An Arduino board is an electronic bus that allows you to develop a wide variety of devices. Because of this, it is important to know what these hardware components are for and what their main functions are.
You will find this information in the following paragraphs, in which We will also teach you the anatomy of the plate and what elements make it up. In addition, you will know all versions of Arduino in a complete list.
But this is not all, if you continue reading, we will show you the best Arduino projects that you can make yourself and from scratch. Don’t miss out on any details.
What is an Arduino board and what are these hardware components for?
Arduino boards are electronic devices and they are used in the creation of automation projects, robotics, data collection and technology, among other areas. They are very versatile buses that present a great variety of models, which adapt to every need that the user has.
They are built by companies Smart Projects, SparkFun Electronics (SFE) and Gravitech, but that does not imply that you cannot find personalized plates made by the users themselves. You must bear in mind that the latter They do not have the same quality and do not have all the technical support who have the Arduino.
The programming environment is called IDE and it is compatible with Linux, MacOS and Windows, among others. In terms of hardware, any board is made up of pins, USB ports, connectors, microprocessor, memories and other elements. Among the most outstanding versions it has Arduino are the UNO, Leonardo, Yún, ZERO and DUE, so that Before choosing a model you should know perfectly all the features and benefits that each one offers.
Anatomy of an Arduino board What are all the elements that compose it?
We will take as an example Arduino UNO to show you the elements that make up a plate.
These are:
- GND or ground. These connectors are used to bond the circuit to ground.
- Digital pins, which are used to receive voltage through signals. They are silk-screened from 0 to 13, plates other than UNO this can change for other channels.
- TX output and RX input. They are pins that are used digitally.
- Reset button, used to restart the electronic process of the board.
- In-circuit serial programmer also known as ICSP. This connector is used to install programs externally.
- Microcontroller or MCU, is in charge of performing the requested operations at high speed.
- Analog pins. In the Arduino UNO model you can find these connectors on channels A0 to A5, they have a resolution of 10 bits and a voltage voltage of 0 to 5.
- The PIN VIN It fulfills a double task because it is used for external power supply up to 12V and for grounding.
- Pines 3 and 5V. They are responsible for delivering an output to the type of voltage that bears their name and have a maximum current capacity of 60mA.
- RESET pin It connects with the RESET button and fulfills a function of resetting the microcontroller.
- Usb connector, which is used to connect the board to the computer and to incorporate software programmed into the Arduino IDE.
- Power Jack, this connector is used to power the board between 7 and 12V.
What kind of devices can be created and programmed from an Arduino?
There are a large number of devices that can be create and program from an Arduino. The limit is very large and will depend on your ability to create to obtain new results.
Among the projects that stand out the most can be found:
- Traffic lights, weather stations, robots, air purification sensors, illuminated billboards via WiFi, lights that turn on remotely, motion sensors, Internet of Things and candy vending machines.
- Industrial automation, drip irrigation in large fields, sprinkler irrigation, control of animal diets and control of frost and hail in plantations.
What are all the types of Arduino boards out there and which one is the best?
You can find a wide variety of plate models Arduino, the UNO version being the most used. This is due to the number of analog and digital pins it offers and the performance capabilities that the MCU and the memory.
But these are not the only models you can find on the market, they are also manufactured:
- BT: You can find on this Arduino board an ATmega168 microcontroller and a compatible module with a Bluetooth connection.
- Due: The Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex-M3 32-bit MCU is one of the most powerful within Arduino boards. The great versatility it offers is based on the ability to execute operations within a clock cycle.
- Esplora: the most prominent feature of this version is its shape and the inclusion of temperature, light and accelerometer sensors. In addition, it has a socket that can be connected to a large screen.
- Ethernet: This version is similar to UNO, but includes its ability to connect to the web through the Ethernet port.
- Trust: the MCU ATmega328P allows to work in a similar way to the Ethernet version but with a frequency of 8 MHz.
- Genuine 101: This Italian board has an Intel module, 80KB from SRAM and has Bluetooth and gyroscope.
