SRI KRISHNA COLLEGE OF

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

(An Autonomous Institution)
(Approved by AICTE and Affiliated to Anna University, Chennai)
ACCREDITED BY NAAC WITH “A” GRADE

DUAL AXIS INTENSITY BASED SOLAR TRACKING

SYSTEM

A MINI PROJECT I REPORT

Submitted by
D.GOBINATH (16EUEE037)
S.HARIBALAJI (16EUEE043)
N.GOKUL (16EUEE039)

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the award of the degree
of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

i
 APRIL-2018

SRI KRISHNA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

(An Autonomous Institution)
(Approved by AICTE and Affiliated to Anna University, Chennai)
ACCREDITED BY NAAC WITH “A” GRADE

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that the project report “DUAL AXIS INTENSITY BASED SOLAR
TRACKING SYSTEM” is the bonafide work of N.GOKUL(16EUEE039),
D.GOBINATH(16EUEE037) , S.HARIBALAJI(16EUEE043) who carried
out the project work under my supervision.

Dr. K. LAKSHMI, M.E., PH.D., MS.N.SUBHASHINI

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR
Department of Electrical ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
and Electronics Engineering, Department of Electrical
Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Electronics Engineering,
and Technology, Sri Krishna College of Engineering
Coimbatore-641008 and Technology,
Coimbatore-641008

This project report submitted for the Autonomous Mini Project Viva-voce
examination held on____________

ii
INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

DECLARATION

We affirm that the project titled “DUAL AXIS INTENSITY BASED SOLAR
TRACKING SYSTEM” is being submitted in partial fulfillment for the award
of BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (B.E.) is the original work carried out
by us. It has not formed the part of any other project submitted for award of any
degree or diploma, either in this or other university.

Signature of the candidates

I certify that the declaration made above by the candidate is true .

Signature of the Guide

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank the management for supporting us during our

entire project and encouraging us to be innovative and backing us in everything
we did.

We would like to thank our Principal Dr.J. JANET, for allowing us to do

this project and providing required time to complete the same.

We express our sincere thanks to our beloved Head of the Department, Dr.
K.LAKSHMI for her encouragement in our endeavor.

We deem it our duty, our sincere admiration and heartfelt gratitude to our
project guide Assistant Professor MS.N.SUBHASHINI , for having
effectively guided and supervised throughout this project by imparting her
erudite knowledge and personalized guidance blended with exemplary patience
and encouragement.

We are grateful to MR. MAIDEEN ABDHULKADHER JEYLANI,

Assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, our
project coordinator, for his profound ideas and invaluable guidance.

We thank all the teaching faculty of our department for their constant
encouragement and support during the project.

We express our sincere thanks to all the laboratory assistants for helping
us in completing the project.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our family

members, friends, well-wishers who have helped us for the successful
completion of the project.

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF TABLE xvi
LIST OF FIGURES xviii
LIST OF SYMBOLS xxvii
1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 General Background 1
1.2 Problem statement 2
1.3 Project justification
1.4 Objective
1.5 Scope of the project
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 69
2.1 GENERAL 75
2.2 . . . . . . . . . . 99
2.3 ……………. 100

