Introduction to Arduino Mini
The original, true-blue Arduino is open-source hardware, which suggests anyone is liberal to download the planning files and spin their own version of the favored development board. SparkFun has jumped on this chance and created all kinds of Arduino variants, each with its own unique features, dimensions, and applications. Now one among those variants has landed in your hands; congratulations! it is a wild world out there in microcontroller-land, and you’re close to taking your initiative faraway from the wonderful — though sometimes stifling – the simplicity of the Arduino Pro Mini. There are two variants, the 5V/16MHz, and the 3.3V/8MHz.
The Arduino Mini may be a microcontroller board that supported the ATmega328 (datasheet). it’s 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 are often used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, an on-board resonator, a push button, and holes for mounting pin headers. A six-pin header are often connected to an FTDI cable or Sparkfun breakout board to supply USB power and communication to the board. The Arduino Pro Mini is meant for semi-permanent installation in objects or exhibitions. The board comes without pre-mounted headers, allowing the utilization of varied sorts of connectors or direct soldering of wires. The pin layout is compatible with the Arduino Mini.
Pinout of Arduino Mini
The Pro Mini’s pins surround three of the four sides. The pins on the short side are used for programming, they match up to the FTDI Basic Breakout. The pins on the other two sides are an assortment of power and GPIO pins (just like the standard Arduino).
There are three different power-related pins: GND, VCC, and RAW. GND, obviously, is the common/ground/0V reference. RAW is the input voltage that runs into the regulator. The voltage at this input can be anywhere from 3.4 to 12V. The voltage at VCC is supplied directly to the Pro Mini, so any voltage applied to that pin should already be regulated to 3.3V.
Four pins are actually not located on the edge of the board: A4, A5, A6, and A7. Each of these analog pins is labeled on the backside of the board.
- Microcontroller: The ATmega328p is the Arduino’s brain. Everything on the Arduino board is meant to support this microcontroller.
- Digital pins: Arduino has 14 digital pins, labeled from 0 to 13 that can act as inputs or outputs. When set as inputs, these pins can read voltage. They can only read two different states HIGH or LOW. When set as outputs, these pins can apply voltage. They can only apply 5V (HIGH) or 0V (LOW).
- PWM pins: These are digital pins marked with a ~ (pins eleven, 10, 9, 6, 5 and 3). PWM stands for “pulse dimension modulation” and permits to form digital pins output “fake” variable amounts of voltage. You’ll learn additional concerning PWM later.
- TX and RX pins: digital pins zero and one. The T stands for “transmit” and also the R for “receive”. Arduino uses these pins to speak with the pc. Avoid victimization these pins, unless you’re running out of pins.
- TX and RX pins: these pins blink when there is information being sent between the computer and the Arduino.
- Analog pins: the analog pins are labeled from A0 to A5 and are most frequently wont to browse analog sensors. they will browse totally different amounts of voltage between zero and 5V. in addition, they will even be used as digital output/input pins just like the digital pins.
- Reset button: when you press that button, the program that’s presently being run in your Arduino can begin from the start. you furthermore might have a Reset pin next to the facility pins that act because of the button. after you apply a tiny low voltage to its pin, it’ll reset the Arduino.
Specification
- Microcontroller: ATmega328P
- Operating Voltage: 5V
- Input Voltage: 7-9 V
- Digital I/O Pins: 12 (of which 5 provide PWM output)
- Analog Input Pins: 8
- DC Current per I/O Pin: 40 mA
- Flash Memory: 32 KB (of which 2 KB used by bootloader)
- SRAM: 2 KB
- EEPROM: 1 KB
- Clock Speed: 8/16 MHz