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Arduino Pins - Odt

Digital and analog pins on the Arduino can be configured as inputs or outputs. Pins configured as inputs are high impedance and can detect signals without interfering. Pins configured as outputs can source or sink current to power devices. The Arduino also includes pull-up resistors on pins that can pull the pin high internally when configured as an input.

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72 views3 pages

Arduino Pins - Odt

Digital and analog pins on the Arduino can be configured as inputs or outputs. Pins configured as inputs are high impedance and can detect signals without interfering. Pins configured as outputs can source or sink current to power devices. The Arduino also includes pull-up resistors on pins that can pull the pin high internally when configured as an input.

Uploaded by

sweetsuresh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Arduino pins

Digital Pins
The pins on the Arduino can be configured as either inputs or outputs. This document explains
the functioning of the pins in those modes. While the title of this document refers to digital pins, it is
important to note that vast majority of Arduino (Atmega) analog pins, may be configured, and used, in
exactly the same manner as digital pins.

Properties of Pins Configured as INPUT


Arduino (Atmega) pins default to inputs, so they don't need to be explicitly declared as inputs
with pinMode() when you're using them as inputs. Pins configured this way are said to be in a high-
impedance state. Input pins make extremely small demands on the circuit that they are sampling,
equivalent to a series resistor of 100 megohm in front of the pin. This means that it takes very little
current to move the input pin from one state to another, and can make the pins useful for such tasks as
implementing a capacitive touch sensor, reading an LED as a photodiode, or reading an analog sensor
with a scheme such as RCTime.
This also means however, that pins configured as pinMode (pin, INPUT) with nothing
connected to them, or with wires connected to them that are not connected to other circuits, will report
seemingly random changes in pin state, picking up electrical noise from the environment, or
capacitively coupling the state of a nearby pin.

Pullup Resistors with pins configured as INPUT


Often it is useful to steer an input pin to a known state if no input is present. This can be done
by adding a pullup resistor (to +5V), or a pulldown resistor (resistor to ground) on the input. A 10K
resistor is a good value for a pullup or pulldown resistor.
Properties of Pins Configured as INPUT_PULLUP
There are 20K pullup resistors built into the Atmega chip that can be accessed from software.
These built-in pullup resistors are accessed by setting the pinMode() as INPUT_PULLUP. This
effectively inverts the behavior of the INPUT mode, where HIGH means the sensor is off, and LOW
means the sensor is on.
The value of this pullup depends on the microcontroller used. On most AVR-based boards, the
value is guaranteed to be between 20kΩ and 50kΩ. On the Arduino Due, it is between 50kΩ and
150kΩ. For the exact value, consult the datasheet of the microcontroller on your board.
When connecting a sensor to a pin configured with INPUT_PULLUP, the other end should be
connected to ground. In the case of a simple switch, this causes the pin to read HIGH when the switch
is open, and LOW when the switch is pressed.
The pullup resistors provide enough current to dimly light an LED connected to a pin that has
been configured as an input. If LEDs in a project seem to be working, but very dimly, this is likely
what is going on.
The pullup resistors are controlled by the same registers (internal chip memory locations) that
control whether a pin is HIGH or LOW. Consequently, a pin that is configured to have pullup resistors
turned on when the pin is an INPUT, will have the pin configured as HIGH if the pin is then switched
to an OUTPUT with pinMode(). This works in the other direction as well, and an output pin that is left
in a HIGH state will have the pullup resistors set if switched to an input with pinMode().
Prior to Arduino 1.0.1, it was possible to configure the internal pull-ups in the following
manner:
pinMode(pin, INPUT); // set pin to input
digitalWrite(pin, HIGH); // turn on pullup resistors

NOTE: Digital pin 13 is harder to use as a digital input than the other digital pins because it has an
LED and resistor attached to it that's soldered to the board on most boards. If you enable its internal
20k pull-up resistor, it will hang at around 1.7V instead of the expected 5V because the onboard LED
and series resistor pull the voltage level down, meaning it always returns LOW. If you must use pin 13
as a digital input, set its pinMode() to INPUT and use an external pull down resistor.

Properties of Pins Configured as OUTPUT


Pins configured as OUTPUT with pinMode() are said to be in a low-impedance state.
This means that they can provide a substantial amount of current to other circuits. Atmega pins can
source (provide positive current) or sink (provide negative current) up to 40 mA (milliamps) of current
to other devices/circuits. This is enough current to brightly light up an LED (don't forget the series
resistor), or run many sensors, for example, but not enough current to run most relays, solenoids, or
motors.
Short circuits on Arduino pins, or attempting to run high current devices from them, can damage
or destroy the output transistors in the pin, or damage the entire Atmega chip. Often this will result in a
"dead" pin in the microcontroller but the remaining chip will still function adequately. For this reason it
is a good idea to connect OUTPUT pins to other devices with 470Ω or 1k resistors, unless maximum
current draw from the pins is required for a particular application.
Analog Input Pins
A description of the analog input pins on an Arduino chip (Atmega8, Atmega168, Atmega328,
or Atmega1280).

A/D converter
The Atmega controllers used for the Arduino contain an onboard 6 channel analog-to-digital
(A/D) converter. The converter has 10 bit resolution, returning integers from 0 to 1023. While the main
function of the analog pins for most Arduino users is to read analog sensors, the analog pins also have
all the functionality of general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins (the same as digital pins 0 - 13).
Consequently, if a user needs more general purpose input output pins, and all the analog
pins are not in use, the analog pins may be used for GPIO.

Pin mapping
The analog pins can be used identically to the digital pins, using the aliases A0 (for analog input
0), A1, etc. For example, the code would look like this to set analog pin 0 to an output, and to set it
HIGH:
pinMode(A0, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(A0, HIGH);

Pullup resistors
The analog pins also have pullup resistors, which work identically to pullup resistors on
the digital pins. They are enabled by issuing a command such as
digitalWrite(A0, HIGH); // set pullup on analog pin 0

while the pin is an input.


Be aware however that turning on a pullup will affect the values reported by analogRead().

Details and Caveats


The analogRead command will not work correctly if a pin has been previously set to an
output, so if this is the case, set it back to an input before using analogRead. Similarly if the pin has
been set to HIGH as an output, the pullup resistor will be set, when switched back to an input.
The Atmega datasheet also cautions against switching analog pins in close temporal
proximity to making A/D readings (analogRead) on other analog pins. This can cause electrical noise
and introduce jitter in the analog system. It may be desirable, after manipulating analog pins (in digital
mode), to add a short delay before using analogRead() to read other analog pins.

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