3. DUAL AXIS SOLAR TRACKER

3.1 Servo motor Sg90

3.1.1 Components of servo motor

3.1.2 Control of servo motor

3.1.3 Advantages of servo motor

3.2 LDR sensor

3.2.1 Working

3.2.2 Characteristics

3.2.3 Applications of LDR

3.3 Solar panel

3.4 Arduino Uno

3.4.1 Definition

3.4.2 Product Overview

v
 3.4.3 Summary

3.4.4 Power

3.4.5 Memory

3.4.6 Input and Output

3.4.7 Communication

3.4.8 Programming

3.4.9 Dimension Drawing

4. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

4.1 Algorithm for motor control

4.2 Working

4.3 Block Diagram

4.4 Circuit Diagram

4.5 Schematic Diagram of Hardware

4.6 Final Module

5. CONCLUSION

5.1 Discussion

5.2 Conclusion

5.3 Future work

APPENDICES

REFERENCES

vi
vii
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO TITLE PAGE NO

3.1 Servomotor xvii

3.2 variable pulse width control servo position xvii

3.3 Light Dependent Resistor xix

3.4 Characteristics of LDR xxi

3.5 Solar panel xxiii

3.6 Solar cell xxiv
3.7 Arduino board xxvi
3.8 Dimension drawing xxx
3.9 Block diagram xxxii
3.10 Circuit diagram xxxiii

3.11 Schematic diagram of hardware xxxiv

viii
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO TITLE PAGE NO

3.1 Photocell resistance data xxiii

3.2 Specifications of Arduino xxvii

ABBREVATIONS

LDR Light Dependant Resistor

PWM Pulse Width Modulation

RPM Revolution Per Minute

Vin Voltage input

Gnd Ground

EEPROM Electrically Erasable

Programmable Read Only
Memory

ICSP In-Circuit Serial

Programming

ix
 ABSTRACT

Solar energy is a very important means of renewable energy resource. With

solar tracking it is possible to generate more energy since the solar panel can
maintain a perpendicular profile to the rays of sun. Even though the initial cost
of setting up the tracking system is considerably high, there are cheaper options
that have been proposed over time. This project discusses about construction
and design of Dual axis solar tracking system based on light intensity by using
ldr sensor.

The microcontroller to here used is Arduino Uno, it was programmed to detect

sunlight via ldr sensor and actuating the servo to the position of the solar panel.
The Arduino controller compares the four ldr sensor’s light intensity values and
actuates the servo motor according that.

From this project we can increase the output of the fixed solar panel by 8%-20%
by using this dual axis solar tracker.

x
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1General background

The increasing demand for energy, the continuous reduction in existing sources
of fossil fuels and the growing concern regarding environment pollution, have
pushed mankind to explore new technologies for the production of electrical
energy using renewable sources, such as solar energy, wind energy, etc. Among
the non-conventional, renewable energy sources, solar energy affords great
potential for conversion into electric power. The conversion of solar light into
electrical energy represents one of the most promising and challenging energetic
technologies, in continuous development, being clean, silent and reliable, with
very low maintenance costs and minimal ecological impact.

Different researches estimate that covering 0.16% of the land on earth with 10%
efficient solar conversion systems would provide 20 TW of power, nearly twice
the world’s consumption rate of fossil energy. This proves the potential of solar
energy which in turn points out the necessity of tracking mechanism in solar
systems.

Sunlight has two components, the direct beam that carries about 90% of the
solar energy, and the diffuse sunlight that carries the remaining. As the majority
of the energy is in the direct beam, maximizing collection requires the sun to be
visible to the panels as long as possible. A typical solar panel converts only 30
to 40 percent of the incident solar irradiation into electrical energy.

xi
Thus to get a constant output, an automated system is required which should be
capable to constantly rotate the solar panel. Fossil fuels account for around 85
percent of energy that is produced. Fossil fuel resources are limited and using
them is known to cause global warming because of emission of greenhouse
gases.

There is a growing need for energy from such sources as solar, wind, ocean tidal
waves and geothermal for the provision of sustainable and power. Solar panels
directly convert radiation from the sun into electrical energy. The panels are
mainly manufactured from semiconductor materials, notably silicon. Their
efficiency is 24.5% on the higher side. Three ways of increasing the efficiency
of the solar panels are through increase of cell efficiency, maximizing the power
output and the use of a tracking system. Maximum power point tracking
(MPPT) is the process of maximizing the power output from the solar panel by
keeping its operation on the knee point of P-V characteristics. MPPT
technology will only offer maximum power which can be received from
stationary arrays of solar panel.

The technology cannot however increase generation of power when the sun is
not aligned with the system. Solar tracking is a system that is mechanized to
track the position of the sun to increase power output by between 30% and 60%
than systems that are stationary. Dual axis trackers are among the most efficient,
though this comes with increased complexity. Dual trackers track sunlight from
box axes. They are the best option for places where the position of the sun keeps
changing during the year at different seasons. There will be bigger increase in
efficiency in cases where the weather is sunny and thus favorable for the
tracking system

xii
1.2 Problem statement

The performance of the solar system is based on the amount of the electricity
that it can produce. The direction of the sunlight is not at stationary but it will
move from time to time, depending on the movement of the sun. Mostly, the
existed solar panel nowadays are install securely which means it is static and
failed follow the movement of the sun. The performance of the solar panel is
not impressive because it produces low output power. The output power will
increase when the solar panel is perpendicular with the position of the sun. In
order to improve the performance of the solar panel, solar tracker that uses the
technology of sensor has been designed and sold in the market. However, the
cost for the system is too high causing most of the people cannot afford the
solar tracker system.

