Arduino Boards: Top Three

8/13/2019 Arduino Boards: Top Three

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Arduino Boards handson.dmt.fh-joanneum.at

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ARDUINO

Info Sheet: Arduino Boards

Description: In this information sheet well provide you with a quick overview onthe three of the most common Arduino microcontrollers currently on

the market.

To help you decide on the most suitable board for your intendedproject, weve provided you with a general description and adetailed specifications table for the Ardunio Uno, Mega andNano. We also highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each

board and how much they sell for.

In order to get your hands on one of these versatile and inexpensive

boards, weve provided you with several links to somerecommended electronic suppliers.

Difficulty (1-10): 1

Overview: Introduction

Uno

Mega

Nano

Link

Requirements: We suggest you have a rough idea for your intended project.


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ARDUINO BOARDSArduino is a microcontroller created in Ivrea, Italy in 2005 by Massimo Banzi & DavidCuartielles. Microcontrollers are small computers on a single integrated circuit made up of

three basic components:- A processor core

- Memory

- Input & output

Arduino boards are open source hardware. That means the hardware design information isfreely available for those of you who decide to build your own boards. As a beginner, we

suggest getting started with one of the more common Arduino boards. The more commonArduino boards allow for more freedom and flexibility with an extensive selection ofcompatible shields available

Boards can be purchased preassembled or as DIY kits from your local electronic shop orfrom a wide selection of online suppliers. (Links provided below)

Uno

Arduino UNO is the most famous board in the Arduinofamily after Arduino Duemilanove. It is the latest designof the basic USB board and one of the more stable

Arduino platforms to date. The board contains everythingthat a mid sized 8-bit microcontroller project needs and is

the standard kit for people looking to start out in Arduino,due to its compatibility and prevalence.

Specifications

Processor OperatingVoltage /

InputVoltage

CPUSpeed

AnalogIn / Out

Digital IO/ PWM

EEPROM SRAM Flash USB

ATmega328 5V / 7-12V 16 6 / 0 14 / 6 1 2 32 Reg

Advantages

It has an improved USB interface allowing the Arduino to interface with Windows andOSX without drivers. (Although Windows users still require an .inf file)

The Uno can also be recognized as an input device, such as a keyboard or mouse,which opens up a variety of input/output possibilities for the platform.

There are a lot of shields to expend its functionality.

An open source design. The advantage of it being open source is that it has a largecommunity of people using and troubleshooting it. This makes it easy to findsomeone to help you debug your projects.


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Very convenient power management and built-in voltage regulation. You can connectan external power source of up to 12v and it will regulate it to both 5v and 3.3v. It alsocan be powered directly off of a USB port without any external power.

A 16mhz clock. This makes it not the speediest microcontroller around, but fastenough for most applications.

Disadvantages

Limited processing power

No data storage

Price

!22,99 @ Amazon

Mega

The Mega is the second most commonlyencountered version of the Arduino family. The

Arduino Mega is like the Arduino Unos big brother.Purchase the Mega when you have a clear need forthe additional input-output pins and larger memory.Its ideal for those larger projects that control lots ofLEDs, have a large number of inputs and outputs.However, all of the added functionality comes at thecost of a slightly larger circuit board. It may make

your project more powerful, but it will also make

your project larger.

Specifications

Processor OperatingVoltage /InputVoltage

CPUSpeed

AnalogIn / Out

Digital IO/ PWM


ATmega256 5V / 7-12V 16 16 / 0 54 / 15 4 8 256 Reg

Advantages The Mega provides significantly increased input-output functionality

Increased memory

4 Serial ports

The Mega works with the majority of the shields available

Support for I2C/TWI

Disadvantages

One of the difficulties of the mega board is that all the pins are different so most

tutorials are aimed at the UNO board or the Duemilanove or Diecimila are uselessbecause the Mega board pin-out is different. To know which pin-out is needed for the


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Arduino Mega 2560 the arduino.cc website has a specialwebpage:( http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMega2560 ).

Price

!46,95 @ Amazon

Nano

As its name, Arduino Nano is a compact and breadboard-friendly version board based on ATmega328 processor. It ismore or less same functionality as the Arduino UNO but indifferent package. Instead of using the standard USB to

connect to the computer, it uses the mini usb but without thepower plug for external power source that built on ArduinoUNO. The dimension of Arduino Nano is only 43mm x 18mmreducing the size of any robotics or motorized project.

Specifications

Processor OperatingVoltage /InputVoltage

CPUSpeed

AnalogIn / Out

Digital IO/ PWM


ATmega328 5V / 7-9V 16 8 / 0 14 / 6 1 2 32 Mini

Advantages

Compact and powerful.

It contains the same microcontroller (ATmega328) but in SMD form.

Has all the I/O pins (plus two extra analogue inputs).

Perfect for breadboarding.

Disadvantages

Does not use standard Arduino shields.

Price

!14,99 @ Amazon

Useful Resources

Here are a few reliable sources for purchasing an Arduino suitable for your project.

Conrad Electronicshttp://www.conrad.at/ce/de/brand/Arduino?queryFromSuggest=true

Neuhold Electronik

http://www.neuhold-elektronik.at/catshop/

Sparkfun

https://www.sparkfun.com/search/results?term=arduino

Documents

Arduino Boards: Top Three