Introduction to the Arduino Mega2560

  • calendar_today  Oct, 25 2018
  • visibility  1,977

Basically, the Arduino mega 2560 is a type of microcontroller board which is based on atmega 2560 microcontroller.  Arduino boards have modernized the electronics business with their amazing features. If you are a beginner or don’t have a knowledge about Arduino, No problem! It is very easy to use. Just you have to learn some basics of the programming language. Code it and run on the board. 

There are some types of the Arduino boards like Arduino Uno, Arduino unoR3, Arduino Mega, Arduino Nano, and Arduino pro mini. Having a lot of features on these boards are same but on the other hand, there are some features like PCB Board designs, Analogue pins etc. are different from one another. One of the best features which are the same in all Arduino boards is that you can run the code for each of the Arduino boards on the same Arduino editor. They don’t need extra attachments during in the running conditions. In short, these boards are already built in. Just plug and play according to your requirements. 

The types of boards which we have mentioned above works great with a lot of Arduino projects. But when your project goes towards the complexity, the Arduino board will leave the work because of less memory. So this is the place, where the Arduino mega will help you. The Arduino comes along with the 52 pins and 16 analog pins plus with extra memory so that you can easily store the code in it. You catch more flies, aren’t you? 

Today, we’re going to cover the mentioned aspect of Arduino mega 2560. 

  1. Working
  2. Technical Specifications 
  3. Features
  4. Much more…

Types of Arduino Boards

There are some types of Arduino boards that you can easily use in your Arduino projects. Analyze them are see which one is suitable for your project. The list is mentioned below:

  1. Arduino Uno
  2. Arduino Lilypad
  3. Arduino Due 
  4. Arduino Uno R3
  5. Arduino Micro
  6. Arduino Pro Mini
  7. Arduino Yun

Features

  1. As we’ve mentioned above that “Arduino mega 2560 is a type of microcontroller board which is based on atmega 2560 microcontroller.” It comes with some extra features that are not available in other Arduino boards like it has I/O pins and with some extra space for storing your code. 
  2. There are 54pins and 16 analog pins which are integrated on the board which makes this tool a rare component and make a boundary between it and other devices. 
  3. There are 54 digital I/O from which 15 are utilizing for a pulse with modulation.
  4. One of the best and exceptional features in the Arduino mega 2560 is ICSP header. ICSP stands for In-circuit serial programming which is also called In-system programming. The ICSP header is used for the programming for Arduino as well as for the uploading the code on the board from your PC.
  5. You can’t consider how well the Arduino mega 2560 is. It comes with the USB cable port via which you can connect the device with the computer for uploading the code on the Arduino board. 
  6. 16 MHz of the crystal oscillator is also added on the board. 
  7. Arduino Mega is uniquely intended for the activities requiring complex hardware and more memory space. The vast majority of the electronic projects should be possible entirely well by different boards accessible in the market which make Arduino Mega extraordinary for customary tasks. In any case, there are a few tasks that are exclusively done by Arduino Mega like a creation of 3D printers or controlling in excess of one engine, in light of its capacity to store more directions in the code memory and various I/O digital and analog pins.
  8. This board arrives along with resettable polyfuse that keeps the USB port of your PC from overheating within the sight of high current coursing through the board. The vast majority of the PCs accompany a capacity to shield themselves from such accessories; be that as it may, the expansion of breaker gives an additional layer of security. 
  9. There are three different ways to control the board. You can either utilize a USB link to control the board and barter code to the board or you can control it up utilizing VIN of the board or through Power jack or hitter.

Pins of Arduino Mega 2560
Arduino Mega 2560

Applications of Arduino Mega 2560

As discussed earlier, usage of Arduino mega board is pretty uncommon because of a large number of input-output pins. But it’s great for some projects like

We’ve already mentioned above the how to utilize the Arduino Mega Board which is already elegantly familiar just because of its massive counts of output and input pins. Although it is perfect for some great projects comparably:

  1. Detection of water level
  2. Internet of things applications
  3. 3D printer
  4. To control and handle more than one motor
  5. Temperature detection and sensation
  6. A robot with many sensors
  7. CNC router
  8. Automation and security projects
  9. 8-bit computer
  10. Multitasking or parallel programming

Memory Specs:

  1. Flash Memory: 256 KB
  2. SRAM: 8 KB
  3. EEPROM: 4 KB

Weight and Dimensions:

  1. Length of board: 101.52 mm
  2. A width of board: 53.3 mm
  3. Weight: 37 g

Voltage and Current Specs:

  1. DC Current for 3.3 V pin : 50mA
  2. Operating voltage: 5 V
  3. Input Voltage 6-20 V (the limit for this board)
  4. Input Voltage 7-12 V (recommended)
  5. DC Current per input/output pin : 20mA

Shield Compatibility:

The as a matter of first important thing that we should keep in our psyche before utilizing any shield is to make guaranteed of its operating voltage. We need to make clear-cut that the operating voltage of that shield is good with our board voltage as shields with higher working voltage i.e. over 3.3 V or 5 V can harm our board. Anyway for the most part sheets are having an operating voltage of 3.3 V or 5 V yet we ought to be cautious in the choice of shields which we will use with our microcontroller board to keep our board from harm. The second most vital thing that we should ensure is that the header dissemination of the shield we will utilize ought to resound with pin distribution of our board so we can just connect the shield with our board to make it prepared to utilize. Arduino mega 2560 is perfect with numerous shields that are intended for some other form of Arduino board. A portion of the shields and their ambition for which they are utilized are listed underneath.

  1. Arduino Prototyping Shield
  2. DF Robot Multi Pin Shield
  3. Arduino Mega Wi-Fi Shield
  4. Motor Controller shield

Well, it’s enough for today. If you have any query, feel free to ask. We’re here to help you and if you have any info that we can add further in our article, don’t be hesitate. Just suggest us in the comment section.