As leaders in open-source development boards and software, the Arduino Corporation is renowned for their premier board, the Arduino Uno. The Arduino Mega 2560, while slightly less well known, is the Uno’s bigger, faster brother. With all the capabilities of four Uno boards combined, the Arduino Mega 2560 is a beefy microcontroller board based around the powerful ATmega2560 microprocessor, and is capable of almost anything you can throw at it.
ATmega2560 Description
As stated before, the brain behind the Arduino Mega is the ATmega2560. Thanks to the ATmega2560 (and its associated crystal oscillator), the Arduino Mega sports 16 MHz clocking speed, as well as 256 KB of flash, 8 KB of SRAM and 4 KB of EEPROM. Because of its brawnier processor, the Mega has 54 digital I/O pins (15 of which can provide PWM output) and 16 analog pins, which is almost four times that of its little brother, the Uno. See the graphic below for a (dare I say) mega-map of the Mega’s pins.
Arduino Mega 2560 Pinout Diagram
As far as other hardware on the Mega goes, it also touts four serial ports for general attachments, a USB connection (with a dedicated ATmega16U2 processor for interfacing with your computer), a reset button and a power supply port.
Arduino Mega 2560 Connections & Uses
Like the Uno, the Mega operates in the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The open-source coding terminal has a variety of features that make it accessible to both novices and programming gurus alike, most notably the IDE’s associated library of projects and other syntaxes created by the massive community of Arduino users. With it, anyone can add to or use the massive selection of codes to provide easy access to a world of programming possibilities.
Another prominent feature of all Arduino boards, including the Mega, are the Arduino shields. These preassembled PCBs interface directly into the Mega’s headers and give the board incredible capabilities in a condensed package. Using a shield gives your Mega board display options, Wi-Fi connectivity or even video game emulation software with relative ease. The Mega’s shield selection includes any shield compatible with the Arduino Duemilanove and Diecimila.
Arduino Mega 2560 Projects
The Arduino Mega 2560 is a fantastic option for use in prototyping with ease, especially for 3D printers and robotics, where the Uno just doesn’t hold up. For more information on the Uno, check out this article.
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