Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
aPPendix
Deciphering the ATMega
Datasheet and Arduino
Schematics
At the heart of all Arduinos is an Atmel microcontroller. This appendix does
not summarize the features of all the microcontrollers in all the Arduinos, but
it is a useful exercise to investigate an ATMega datasheet to get a better idea
about how it works. Further, taking a look at the open source schematics for the
Arduino Uno will make it easier to understand how an Arduino actually works.
ReadingDatasheets
One of the most important skills that you can develop as an engineer is the
ability to read datasheets. Just about any electronic component that you can buy
has an associated datasheet that contains info about the technical limits of the
part, instructions on how to use its capabilities, and so forth.
BreakingDownaDatasheet
Consider the datasheet for the Atmel ATMega 328p, for instance. Recall that
the ATMega 328p is the microcontroller unit (MCU) used in the Arduino Uno
and many Arduino clones. Finding a datasheet can often be the trickiest part.
I recommend just doing a Google search for “ATMega 328p datasheet” and
looking for the first PDF link from Atmel. The datasheets for the MCUs used
in the Arduinos can also be found on the hardware page for each board on the
341
 
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