Introduction to Arduino

 Introduction to Arduino circuits and breadboarding

What is Arduino?

●      Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform built on user-friendly hardware and software.

In a nutshell, Arduino is a prototyping board based on a microcontroller that can be used to create digital devices that can read inputs such as a finger pressing a button, a touch screen, a light on a sensor, etc., and turn them into outputs such as turning on an LED, turning on a motor, playing music through a speaker, etc.

Fig 1: Key components of an Arduino board. 

                [Source: https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/starting-guide/getting-started-arduino]

         1. Microcontroller - this is the brain of an Arduino, and is the component that we load programs into. Think of it as a tiny computer, designed to execute only a specific number of things.

         2.  USB port - used to connect your Arduino board to a computer.

         3. USB to Serial chip - the USB to Serial is an important component, as it helps translating data that comes from e.g. a computer to the on-board microcontroller. This is what makes it possible to program the Arduino board from your computer.

         4. Digital pins - pins that use digital logic (0,1 or LOW/HIGH). Commonly used for switches and to turn on/off an LED.

         5. Analog pins - pins that can read analog values in a 10 bit resolution (0-1023).

         6. 5V / 3.3V pins- these pins are used to power external components.

         7. GND - also known as ground, negative or simply -, is used to complete a circuit, where the electrical level is at 0 volt.

         8. VIN - stands for Voltage In, where you can connect external power supplies.

 

Basics of Circuits :

           

●      In order for electricity to flow through a circuit, there must be at least one active electronic component and a conductive medium, such wires.

●      An LED circuit is an elementary example of a circuit.

●      A cable is connected to an Arduino pin, then to an LED through a resistor to shield it from excessive current, and lastly to the ground pin (GND).

●      The microprocessor on the Arduino board allows an electric current to travel through the circuit when the pin is set to a HIGH state, turning on the LED.

Since there is no longer any electric current flowing through the circuit, the LED will turn off when the pin is set to a LOW state.

Fig 2: An LED circuit with an Arduino.

●      An LED circuit is an elementary example of a circuit.

●      A cable is connected to an Arduino pin, then to an LED through a resistor to shield it from excessive current, and lastly to the ground pin (GND).

●      The microprocessor on the Arduino board allows an electric current to travel through the circuit when the pin is set to a HIGH state, turning on the LED.

●      Since there is no longer any electric current flowing through the circuit, the LED will turn off when the pin is set to a LOW state.