1.3 Project justification

The project was undertaken to ensure the rays of the sun are falling
perpendicularly on the solar panel to give it maximum solar energy. This is
harnessed into electrical power. Maximum energy is obtained between 1200hrs
and 1400hrs, with the peak being around midday. At this time, the sun is
directly overhead. At the same time, the least energy will be required to move
the panel, something that will further increase efficiency of the system. The
project was designed to address the challenge of low power, accurate and
economical microcontroller based tracking system which is implemented within

the allocated time and with the available resources. It is 3 supposed to track the
sun’s movement in the sky. There is implementation of an algorithm that solves
the motor control that is then written into Arduino- program on Arduino IDE
platform.

xiii
1.4 Objective

The project was carried out to satisfy two main objectives:

 Design a Dual axis system that tracks the sun light both horizontally and
vertically.
 The efficiency of this tracking system is higher than the conventional
fixed panel.

1.5 Scope of the project

The solar project was implemented using a servo motor. The choice was
informed by the fact that the motor is fast, can sustain high torque, has precise
rotation within limited angle and does not produce any noise. There is the
embedded software section where the Arduino Uno board is programmed using
the Arduino language before the chip removed from the Arduino board. The
Arduino IDE was used for the coding. It is then used as a standalone unit on a

PCB during fabrication and display.

The servo motor uses this error to rotate through a corresponding angle for the
adjustment of the position of the solar panel until such a time that the voltage
outputs in the LDRs are equal. The LDR sensor senses the analog value of the
four LDR’s and averages the top both values and bottom values and as same as
for both left and right LDR sensor values. The difference between the voltages
of the LDRs is gotten as analog readings. The difference is transmitted to the
servo motor and it thus moves to ensure the two LDRs are an equal inclination.
This means they will be receiving the same amount of light. The procedure is

repeated throughout the day

xiv
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE SURVEY

2.1 Paper 1

"Solar Tracker Robot using Microcontroller" by A.B. Afarulrazi, W. M. Utomo,

K.L. Liewand M. Zarafi published in 2011 International Conference on
Business, Engineering and Industrial Applications

2.1.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Solar Tracker Robot using Microcontroller" by

A.B. Afarulrazi, W.M. Utomo, K.L. Liew and M. Zarafi published in 2011
International Conference on Business ,Engineering and Industrial Applications
describes to design and develop an automatic Solar Tracker Robot (STR) which
is capable to track maximum light intensity. The efficiency of the solar energy
conversion can be optimized by receiving maximum light on the solar panel.
STR is microcontroller based and built to move the solar panel in one axis,
which is from east to west and vice versa. Servo motor is the actuator used to
move the solar panel due to the high torque and small in size. The STR will
automatically adjust the position of the robot so that it always faces the same
direction. This will ensure the solar panel receiving optimum sunlight if external
force is applied to move the STR

2.2. Paper 2

“ IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE FOR A TRADITIONAL SOLAR

TRACKING SYSTEM" by Nader Barsoum published in the 2009 Third
UKSim European Symposium on Computer Modelling and Simulation.

2.2.1 Summary

In the paper," IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE FOR A

TRADITIONAL SO-LAR TRACKING SYSTEM" by Nader Barsoum

xv
published in the 2009 Third UK Sim European Symposium on Computer
Modeling and Simulation describes in detail the design and construction of a
prototype for solar tracking system with two degrees of freedom, which detects
the sunlight using photocells. The control circuit for the solar tracker is based on
a PIC16F84A microcontroller (MCU). This is programmed to detect the
sunlight through the photocells and then actuate the motor to position the solar
panel where it can receive maximum sunlight. This paper is about moving a
solar panel along with the direction of sunlight; it uses a gear motor to control
the position of the solar panel, which obtains its data from a PIC16F84A
microcontroller. The objective is to design and implement an automated,
double-axis solar tracking mechanism using embedded system design in order
to optimize the efficiency of overall solar energy output

2.3 Paper 3

“Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System" by Aleksandar Stjepanovic,

Sladjana Stjepanovic, Ferid Softic, Zlatko Bundalo published in Serbia,
Nis,October 7-9, 2009.

2.3.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System" by

Aleksandar Stjepanovic, Sladjana Stjepanovic, Ferid Softic, Zlatko Bundalo
published in Serbia, Nis, October 7-9,2009 describes the design and
construction of a microcontroller based solar panel tracking system. Solar
tracking allows more energy to be produce because the solar array is able to
remain aligned to the sun. The paper begins with presenting background theory
in light sensors and stepper motors as they apply to the project. In the
conclusions are given discussions of design results. The paper begins with
presenting background theory, light sensors and stepper motors as they apply to
the project. The paper continues with specific design methodologies pertaining

xvi
to photocells, stepper motors and drivers, microcontroller selection, voltage
regulation, physical construction, and a software system operation explanation.
The paper concludes with a discussion of design results and future work.

2.4 Paper 4

" Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking System by Md.

