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Why Arduino Beetle is Getting Popular?

Even though it's the smallest Arduino board, the Arduino Beetle still has all the features of the Arduino Leonardo. This board is an impressive complement to the Arduino technology's understated design. The Atmel Atmega32u4 microprocessor serves as its foundation. Modern technology developments have led to the development of electronic gadgets that are lighter, more portable, and capable of carrying out various tasks.

These tools are cheap and can be utilized by anyone without extensive training. Although every Arduino board also functions as a microcontroller, not every microcontroller is an Arduino board. The Arduino board has built-in features that can be used without other connected components.

Arduino Beetle Features and Specifications

The primary specifications and characteristics of the Arduino Beetle are listed below:

Arduino Beetle

  • The board is miniature, measuring only 20 by 22 millimetres
  • Uploading and testing can be done directly using Micro USB.
  • Users will appreciate the V-shaped, big, gold-plated input/output ports, which are easy to twist wires onto and may be immediately stitched onto clothing using conductive thread.
  • Two honeycomb-shaped power interfaces with gold plating
  • BLINK indication in a magical light blue colour
  • The system requires a 5V supply and operates at 16MHz.
  • There are ten digital I/O pins, five analog ones, and four PWM ones.
  • Currently, the Bootloader consumes 4 KB of the 32 KB of available Flash memory.
  • Cycles of Writing/Erasing: 10,000 Flash/100,000 EEPROM
  • 20 years at 85°C and 100 years at 25°C for data retention
  • It features an ATmega32u4 microcontroller
  • UART = 1
  • I2C = 1
  • 1 Micro USB
  • 2 power ports
  • 2.5 KB SRAM
  • 1 KB of EEPROM

 

Arduino Beetle Pin Configuration

Here, I'll be discussing the pin configurations for the Arduino Beetle development board.

Analog Pins

The board includes five analog pins in total. Unlike digital pins, which could only take the values HIGH and LOW, the values that can be sent to analog pins are practically endless.

PWM Pins

While there is no DAC on this board, there are four pulse-width-modulation pins that you can use in simulating some of the functionality of an analog output. The board carries out the PWM procedure, which uses digital techniques to produce analog outputs.

Digital Pins

A total of ten digital pins are included on the circuit board. Depending on the situation, you can set up these pins as inputs or outputs. These pins have two states: ON and OFF. If turned on, they will receive 5V, but if turned off, they will receive 0V, making them switchable between two voltage states.

Atmega32u4 Pin Description

This section describes each pin on the Atmega32u4 and its uses.

Atmega32u4

Vcc

The pin serves as a source of digital voltage.

GND

This terminal is linked to the earth's surface.

Port B (PB7...PB0)

Pull-up resistors are built into the 8-bit, bidirectional input/output port known as Port B. These resistors are installed to keep the current from going above a specific safe level. Comparatively speaking, this port has more effective driving capabilities. This port's low-pulled pins generate current when utilized as an input. Pull-up resistor activation causes this to occur.

Port C (PC6, PC7)

Like Port B, Port C is a pull-up resistor-equipped, bidirectional 8-bit input/output port. Port C becomes a current source with the port pins substantially pushed down when the draw-up resistors are engaged.

Port D (PD7..PD0)

It is important to note that pull-up resistors are included with Port D, an 8-bit bidirectional input/output port. A tri-state is applied to the Port D pins whenever the reset criteria are met.

Port E (PE6, PE2)

This device's pinout consists of just two bits which are PE6 and PE2. Pull-up resistors are built into the design of this 8-bit bidirectional connection.

Port F (PF7..PF4, PF1,PF0)

It's possible to feed analog signals into the A/D converter via port F, which is bidirectional. The product's pinout is missing bit positions PF2 and PF3.

D-

Input/Output Port for Upstream Negative Data at Full/Low Speed on a USB Host Device. A serial resistor of 22W is also required and should be connected to the USB D- connector's corresponding pin.

D+

It's the USB 2.0 High-Speed/Low-Speed port for negative data upstream. It and the 22W serial resistor are wired to the USB D+ connector's plus pin.

UGND

This pin is the USB pad's ground.

UVCC

USB pads are supplied with voltage from a regulator.

UCAP

Applying Internal Regulator Output supply voltage to the USB pads

VBUS

Connect a VBUS monitor via USB.

RESET

This pin serves as a reset. A reset occurs when a low level is held at the RESET pin for a long time. Shorter pulses may not trigger a reset.

XTAL1

It's responsible for the input to the inverted oscillator amplifier and the input to the internal clock operating circuit.

XTAL2

It's what comes out of an Oscillator amplifier when it's switched to inverting mode.

AREF

The A/D converter employs this pin as its analog reference point.

AVCC

Each of the A/D Converter's inputs receives power from the AVCC terminal.

Why Arduino Beetle is Getting Popular?

One of the most recent developments in Arduino-based simplicity is the DFRobot Beetle. Because of its small size and powerful capabilities (similar to an Arduino Leonardo), this board can help you streamline your designs without sacrificing features.

This Arduino BLE board may be the smallest available. Without additional libraries or drivers, it uploads codes using the usual Arduino IDE. Another significant development in the Beetle family, the Beetle BLE gives DIY users customization options. Bluno is compatible with it in terms of instructions and practices. Allow for the use of ibeacon and Bluetooth HID modes.

Beetle's goal is to give a cheap solution for temporary projects like DIYs, workshops, gifts, E-Textiles, and educational ones by fixing issues with low-cost controllers and properly making them easy to use. Beetle is an excellent choice for makers and students on a tight budget that need access to high-quality gear.

Programming and Communication

Remember that this module supports the I2C and UART communication protocols.

The I2C uses two lines for communication, named SCL and SDA. If you want your I2C bus data transfers to be perfectly timed, you need to have a serial clock line. The latter is mainly used as a serial data line for data transmission.

Additionally, the UART is primarily utilized for serial communication, and it has two lines, Rx and Tx, for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively.

The Arduino IDE is the programming environment for all Arduino boards. Connect a micro USB cable between the Beetle and your computer, and then open the Arduino IDE.

Arduino Beetle Applications

This little monster packs the same functionality as a full-sized device like the Arduino Leonardo into its tiny body. These are a few uses for the Arduino Beetle:

  • Systems for security and health
  • Student projects
  • Development of a wireless keyboard
  • Industrial automation
  • Automatic pill dispenser
  • Embedded devices
  • A water level gauge

Conclusion

Among Arduino Leonardo boards, the Beetle is the tiniest. Without sacrificing functionality, it takes its central idea from simplicity. It's Micro USB-compatible, too, so you can avoid any hassle with indirect programming and testing. Due to its status as the smallest Arduino Leonardo, it has the same robust capabilities as its larger counterparts.

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