Exploring the World of Arduino Boards: From Basics to Powerhouses

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned engineer planning your next major design project, Arduino has you covered with a development board that’s right for you.

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The Arduino Platform has long been the go-to location for amateurs and engineers, including myself, for rapid prototyping and design validation.

However, most of us do not venture beyond the popular Arduino development boards such as the UNO, nano, and mega. So, the purpose of this tutorial is to bring out all of the many varieties of Arduino development boards and perform a short comparison of their features and applications so that you can make a better choice when you want anything more than the popular UNO and nano boards.

While our primary focus here is on Arduino boards, it’s worth mentioning Microbit—a compact, programmable development board specifically designed for educational purposes. Although it’s not part of the Arduino family, it’s a valuable addition to the realm of programmable boards, offering a user-friendly entry point for beginners and students.

With a wide range of Arduino board models available each with unique features and capabilities, choosing the right one for your project can be difficult. In this blog article, we will explore the various Arduino board models and offer advice on how to choose the best board for your unique needs.

Table of Contents

Arduino Mega

Arduino Mega is an excellent choice for complicated projects. There are 54 digital input/output pins and 16 analogue inputs on the Atmega2560 microcontroller. This board is appropriate for large-scale applications requiring a large number of sensors, actuators, and communication modules. Furthermore, the Mega has greater flash memory and RAM, allowing you to run more advanced and complex applications.

Arduino Uno

The most popular and extensively used development board is the Arduino Uno. An ATMega328P microprocessor powers it. It is the most popular choice among the community since it is inexpensive, and simple to learn and use, and there are a number of prefabricated modules available for it, making it easier to construct new projects or prototypes. It has 14 digital I/O pins, 6 of which are 8-bit PWM pins, 6 of which are 10-bit analogue inputs, and basic communication interfaces like SPI, I2C, and UART.

There are many various varieties of Arduino UNO boards available on the global market, however, the majority of these boards are clones or copies of the original UNO board. As a result, the colour or appearance might vary a little

Arduino Due

The Arduino Due is a more powerful 32-bit ARM microcontroller that has the same physical factor as the Mega. With 54 digital input/output ports, 12 analogue inputs, and native support for communication protocols.

This board’s heart is an Atmel SAM3x8E Arm Cortex-M3 CPU. Due to features a faster clock speed of 84MHz and more interfaces like USB OTG, DAC, and JTAG. Also, keep in mind that the Due is a 3.3V device with no 5V I/O.

Due is well-suited for applications needing higher computing capabilities and real-time performance, such as sophisticated robotics and data processing.

Arduino Nano

Arduino Nano is a small board designed for tasks with limited space. Despite its small size, it retains the majority of the Uno’s functionality, making it a perfect choice for wearable gadgets, small robots, and projects where portability is critical. The Nano is also available in a number of configurations, including variants with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Arduino MKR Zero

The Arduino MKR Zero is a development board designed for music producers or projects using music. It features an SD connection on board as well as a specialised SPI interface for I2S communication. I2S is the most widely used digital audio communication standard. A powerful 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ SAMD21 MCU powers the MKR Zero. It is a 3.3V gadget that cannot tolerate 5V. Another significant feature of this board is that it may be powered by a LiPo battery via the onboard Battery connection. Battery monitoring is also simple because the link between the battery and the ADC is already built into the board.

Arduino Uno WiFi Rev2

As the name implies, we might think of it as UNO with an added functionality. Despite having the same form factor as the Arduino Uno, the components and functionalities are completely different.

This board is driven by an ATMega4809 MCU and communicates through WIFI and Bluetooth via u-blox NINA-W102. The NINA SoC with an inbuilt TCO/IP protocol stack makes it easy to connect to or function as an access point on a Wi-Fi network.

The board also has an ECC608 crypto chip accelerator for increased security and an IMU for inertial measurement.

Arduino Leonardo

The Arduino Leonardo stands out due to its inherent USB capabilities, which allow it to function as a human interface device (HID). This implies that it can mimic a keyboard, mouse, or gaming controller, making it perfect for applications that need keyboard or mouse input. Furthermore, the Leonardo includes 12 digital input/output pins and 7 analogue inputs, offering enough adaptability for a wide range of applications.

Arduino Micro

Just like the Arduino Nano is a UNO in a small form factor, the Arduino Micro is a Leonardo in a breadboard-friendly small form factor. It has the same capabilities as the Arduino Leonardo. The main distinction is the absence of a DC input connector. Likewise, the Arduino Micro may function as an HID or Virtual COM port device.

Portenta H7- The Fastest Arduino

Have you ever considered which Arduino board is the most powerful? If you answered yes, then the solution is Protenta H7. Many Arduino users may have never heard of this board. The Protenta H7 can run both high-level code and real-time operations at the same time. Protenta H7 is designed for high-end industrial machinery, laboratory equipment, computer vision, PLCs, industry-ready user interfaces, robotics controllers, mission-critical devices, dedicated stationary computers, high-speed booting computing, and other applications.

Conclusion

We hope everyone gained a better grasp of the numerous Arduino boards and their functionalities. So, which Arduino is suitable for you will be determined solely by your requirements.

Arduino’s diverse range of board models offers something for everyone, from beginners to advanced makers and professionals.

If you are a beginner or are working on projects that do not require a lot of computational power or onboard connectivity, you may go with the most popular UNO or Nano since they are inexpensive and simple to programme. When you need a more advanced board, choose one from the list above based on your needs.