As we talked earlier, we have different kinds of Arduino boards with different specifications. These boards extend the area of working with Arduino. For different purposes, different boards are preferred over others and more compatible. We now want to talk about them. In this part, we'll be demonstrating;

-- Arduino Uno

-- Arduino Mega

-- Arduino Due

-- LilyPad Arduino

-- Arduino Leonardo

-- Arduino Nano

-- Arduino Micro

But before that, we need to have some ideas on some terms;

⌕ Flash Memory: It is the program memory of the Arduino where the Arduino sketch is stored.

⌕ SRAM: It stands for Static Random Access Memory. The sketch creates and manipulates variables here when the programs run.

⌕ EEPROM: It is the memory where the programmers store their long-term information.

Now the fact to notice is that Flash memory & EEPROM are non-volatile memories that persist for a long time after the power being off. But the SRAM data is lost when the power is cycled.

▶ Arduino Uno R3 (Revolution 3): 

Arduino Uno is the best tool for small projects. It provides a moderate number of input & output pins with compatible specifications. It uses the ATmega 328P onboard chip.

1	Microcontroller	ATmega328P
2	Operating Voltage	5V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	6-20V
5	Digital I/O Pins	14
6	PWM Pins	6
7	Analog Input Pins	6
8	DC Current per I/O Pin	20mA
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	50mA
10	Flash Memory	32 KB
11	SRAM	2 KB
12	EEPROM	1 KB
13	Clock Speed	16 MHz
14	LED Built-in Pin	13

 

0.5 KB of the Flash Memory is used by the bootloader. We'll get to know more about this board later on. 

▶ Arduino Mega: 

Mega is called the 'Big Brother' of Uno! Mega offers more input & output pins than Uno and also larger memory components. Usually, Mega is preferred for large projects where many components are needed to be connected with Arduino that Uno can't supply.

1	Microcontroller	ATmega2560
2	Operating Voltage	5V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	6-20V
5	Digital I/O Pins	54
6	PWM Pins	15
7	Analog Input Pins	16
8	DC Current per I/O Pin	20mA
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	50mA
10	Flash Memory	256 KB
11	SRAM	8 KB
12	EEPROM	4 KB
13	Clock Speed	16 MHz

 

8 KB of the Flash Memory is used by the bootloader. Get to know more by clicking here.

▶ Arduino Due:

Due resembles to Mega in appearance but along with memory upgradations, Due is the first Arduino with 32 bit ARM core microcontroller. Thus Due is able to provide more power to larger projects. But a major fact to notice, it supports 3.3 V input voltage.

1	Microcontroller	AT91SAM3X8E
2	Operating Voltage	3.3V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	6-16V
5	Digital I/O Pins	54
6	PWM Pins	12
7	Analog Input Pins	12
8	Analog Output Pins	2 (DAC)
9	DC Current for 5V/3.3V Pin	800mA
10	Flash Memory	512 KB
11	SRAM	96 KB (two banks: 64 KB & 32 KB
12	EEPROM	4 KB
13	Clock Speed	84 MHz
14	Total DC Output Current on all I/O lines	130 mA

 

Get to know more by clicking here.

▶ Arduino Leonardo:

Leonardo is the first development board of Arduino. It differs from other boards to has a built-in USB communication that doesn't require a secondary processor. Another thing is that the libraries allow the board to act as a keyboard or mouse while connecting to a computer!

1	Microcontroller	ATmega 32u4
2	Operating Voltage	5V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	6-20V
5	Digital I/O Pins	20
6	PWM Pins	12
7	Analog Input Pins	12
8	DC Current per I/O pin	40 mA
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	50 mA
10	Flash Memory	32 KB (4KB used by bootloader)
11	SRAM	2.5KB
12	EEPROM	1 KB
13	Clock Speed	16 MHz

Get to know more by clicking here.

▶ LilyPad Arduino: 

This is the most good looking and tiny sized Arduino board. This board is specially modified for e-textile. The purpose of this one is to use wearable clothes. Along with I/O pins, there are board sensors, specially built for e-textiles. The board provides large pin-out holes that made it easy to sew and connect through conductive threads. And will you believe if I say this Arduino is washable !!!

1	Microcontroller	ATmega 168
2	Operating Voltage	2.7-5.5 V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	2.7-5.5 V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	-
5	Digital I/O Pins	14
6	PWM Pins	6
7	Analog Input Pins	6
8	DC Current per I/O pin	40 mA
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	-
10	Flash Memory	16 KB (2KB used by bootloader)
11	SRAM	1 KB
12	EEPROM	512  KB
13	Clock Speed	8 MHz

Therefore, this Arduino is useful for wearable projects like Gesture Controlled Robot. Get to know more by clicking here.

