What is an Arduino?
An Arduino is a open-source electronics platform based on easy to use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs- light sensors, a finger on a button, or a twitter message and turn it into an output such as activating a motor, turning on an LED or posting something online. You can tell your Arduino board what to do by sending a set of instructions to the micro controller on the board. To do this you have to use Arduino programming language and the Arduino Software based on Processing. (The Arduino board is shown below)
Why Arduino?
- Inexpensive: Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to there competition. Additionally the cheapest Arduino set can actually be made by hand. Furthermore the assembled Arduino kits are usually below £50.
- Cross Platform: The Arduino System runs on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. Most micro-controller systems run on just windows.
- Simple, clear programming environment: The Arduino kit is easy to use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users to take advantage of it as well. Its also based on the processing, programming environment which means students learning to program in that environment will be familiar with how the Arduino IDE works.
- Open source and extensible software: The Arduino software is published as open source tools, available for extension by experienced programmers. The language can be expanded through C++ libraries, and people wanting to understand the technical details can make the leap from Arduino to the AVR C programming language on which its based.
- Open source and extensible hardware: The plans of the Arduino boards are published under a creative commons license, so experienced circuit designers can make there own version of the module, extending it and improving it.
How many different Arduino’s are there?
There is a wide range of different Arduino boards. For example there is a variety of starter boards which are more basic. Additionally there are more enhanced boards to chose from as-well as shown below.
Starter boards:
Enhanced Boards:
Compare board specs
This table shows a quick comparison between the characteristics of all the Arduino and Genuino boards. (Shows the capabilities of each Arduino board)
| Name | Processor | Operating/Input Voltage |
CPU Speed | Analog In/Out | Digital IO/PWM | EEPROM [kB] | SRAM [kB] | Flash [kB] | USB | UART |
| 101 | Intel® Curie | 3.3 V/ 7-12V | 32MHz | 6/0 | 14/4 | – | 24 | 196 | Regular | – |
| Gemma | ATtiny85 | 3.3 V / 4-16 V | 8 MHz | 1/0 | 3/2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 8 | Micro | 0 |
| LilyPad | ATmega168V ATmega328P |
2.7-5.5 V / 2.7-5.5 V |
8MHz | 6/0 | 14/6 | 0.512 | 1 | 16 | – | – |
| LilyPad SimpleSnap | ATmega328P | 2.7-5.5 V / 2.7-5.5 V |
8 MHz | 4/0 | 9/4 | 1 | 2 | 32 | – | – |
| LilyPad USB | ATmega32U4 | 3.3 V / 3.8-5 V | 8 MHz | 4/0 | 9/4 | 1 | 2.5 | 32 | Micro | – |
| Mega 2560 | ATmega2560 | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 16/0 | 54/15 | 4 | 8 | 256 | Regular | 4 |
| Micro | ATmega32U4 | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 12/0 | 20/7 | 1 | 2.5 | 32 | Micro | 1 |
| MKR1000 | SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ | 3.3 V/ 5V | 48MHz | 7/1 | 8/4 | – | 32 | 256 | Micro | 1 |
| Pro | ATmega168 ATmega328P |
3.3 V / 3.35-12 V 5 V / 5-12 V |
8 MHz 16 MHz |
6/0 | 14/6 | 0.512 1 |
1 2 |
16 32 |
– | 1 |
| Pro Mini | ATmega328P | 3.3 V / 3.35-12 V 5 V / 5-12 V |
8 MHz 16 MHz |
6/0 | 14/6 | 1 | 2 | 32 | – | 1 |
| Uno | ATmega328P | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 6/0 | 14/6 | 1 | 2 | 32 | Regular | 1 |
| Zero | ATSAMD21G18 | 3.3 V / 7-12 V | 48 MHz | 6/1 | 14/10 | – | 32 | 256 | 2 Micro | 2 |
| Due | ATSAM3X8E | 3.3 V / 7-12 V | 84 MHz | 12/2 | 54/12 | – | 96 | 512 | 2 Micro | 4 |
| Esplora | ATmega32U4 | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | – | – | 1 | 2.5 | 32 | Micro | – |
| Ethernet | ATmega328P | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 6/0 | 14/4 | 1 | 2 | 32 | Regular | – |
| Leonardo | ATmega32U4 | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 12/0 | 20/7 | 1 | 2.5 | 32 | Micro | 1 |
| Mega ADK | ATmega2560 | 5 V / 7-12 V | 16 MHz | 16/0 | 54/15 | 4 | 8 | 256 | Regular | 4 |
| Mini | ATmega328P | 5 V / 7-9 V | 16 MHz | 8/0 | 14/6 | 1 | 2 | 32 | – | – |
| Nano | ATmega168 ATmega328P |
5 V / 7-9 V | 16 MHz | 8/0 | 14/6 | 0.512 1 |
1 2 |
16 32 |
Mini | 1 |
| Yùn | ATmega32U4 AR9331 Linux |
5 V | 16 MHz 400MHz |
12/0 | 20/7 | 1 | 2.5 16MB |
32 64MB |
Micro | 1 |
| Arduino Robot | ATmega32u4 | 5 V | 16 MHz | 6/0 | 20/6 | 1 KB (ATmega32u4)/ 512 Kbit (I2C) |
2.5 KB (ATmega32u4) |
32 KB (ATmega32u4) of which 4 KB used by bootloader |
1 | 1 |
| MKRZero | SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit low power ARM MCU |
3.3 V | 48 MHz | 7 (ADC 8/10/12 bit)/1 (DAC 10 bit) |
22/12 | No | 32 KB | 256 KB | 1 | 1 |
What can you do with Arduino?
1- 3D printers: This is because some 3D printers use a couple of arduinos to to control things such as ejecting molten plastic from the print head to moving the platform.
2- You can build a small weather display system.
3- You can build a Motion- Triggered Night lamp for using under your bed.
4- You can build a system for muting any phrase you want on your television.
5- You can build an Ambilight Sensor for your LCD display.
6- You can build a Fingerprint scanner to your garage or home door.
7- You can programme and build a robotic arm.
8- You can build a fully functional Computer control panel.
9- You can build a robotic car.
10- You can build games such as Flappy bird.
11- You can build a personalised alarm system.
12- You can build a Quadruped using Arduino.
13- You can build a Kaleidoscope Infinity monitor.
14- You can build a gesture control with Arduino.
15- You can build a Smoke detection system using the MQ-2 Gas sensor.
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