must
select the name matching the board that you are using.
Step 7 − Select your serial port.
Select the serial device of the Arduino board. Go to Tools → Serial Port menu. This is
likely to be COM3 or higher (COM1 and COM2 are usually reserved for hardware serial
ports). To find out, you can disconnect your Arduino board and re-open the menu, the
entry that disappears should be of the Arduino board. Reconnect the board and select
that serial port.
Step 8 − Upload the program to your board.
Before explaining how we can upload our program to the board, we must demonstrate
the function of each symbol appearing in the Arduino IDE toolbar.
A − Used to check if there is any compilation error.
B − Used to upload a program to the Arduino board.
C − Shortcut used to create a new sketch.
D − Used to directly open one of the example sketch.
E − Used to save your sketch.
F − Serial monitor used to receive serial data from the board and send the serial data
to the board.
Now, simply click the "Upload" button in the environment. Wait a few seconds; you will
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 need to press the reset
button physically on the board, immediately before clicking the upload button on the
Arduino Software.