I2C stands for Inter-Integrated Circuit. It is a popular communication protocol used by several peripherals like accelerometer and gyroscopes, OLED Displays, etc. Arduino refers to I2C as Wire, which is a shorter form of the term Atmel uses (Two Wire Interface or TWI). Here are some salient features of I2C −It uses only two lines: One for data (SDA) and one for clock (SCL). I2C is synchronous because it uses a clock.The slaves are not selected via a slave select line, but via address bits.The first byte sent by the master contains a seven-bit address and a read/ write bit ... Read More

SPI stands for Serial Peripheral Interface. It is a common protocol used for communication between microcontrollers and peripherals. SD Card is a popular peripheral that uses SPI for communication. Here are some salient features of SPI −It uses four lines −Clock line (SCK), Master Input, Slave Output(MISO) for master to receive and slave to transmit, Master Output, Slave Input(MOSI) for master to transmit and slave to receiveSlave Select(SS) for selecting one among multiple slave with which communication is desired.Note that master is defined as the micro-controller which sends the clock signalIt operates in full duplex mode, meaning the master and ... Read More

The SoftwareSerial library was developed to ensure that any pins of Arduino can exchange Serial data with other peripherals, like GNSS receivers, using software. Arduino Uno, for example, has only one HardwareSerial port (pins 0 and 1), which is connected to the USB via the USB to UART conversion chip. Thus, if you have any other peripheral that requires serial communication, in the absence of SoftwareSerial, you’d have to do away with USB Serial communication.SoftwareSerial has some limitations −If you are using multiple SoftwareSerial ports, only one can receive data at a timeSpeeds can be up to a maximum of ... Read More

Don’t have Arduino IDE installed on your machine, but still want to write Arduino code? Alternatively, don’t have access to your machine, but still want to program boards with your code? Come in Arduino Online Editor. Head on to www.create.arduino.cc/editorYou will be asked to Sign Up if you are visiting this page for the first time. Complete the Sign Up formalities, and login.You will be greeted with a screen like this one −As you can see, this is very similar to the offline Arduino IDE. You can select the board and port (more on the port later), you can write ... Read More

Arduino Uno uses ATmega328P as the microcontroller. Its specifications are given below −Operating Voltage2.7-5.5VTemperature Range( C)-40 to 85Number of Pins32Programmable I/O pins23Number of PWM Pins6ADC8 channel, 10-bit resolutionFlash Memory32 kBSRAM2 kBEEPROM1 kBFlash Read/Write Cycles10000EEPROM Read/Write Cycles100000UART1SPI2I2C1Timers2 8-bit timers and 1 16-bit timerReal Time CounterYesThroughputUp to 16 MIPS at 16 MHz

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the STM32 Blue Pill Board.Arduino UnoRaspberry PiArduino Uno and Raspberry Pi are in different leagues altogether. Arduino is a microcontroller, while R-Pi is a Single Board Computer. R-Pi comes with its own operating system. Arduino has no OS, it can simply run programs compiled for the Arduino platform (which means C and C++ programs in general). There is no point comparing the two, but still let’s see the difference in specs, to drive the point home.Arduino Uno has 2 kB of SRAM. The first model of R-Pi had ... Read More

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the Arduino Nano Board.Arduino UnoArduino NanoPlease refer to the table below for the detailed comparison −UnoNanoGeneralDimensions2.7¨ x 2.1¨1.77¨ x 0.7¨Pricing$20-23$20-21ConnectivityI/O Pins1422PWM Pins66Analog Pins68ComputingProcessorATMega328PATmega328Flash Memory32 kB32 kBSRAM2 kB2 kBEEPROM1 kB1 kBClock speed16 MHz16 MHzVoltage Level5V5VUSB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBMini USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports11SPI SupportYesYesI2C SupportYesYesAs you can see, the Nano board is very similar to Uno, but compact.

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the Arduino Mega Board.Arduino UnoArduino MegaPlease refer to the table below −Dimensions Pricing I/O PinsUnoMegaGeneralDimensions2.7¨ x 2.1¨4¨ x 2.1¨Pricing$20-23$36-39ConnectivityI/O Pins1454PWM Pins615Analog Pins616ComputingProcessorATMega328PATmega2560Flash Memory32 kB256 kBSRAM2 kB8 kBEEPROM1 kB4 kBClock speed16 MHz16 MHzVoltage Level5V5VUSB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBStandard A/B USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports14SPI SupportYesYesI2C SupportYesYes

The important components of the Arduino Uno Board are shown below −The following table contains the description for each of the labels −LabelDescription17-12 V Barrel Jack2Voltage Regulator316 MHz Crystal Oscillator4USB - B Port5Reset Button6Digital Pins7ICSP Pins (SPI can be accessed from here)8ATmega328P microcontroller9Analog Pins10Serial Port TX RX LEDs11USB to UART Conversion IC12Built-in LED (connected to pin 13)

In this article, we will see how to interface Arduino with the MQ-2 gas sensor. MQ2 gas sensor is used for detecting smoke and some flammable gases like LPG, Methane, etc. It changes its resistance depending on the type of the gas. This principle can be used to raise an alarm based on the concentration of the gas.An image of the MQ2 gas sensor is given above. As you can see, it has 4 pins. Out of these the Aout pin gives the Analog voltage in proportion to the gas concentration. Higher the gas concentration, higher the voltage on the ... Read More