What is Arduino? – Definition and Types [2023]

In this article, we discuss the Arduino and its family. Poly Notes Hub loves to share this note with the needed one.

What is Arduino?

It is an open-source hardware and software company that design and build single-board microcontroller and microcontroller kit for different kind of electronics and electrical projects. Arduino board contains a variety of microprocessors and controllers. The board has many analog and digital pins as well. These Arduino pins are used for data input and output processes. It has also a serial communication interface, including a Universal Serial Bus (USB) by which we upload a code or program it.

The microcontroller which is pasted on the Arduino Board can be programmed by using C and C++ programming language, using a standard API. This API is also called Arduino Programming Language.

There is a software which is called “Arduino“. This software is used to write the code and upload the code to the Arduino Development Board. If anyone wants to download and install the software then he or she has to go to their official website Arduino.cc and follow the steps for downloading the software.

Types of Arduino Board

Below we listed some Arduino boards, which are the following:

• Arduino Uno
• Arduino Nano
• Arduino Micro
• Arduino Due
• Arduino Ethernet
• Arduino Mega
• Arduino Bluetooth
• Arduino Lilypad

Here we discuss the Arduino UNO, Arduino Nano, Arduino Mega, Arduino Bluetooth, and Arduino Lilypad-

Arduino UNO

It is the most frequently used board and is the standard form of all Arduino Boards. Arduino Uno board is very useful for beginners. If anyone wants to start their first project then he or she can go with this type of development board.

Specifications of Arduino Uno

• Clock Speed is16MHz
• Operating Voltage is 5V
• Maximum Supply Voltage is 20V
• It has 6 Analog Pins and 14 Digital Pins
• SRAM is 2KB
• Flash Memory size is 32KB
• EEPROM size is 1KB

Arduino Nano

It is also a family member of Arduino. It is small in size and the price is also low. So if you have limited space on your project and want a budget-friendly project then you can use this board. This version has many advantages then Arduino Uno. Below we discuss its specifications.

Specifications of Arduino Nano

• Architecture is AVR type
• Operating Voltage is about 5V
• Flash memory size is 32KB
• SRAM is 2KB in size
• It has 22 digital input / output pins.
• Clock speed is around 16MHz

Arduino Bluetooth

This Arduino board depends on the microcontroller like atmega168 and it is also called Arduino BT. The programming on this board is done by Bluetooth like a wireless connection. BT Module (HC-05) is separately connected to the Arduino Board to do the wireless communication but this board has its own attached BT module, so this is the best choice for the wireless project with less amount of wiring.

Specifications of Arduino BT

• No of digital pins – 16
• No of analog pins – 6
• Clock Speed is about 16MHz
• It also has reset button like others
• It has screw terminals.

Arduino Mega (R3)

It is the big brother of the Arduino Uno board. The size of this board is bigger than others and it also consumes more place where we want to place it. The main advantage of this development board in Arduino versions is that it has a large no of communication pins or Input/Output pins and is capable of doing bigger projects.

Specifications of Arduino Mega

• Operating Voltage is about 5V
• Input voltage is about 7V to 12V
• Digital pins – 54
• The size of SRAM is 8KB
• The size of EEPROM is 4KB
• Clock speed is 16MHz

Arduino Lilypad

The size of this type of Arduino board is very small and circular. These boards are washable also.

Specifications of Arduino Lilypad

• Operating Voltage is about 2.7V to 5.5V
• Digital pins – 14
• Analog pins – 6
• SRAM size is 1KB
• EEPROM size 512 Bytes
• Clock Speed 8MHz

Applications of Arduino Board

There are lots of applications of Arduino board based on the type of project and purpose of the project. The applications are:

• Used in Smart Home Systems
• Used in Defense System
• In Robotics Applications
• In Automation and IoT System
• Also used in Traffic Signal Control System

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