Let’s play with Arduino — part 1

^ don’t try this, it can be costly 😅

Coverage: What, Why, When of Arduino board.

are you a techno enthu && also you are a tyro in electronics, processors, controllers, etc, etc ? 😑. →(chillax) let’s get started 👇

What is Arduino?

Arduino board a M̶i̶c̶r̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶c̶e̶s̶s̶o̶r̶ ? its a Micro-Controller board based on ATmega a single-chip microcontroller created by Atmel. Arduino board is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software(plug and play), you can also connect N number of Actuators and Sensors.

Actuators: An actuator is a device that converts the electrical signals into physical events or characteristics. (Example: Stepper Motor)

Sensors: A sensor is a device used for the conversion of physical events or characteristics into electrical signals. (Example: Ultrasonic Sensor)

let’s take a ride on Arduino 🏇

• Consist of 14 [0–13] digital pins out of 14 digital pins, 6 are PWM (pulse with modulation, noted with ~ [3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11]). 6 analog [A0-A5]pins
• A microcontroller chip ATmega (long black bar, also called the heart of Arduino)
• Board also consists of 1 more microcontroller i.e. ATMEGA16U2 it is a USB to serial converter (black chip just above RX TX LED indicators).
• Can be powered in 3 ways (USB, power jack AKA Barrel jack, Vin)
• A reset button 🔴 (with this button we can reset Arduino, in shortcode will start executing from first-line again)
• The power indicator LED turns on when Arduino is plugged in any of the power sources mentioned above.
• The capsule-shaped thing on board is Crystal Oscillator, it uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a constant frequency. (this can be used as a timer)
• Pin 0 and 1 are RX and TX, used for communication of Arduino with other modules (for example Bluetooth module)
• RX: Receiving and TX: Transmitting (serial communication can be done with any other device using RX TX pins on Arduino)
• Board also consist of RX, TX LED indicators, that blinks when Arduino board is receiving data or transmitting data
• The Arduino does not have a digital-to-analog converter, so PWM pins do digital-to-analog conversation.
• There is 1 more inbuilt LED denoted with L in the above image for pin 13 on the board, for any experiment of flag you can use this LED, no need to plug external LED.
• Arduino provides you with 2 different output voltage 3.3V and 5V
• GND stands for ground pins (3 GND’s on board)
• The RESET pin is used to reset Arduino using code
• IO REF: provides the voltage reference with which the microcontroller operates
• ICSP: you can program the microcontroller through the ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) header using Arduino ISP or similar;

there are many types of arduino available in market, some of them are listed below (choose wisely 😉)

• Arduino RS232. (male pins)
• Arduino Diecimila.
• Arduino Duemilanove. (rev 2009b)
• Arduino Uno R2.
• Arduino Uno SMD R3.
• Arduino Leonardo.
• Arduino micro(AtMega 32U4)
• Arduino pro micro (AtMega32U4)
• etc etc

^ to much technical gyan(knowledge) for tyro’s (i know 😅)

Why choose Arduino?

yes yes I know there are a lot of microcontrollers available in the market, you might have a question why Arduino?

• Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software, what you need to do is just plug and play (what else you need ?)
• Arduino consists of 14 digital pins [0–13] out of which 6 are PWM (pulse with modulations) [3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11] so you can perform multiple I/O at the same time.
• Easy to use, connect the board with your computer (prerequisite: Arduino, connecter cable, Arduino Software, and some basic coding c, c++ are more than enough)
• according to me, this microcontroller board is cheap compared to other boards available
• you will get many related projects just google it ← great community support
• Great library support, you can interact with different modules with different libraries available.

When Should I use Arduino?

• When working with small projects, school, and high school or college projects.
• If you have an idea and want to do experiments for your product, you can start with Arduino and later on can think about a custom PCB (printed circuit board)
• If you are a hobbyist or newbies, or enthu of learning controllers and electronics.
• Then after you can think about higher-level stuff (i.e. Raspberry pi or other boards)

that's enough lecture, for now, we’ll get our hands dirty in the next session. 💻 🕹