Arduino Mega
Quoting verbatim from the Arduino website[[1]]
"The Arduino Mega is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega1280 (datasheet). It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 14 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. The Mega is compatible with most shields designed for the Arduino Duemilanove or Diecimila."
Specifications
Summary
- Microcontroller: ATmega1280
- Operating Voltage: 5V
- Input Voltage (recommended): 7-12V
- Input Voltage (limits): 6-20V
- Digital I/O Pins: 54 (of which 14 provide PWM output)
- Analog Input Pins: 16
- DC Current per I/O Pin: 40 mA
- DC Current for 3.3V Pin: 50 mA
- Flash Memory: 128 KB of which 4 KB used by bootloader
- SRAM :8 KB
- EEPROM :4 KB
- Clock Speed: 16 MHz
More details on the Arduino official page[[2]] including the schematic[[3]] and Eagle files[[4]]
NOTE: There is now a newer Arduino Mega: the Mega2560. See the official Arduino page
Resources
- The offical Arduino Page[[5]]
- Arduino Software [[6]]
- Arduino Mega getting started guide [[7]]
- Slightly more indepth general Arduino guide [[8]]
- Information on another choice the MegaNano2560
Related Projects
The Arduino Mega is being used in a number of experimental projects as an alternative to the current generation of Mendel electronics[[9]]. A few examples at the time of writing include:
- Pololu Electronics.
- Arduino Mega Pololu Shield.
- Ljyang[[10]]
This area is being developed on an almost daily basis so please conduction a search[[11]] to find the latest information.