Arduino Mega2560 Microcontroller Board

Arduino Mega2560 microcontroller board is an easy-to-use development board based on the Atmel ATmega2560 MCU.

The ATmega2560 has 256 KB of flash memory for storing code (of which 8 KB is used for the bootloader), 8 KB of SRAM, and 4 KB of EEPROM.

The Arduino Mega2560 microcontroller board 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.

The Arduino Mega2560 contains everything needed to support the MCU. Simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. This Arduino development board is compatible with most shields designed for the Arduino Duemilanove or Diecimila.

The Arduino Mega2560 differs from other development boards in that it does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it features the Atmega8U2 programmed as a USB-to-serial converter. The Arduino MCU board includes a number of facilities for communicating with a computer, another Arduino, or other MCUs.

Arduino Mega2560 Features

Power

  • Powered via USB connection or external power supply – with power source selected automatically
  • External (non-USB) power from AC-to-DC adapter (wall-wart) or battery
  • Operates on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts (7-12V recommended)

Memory

  • 256KB flash memory for storing code (of which 8KB is used for the bootloader)
  • 8KB SRAM
  • 4KB EEPROM

Input and Output

  • 54 digital pins that can be used as an input or output
  • 16 analog inputs, each of which provides 10 bits of resolution (i.e. 1024 different values)

Physical Characteristics

  • Max PCB length and width of 4 and 2.1 inches
  • USB connector and power jack extend beyond PCB

Communication

  • Designed to communicate with a computer, another Arduino, or other MCUs
  • ATmega2560 provides four hardware UARTs for TTL (5V) serial communication.
  • Onboard ATmega8U2 channels one UART over USB
  • ATmega2560 supports I²C (TWI) and SPI communication

Programming

  • Can be programmed with the Arduino software
  • ATmega2560 comes preburned with bootloader that allows new code to be uploaded without an external hardware programmer.
  • Microcontroller can be programmed through ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) header

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