PE1-4.1 Embedded Development Boards & the Arduino UNO
You can describe the Arduino UNO's pin configuration and architecture, distinguish its digital and analog ports and power options, install the IDE and upload a program.
This unit's value is that it is entirely hands-on: by the end you have made a board run your code, which is a different kind of knowing from any amount of architecture study. Understand the pin map early — which pins are PWM-capable, which are analog input only — because most beginner faults are a wire in the wrong hole rather than a bug. Arduino clones matter practically: they are cheap and common, and they sometimes need a different USB driver.
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Importance of embedded development boards
Why a ready-made board rather than a bare processor, which is a question worth answering before using one. It is about the time between an idea and a working circuit.
Origin of Arduino and the Arduino family
Where the platform came from and what else is in the family. Knowing the range helps when a project outgrows the board you started on.
Pin configuration and architecture of the Arduino UNO
What is actually on the board and what each pin does. Keep the diagram to hand for the interfacing topics below.
Power connections
How to power it, which has more options than expected and one common mistake. Drawing too much current through the board is the standard way to destroy one.
Digital and analog ports
The two kinds of port and what each can do. The analog inputs are a converter, and its resolution and reference set what you can actually measure.
Arduino clones and variants
The compatible boards from other makers, which vary in quality and in what they leave out. Worth knowing before buying the cheapest one.
Installation of the Arduino IDE
Getting the development environment onto your machine. Mechanical, and the driver step is where most people lose their first hour.
Uploading a program to the board
Getting your code onto the board, which is the loop you will run hundreds of times. Understanding what the bootloader does explains most upload failures.
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