The Arduino Mega 2560

It's almost like Christmas when you get a parcel in the post, and there is no better feeling to a nerd than knowing that in that little paper padded bag that fell though the hole in your door is your brand new Arduino Mega 2560 all the way from China, yes I know I got a clone again!

With out further ado gets have a look and see what it has!

Temperature sensor LM35

In this project we will be using a LM35 precession temperature sensor to read the current temperature and then output that data via serial to the computer so it can be read.

Potentiometer with LEDs and "if" commands

In this beginners project I will show you two key parts, one being a component the potentiometer and the other is a software command called "if".

*What is a potentiometer*

A potentiometer or "pot" as it is commonly know is a voltage divider (WIKI LINK) but rather than two preset resistors as you will find used in any old text book, this one you can change the resistance and measure the voltage out.

Potentiometers are used all over the place for all sorts of things, if you have volume controls in-line on headphone then that is possibly going to be one.

Serial - Computer to Arduino

This is a two part project, in this first part we will use the serial "instruction" from a computer to turn on an LED.

In the second part we will use the Arduino to send and "instruction" to the computer. (coming in a few weeks)

* What you need *

 For this project you will need:

1. Arduino UNO or NANO
2. Your Computer with the Arduino IDE and a USB cable
3. 2 x LED (two different colours)
4. 2 x Resistor 150k Ohm
5. Jumper wires
6. Breadboard

 

The digrams - Fritzing

I use a program called Fritzing to make all my diagrams that you can find in my postings.

Its open source and 100% free, I find that Fritzing is probably the easiest way to draw up circuit diagrams, real world breadboard views and even circuit designs which you can use to make your project enter the real physical world!

You can find the download link to your operating systems here LINK, they do ask for a donation just like the Arduino IDE, it all goes in to helping the program develop further so please do donate if you can!

4511 BCD to 7 segment decoder - 7 Segment display

In this project we will look at the 4511 chip and get it to display and output to a standard common cathode 7 segment display.

By the end of this project you will have a fully working chip that only uses a few pins from the Arduino and gives you an awesome number display that's easy to change!

Must have components

Just having an Arduino is one thing but what if you want to do something with it?

I have assembled a list of a few components that would be a good idea to have around for your experiments.

All of these can be purchased on-line or from local electronics parts suppliers, sadly in the UK there not a lot of "walk in" electronics shops that cater for the hobbyist or small volume parts supply :(.

If you are in the UK (and possibly in other country) Maplin do stock most of the common parts you might have to ask for them.

I tend to get most of my parts of  CPC UK (massive range) but you do have to order around £10 worth of parts to get free delivery.

Failing that try looking on Amazon or eBay if you know exactly what part you want and do not mind the quality.

Hello World, Lets get started with a Flashing LED

Lets get cracking with the first project.

This one is nice and simple, this program will make the inbuilt LED, shared on pin 13, flash on and off every second until you turn off the Arduino.

You can also find this starter project elsewhere on the Internet it might be called the "Arduino Hello World" or "Blink".

Arduino IDE

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the easiest way to get started doing awesome things with your new Arduino.

The IDE is made by the Arduino team and works with not only the genuine boards but also the clones!

As of today (12/04/2015) the IDE is no longer just for Arduino, Intel's Galileo and Edison boards can be programmed with it too making the IDE even more useful that its first start in life.  Many company use the IDE in there product design.

Here is the link to downloads the software (Link), it’s multiply platform and works in the same way on all OS's (yes I have tried them all ... how sad!).

You may be prompted to contribute a little bit of money to help with the development of the IDE, if you can donate anything that will be able to help please do think about doing it (Link).

The Nano! Up close and personell

So it’s time to show the Nano in all its small sized glory!

The Nano is pretty much a small UNO there are very little differences between the two apart from the size difference, the lack of an external power jack and the connection pins which all can be seen in the photos below.

The Nano also has the handy advantage that is can be plugged straight in to a breadboard for super quick prototyping, something that the UNO lacks unless you have lots of jumper wires! You will notice that the all pins other than the ICSP pins are pointing down so they can be bread boarded, they are male pins rather than female ones that you will find on the UNO.

The UNO up close and personnel

So let’s is started showing you the details of the Arduino UNO, I'll point out the inputs and outputs and a few key components of interest.

I will show you the genuine boards and also a few of my clones I have floating around. You will be able to see the differences between the Duel in Line Package (DIP) and the Surface Mounted (SMD) Atmel Atmega328 chips.

Original Vs. Clone

*Introduction*

Some people will swear elegance to either side but really which one really is better?

In the red corner we have the Arduino royalty, the clones are nothing more than cheap rip offs of a glorious product that deserves no place alongside the mighty originals!

And in the blue corner we have the rebel clone supporters, their view of the originals is an expensive way of doing things that have be done cheaper and thus enabling the masses to get in to electronics.

So what are the differences and should I be worried about what side I am backing?

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

The place to come for starting of in the world of Arduino.

Aimed at hobbyists and will be of use for students too!

Basic electronic introduction and hands on help, step by step guides with easy to follow instructions, starter projects and more!

Over the new few weeks I shall be adding content so keep posted!