▶ Arduino Nano:

Nano is the smallest member of the Arduino family to make projects with. The main feature of it is, it is breadboard friendly, light with mostly resembles the functionalities of  Dueemilanove. It lacks the power jack. A mini- B USB cable is used instead of the standard ones.

1	Microcontroller	ATmega 328
2	Operating Voltage	5 V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12 V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	-
5	Digital I/O Pins	22
6	PWM Pins	6
7	Analog Input Pins	6
8	DC Current per I/O pin	-
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	-
10	Flash Memory	32 KB (2 KB used by bootloader)
11	SRAM	2 KB
12	EEPROM	1 KB
13	Clock Speed	16 MHz

Get to know more by clicking here.

▶ Arduino Micro:

The Micro has an appearance just like Nano but if we talk about features, it can be said as a mini version of Arduino Leonardo with the additional feature of breadboard friendly. Using ATmega 32U4 like the Leonardo, it allows the Micro to appear as a mouse or keyboard to a connected computer in addition to a virtual (CDC) serial/ COM port.

1	Microcontroller	ATmega 32U4
2	Operating Voltage	5 V
3	Input Voltage (recommended)	7-12 V
4	Input Voltage (Limit)	6-20
5	Digital I/O Pins	20
6	PWM Pins	7
7	Analog Input Pins	12
8	DC Current per I/O pin	20 mA
9	DC Current for 3.3V Pin	50 mA
10	Flash Memory	32 KB (4 KB used by bootloader)
11	SRAM	2.5 KB
12	EEPROM	1 KB
13	Clock Speed	16 MHz

Get to know more by clicking here.

Check out the next article to know about the other members of Arduino in Arduino Family: Part-02

Reference Articles:

* What are the different types of arduino boards

* Different types of Arduino boards & their uses

* https://www.arduino.cc/

Image sources:

* EIProcus

* circuito.io

* classes.engineering.wsutl.edu

* Wiring Library

* Arduino for Projects

* Pininterest

* ChillRain

* Flickr

And the conventional introduction goes like this, "Arduino is an open-source hardware & software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices." - according to Wikipedia.

Simply Arduino is a single PCB board containing a variety of options to program the on-board microprocessor. It offers analog, digital, and Pulse width modulation (PWM) pins that can be used either as input or output pins. These pins create direct connections to the MCU. 

Now the question comes, why this is so popular, or what is the advantage of this thing?

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✔ Simplified Interface: If you've worked with MCU's, you may have witnessed how difficult it is to program the MCU. You need an external burner to load programs in the MCU; adding several components to the MCU to work accordingly; supplying necessary power to the MCU which are sometimes not available. Arduino removes all these barriers. One can easily access to the MCU using Arduino.

✔ Arduino IDE: The most fascinating feature of Arduino is the IDE. IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. Using Arduino IDE, even an amateur can access the MCU programming. The onboard MCU can be programmed using simple C/C++. 

✔ Libraries & Examples: Arduino IDE comes with a vast collection of libraries that can be easily integrated into the programs to connect other modules/components/other MCUs to Arduino. One can manually install libraries in the IDE and even one can build his own library and add it to the IDE. And for the amateurs, Arduino IDE provides different example codes that are made open source.

✔ External Loading: Again Arduino can be externally programmed using the ICSP pins. Arduino can be used as an ISP. 

✔ Arduino supports various kinds of shields. That reduces the complexity of connections.

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Arduino also has SRAM, Flash Memory, EEPROM, Clock Speed. The specifications vary from board to board. There are a couple of Arduino boards;

① Arduino Uno (R3)                 

② Arduino Mega                       

③ Arduino Due                         

④ Arduino Leonardo

⑤ Arduino Nano

⑥ Arduino Micro

⑦ Arduino Lilypad

⑧ Arduino RS232

⑨ Arduino Diecimila

⑩ Arduino Duemilanove

⑪ Arduino Pro Micro

⑫ Arduino Pro

⑬ Arduino Robot

⑭ Arduino Esplora

⑮ Arduino Ethernet

⑯ Arduino Yun

⑰ Arduino Uno (R2)

⌕ Download Arduino IDE. Click IDE

⌕ Explore built-in examples. Click Examples

⌕ You can explore various Arduino projects from the website. Click Projects

⌕ Get to know about Arduino products from the Arduino website. Click Arduino Products.

There may have much more developed boards like Raspberry Pi, that offer advanced facilities and diverse environments of working but Arduino is a kinda platform that serves not only the amateurs but also the experts to build fascinating projects. The user-friendly environment of Arduino is perfect for Beginner's projects, Instructor's tool, Learner's device & so on. 

Get to know about the specifications of different kinds of Arduino boards in the next article, Arduino Family: Part - 01 

Till then, explore.............!!!

Image Source:

* DroneBot Workshop