- Leonardo: the main one that this arduino board has is an ATmega32u4 microcontroller, which works with a 32KB flash memory. The most important feature that this version has is the ability to handle 20 digital pins and 12 analog pins.
- LilyPad: This circular version of Arduino has an ATmega328V microcontroller and has 1KB of SRAM.
- Mega: This version has MCU ATmega2560, which works at 16Mhz. It has a SRAM memory of 8KB and up to 4KB for the EEPROM, but this is not all, it also includes 54 digital pins and 16 analog pins. Which allows you to work with great comfort on large projects.
- Micro: like the following model, it is characterized by its small size. It has a 16Mhz ATmega32u4 MCU, so it is not one of the most powerful versions either.
- Elder brother: the capacity of this version of Arduino is similar to others, but is characterized by its dimensions. It measures only 18.5 x 43.2mm, so it can be included in fairly small projects.
- Cousin: the ability of the board to connect to the web and carry out Internet of Things projects is one of the most outstanding features it offers. It supports a connection via Bluetooth and WiFi.
- Pro and Pro Mini: They are two versions that differ in size and are characterized by a low acquisition cost due to the low performance they offer.
- Star Otto: It has a graphics processor ideal for graphics projects. Its MCU is a SMT32F469BIT6 and a 384Kb SRAM memory.
- TRE: It is the first board to be manufactured in the United States and has an Atmel ATMega32u4 16Mhz microcontroller. The flash memory is 32KB and has a 2.5KB SRAM memory.
- And a: On this Arduino board you will find an ATmega32u4 MCU, the highlight being the processor that can be worked with through the OpenWrt-Yun Linux distribution. In addition, it supports a connection to WiFi and LAN.
- Zero: It is one of the most powerful you can find on the market, as it offers a 48MHz clock, an Atmel SAMD21 MCU microcontroller and a 32 KB SRAM memory. It is characterized by working with a voltage of 3.3V.
Example of projects with Arduino that you can do yourself from scratch
We will show you below projects that you can do yourself from scratch with a arduino board.
Let’s get started:
Parking sensor
With an Arduino board, you can create a device that can detect the proximity of an element and emit an alarm When you get closer It is ideal to place it in your car and have a state-of-the-art tool. You will need a Arduino UNO board, a copper head sensor with laser point, sensor receiver, a generic led and cables for connection. The circuit connection diagram must be done according to the figure we show you.
Once finish assembling all the components, You will have to copy the following code.
The first thing you should do is associate all the variables that you have defined in any library:
What needs to be done now is to tell the board to turn off any component when the power mode is low:
Now the pins must be programmed to power the sensor when they perform different actions:
Water level meter
You will need an arduino NANO R3 board for this project, an ultrasonic sensor, an HC-12 module, 5 mm red, green and yellow LEDs, a buzzer, resistors, an ON / OFF button and an LCD screen. The connection must be made using the following scheme.
Then you must copy the code that we leave you below:
Set the values you want to have for the device to activate:
To send information when the tank level changes you will have to enter:
Hexadecimal Light Ring
If you are one of the people who like to record video with the front camera of the mobile you can create your own light ring with Arduino and add functions that can be customized in a simple way. The materials you will need are: a Arduino NANO, ATtiny85 microchip, LEDs and PCB.
You will have to join the elements using the diagram that we leave you in the image and then copy and paste the code:
Gas leak sensor
In this project you will need a UNO model plate, a gas and hydrogen detection sensor, cables and a 12 volt DC motor. This project will help you maintain the security of your home and of any environment, since it has a gas leak detection system, which alerts you to possible threats.
For this you will have to mount lenses according to the diagram that we leave you in the image.
Then you will have to enter this code in the Arduino IDE:
Temperature sensor
This project will allow you obtain information on the temperature in an environment and in liquids. You’re going to need a badge Arduino UNO, a breadboard, a temperature sensor, a 4.75 k ohm resistor and cables for the connection.
You shall assemble all components as we show you in the figure.
Next, you will have to enter the following code in the arduino IDE: