Introduction to Arduino UNO: A Simple Approach

Introduction to Arduino UNO : A Simple Approach

Hi, everyone. Hope you all are fine and enjoying a life full of joy. This article is about introduction to Arduino UNO.  I shall introduce you the most popular version of Arduino family, i.e. Arduino UNO. Although there are few more Arduino boards available UNO is most popular. It is most suitable for beginners, students and hobbyist.

Arduino is developed by Arduino. cc. “UNO” is an Italian word that means “One”. Heart of it is a microcontroller Atmega328. It is very compact, cheap and easy to use compared to its other counterparts available these days.

It is an open-source electronics product and easy to use. It has a straightforward and user-friendly hardware structure and software with its own (IDE) Integrated Development Environment.

As a user, you can use it to do many tasks as a hobbyist or a professional developer. If someone interested in automation, it can be the first starting point. It has pins for reading input and pins for activating any output based on defined conditions. It is one of ideal component for IoT based project and automation. Anything which is electrically powered can be controlled with Arduino UNO.

Competitors

Its close competitors are 8051 microcontroller, Raspberry pi and pic microcontroller, Texas Microcontrollers. You can get Arduino and Raspberry pi comparison from my previous article.

Arduino and Raspberry Pi Comparison.

Other Arduino Boards Available

• Arduino Duemilanove
• Arduino Diecimila
• Arduino NG REV- C
• Arduino NG 240
• Arduino Extreme V2
• Arduino Extreme
• Arduino USB
• Arduino Bluetooth
• Arduino Lilypad
• Arduino Mega
• Arduino Nano

And few more available.

Now, we will go through hardware structure and differernt parts of Arduino UNO.

Microcontroller

It is based on AVR microcontroller ATmega328P.

How to Power and Program

The easiest way to power it for programming is through Laptop / Computer using type B USB Connector. Just connect USB side to the USB connector of laptop or PC and other ends with Arduino Connector.

Barrel Adopter

To power from external source Power Adopter point available. Up to 12V, DC can be applied. Internally built power regulator will convert it to 5V or 3.3V as per our requirement.

GPIO (General Purpose Input /Output Pins)

It has 14 digital I/O Pins. These pins are indicated by number 0 to number 13 as shown in the figure. These pins can be used as either a digital input or digital output. Digital means these are either low or high (i.e. 5V or 0V). No in-between states for digital pins.

Analog Pins

There is a total of 6 analog pins. These pins are represented through A0 to A5 as shown in the figure. You can use them with analogue signals directly. These analog pins have 10-bit resolution. These pins can read any voltage ranging from 0V to 5V. These pins can also be used for analog to digital conversion between 0-1023 numbers.

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Pins

Among 14 GPIO pins, 6 pins have PWM features. These are labeled as 3,5,6,9,10,11. These pins can provide PWM output. You can see small tilt sign on these numbers (Plz check pictures of GPIO Pins for clarity). All of these pins have 8-bit resolution with duty cycle range from 0 to 255. Most common examples of PWM is controlling the intensity of light or speed of the motor.

USB Port

You will use it if you want to power it through Laptop or Desktop PC.

Communication Types

Arduino UNO follows the following three communication protocols.

1. UART Serial Communication
2. SPI
3. I2C

Communication Pins

UART:

For serial communication, RX and TX pins are used. These are labeled as 0 and 1 in the GPIO Pins category.

SPI (Serial Peripheral Pin):

• Pin 11 is MOSI (Master Out Slave In) pin. This line is used for sending data to attached peripherals.
• Pin 12 is MISO (Master In Slave Out) pin. This line is used for sending data towards the Master.
• Pin 13 is SCK (Serial Clock). It is used for data synchronization.

  

I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit):

In Arduino Wire Library is required for I2C Communication

• A4 Pin for Data Signal
• A5 Pin for Clock Signal

RESET PIN

It will take the board to the initial stage of the running program. It is used if your program is stuck in the middle.

AREF

Reference voltage for analog input.

Power Pins

Vin: It is sometimes labeled as “9V”. It is used to power the board when you use external power source.

5V: Regulated power supply to power microcontroller and other components on board.

3.3V: This voltage is supplied by onboard FTDI Chip.

GND: Ground pin for voltage.

ICSP Connector

It is used to restore a missing or damaged boot loader. It has a total of 6 pins arranged in 2×3.

Shown in “Reset Pin” section.

Memory

Arduino UNO has 32Kilo byte of flash memory and 2 Kilobyte.

Oscillator

Arduino has built-in 16 MHz Crystal Oscillator. Shown in “Reset Pin” section.

LEDs

• It has a built-in led for testing purpose. This Led is attached to “Pin13” on the board.
• One Led for power indication.
• Two Led to indicated serial communication. One for Rx and other for Tx.

Bluetooth

Arduino does not have built-in Bluetooth. If you are interested in attaching a Bluetooth module then you need to use a shield (It is external hardware).

Multitasking

Multitasking is not possible in Arduino UNO; however, it performs a single operation at high speed.

Current Capacity

Current Capacity of Arduino UNO is about 50mA.

Price

Its price is about PKR:500/- in 2021.

Start and Shutdown Requirement

No special requirement to turn it ON/OFF. It will start working when it receives power through USB Port of PC or from Jack. Just unplug from the power source to turn it OFF.

Operating System

It is an IDE which can run on any operating system.

Draw Backs

• No built-in camera.
• No built-in Wifi or LAN.
• No Ethernet port.
• No HDMI Port.
• No external Memory.
• No Display Connector.
• No Audio/Video Jack.
• No Onboard storage.

Top Ten Sensors used with Arduino

Below is the list of most popular sensors used with Arduino by hobbyists and beginners. This list is not final and it can vary individual to individual.

1. Humidity and Temperature Control Sensors. Most used are DH 11, DH 22.
2. Light Sensors. Most used is LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) and Multicolor RGB Led.
3. Ultrasonic Sensor like HC-SR04
4. PIR Sensor
5. IR Sensor
6. Pressure Sensor. E.g. BMP280/BME280
7. Tilt Sensor like “ Tilt sensor with LM393.”
8. Acceleration Sensor
9. Proximity Sensor
10. Sound Sensor

Applications

Arduino applications are countless. It all depends upon your vision and exposure. Below are a few common application and area of use.

• Home Automation
• Industrial Automation
• IoT
• Robotics
• Embedded Systems
• Traffic Light Controller
• Security
• Auto light intensity control for street and home
• Light Follower /Line Follower
• Arduino Drone

And the list goes on. It all depends upon your imagination and creativity.

Final Words

So I am hopeful that most of the queries regarding Arduino basic are answered. If you like this article or you have any question, just post a comment or email us. My team and I are always there to help you with this.

Thanks a lot.