Tanvir Arafat Khan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, Rifat Rahman, S M Shafiul Alam
published in 6th International Conference on Electrical and Computer
Engineering ICECE 2010, 18-20 December2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2.4.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking

Systemby Md. Tanvir Arafat Khan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, Rifat Rahman, S M
Shafiul Alam published in 6th International Conference on Electrical and
Computer Engineering ICECE2010, 18-20 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh
describes a microcontroller based design methodology of an automatic solar
tracker. Light dependent resistors are used as the sensors of the solar tracker.
The designed tracker has precise control mechanism which will provide three
ways of controlling system

xvii
 CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 SERVO MOTOR SG90:

Figure 3.1 servomotor

Servo motors are used for various applications. They are normally small in size
and have good energy efficiency. The servo circuitry is built inside the motor
unit and comes with a positionable shaft that is fitted with a gear. The motor is
controlled with an electric signal that determines the amount of shaft movement .

3.1.1 Components of the servo motor:

Inside the servo there are three main components; a small DC motor, a
potentiometer and a control circuit. Gears are used to attach the motor to the
control wheel. As the motor rotates, the resistance of the potentiometer changes
so the control circuit can precisely regulate the amount of movement there is
and the required direction. 21 When the shaft of the motor is at the desired
position, power supply to the motor is stopped. If the shaft is not at the right
position, the motor is turned in the right direction. The desired position is sent
through electrical pulses via the signal wire. The speed of the motor is
proportional to the difference between the actual position and the position that is
desired. Therefore, if the motor is close to the desired position, it turns slowly.
Otherwise, it turns fast.

xviii
3.1.2 How the servo is controlled:

Servos are sent through sending electrical pulses of variable width, or pulse
width modulation (PWM), through the control wire. There is a minimum pulse,
maximum pulse and a respetition rate. Servos can usually turn only 90 degrees
in either direction for a total of 180 degrees movement. The neutral position of
the motor is defined as that where the servo has the same amount of potential
rotation in both the clockwise and counter-clockwise direction. The PWM sent
to the motor determines the position of the shaft, and based on the duration of
the pulse sent through the control wire the rotor will turn to the position that is
desired. The servo motor expects to see a pulse after every 20 milliseconds and
the length of the pulse will determine how far the motor will turn. For instance,
a 1.5ms pulse makes the motor to turn in the 90 degrees position. If the pulse
was shorter than 1.5ms,it will move to 0 degrees and a longer pulse moves it to
180 degrees. This is shown below.

Figure 3.2: variable pulse width control servo position

xix
For applications where there is requirement of high torque, servos are
preferable. They will also maintain the torque at high speeds, up to 90% of the
rated torque is available from servos at high speeds. Their efficiencies are
between 80 to 90%.
A servo is able to supply approximately twice their rated torque for short
periods of time, offering enough capacity to draw from when needed. In
addition, they are quiet, are available in AC and DC, and do not suffer from
vibrations.

3.1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of servo motors:

For applications where high speed and high torque are required, servo motors
are the better option. While stepper motors peak at around 2000 RPM, servos
are available at much faster speeds. Servo motors also maintain torque at high
speed, up to 90% of the rated torque is available from servos at high speeds.
They have an efficiency of about 80-90% and supply roughly twice their rated
torque for short periods. Furthermore, they do not vibrate or suffer from
resonance issues.
Servo motors are more expensive than other types of motors. Servos
require gear boxes, especially for lower operation speeds. The requirement for a
gear box and position encoder makes the designs more mechanically complex.
Maintenance requirements will also increase.

3.2 Light Dependent Resistor :

Figure 3.3: Light Dependent Resistor

xx
The simplest optical sensor is a photon resistor or photocell which is a light
sensitive resistor these are made of two types, cadmium sulfide (CdS) and
gallium arsenide (GaAs).The sun tracker system designed here uses two
cadmium sulfide (CdS) photocells for sensing the light. The photocell is a
passive component whose resistance is inversely proportional to the amount of
light intensity directed towards it. It is connected in series with capacitor. The
photocell to be used for the tracker is based on its dark resistance and light
saturation resistance.
The term light saturation means that further increasing the light
intensity to the CdS cells will not decrease its resistance any further. Light
intensity is measured in Lux, the illumination of sunlight is approximately
30,000 lux . Normally the resistance of an LDR is very high, sometimes as high
as 1000K ohms, but when they are illuminated with light resistance drops
dramatically. When the light level is low the resistance of the LDR is high. This
prevents current from flowing to the base of the transistors. Consequently the
LED does not light. However, when light shines onto the LDR its resistance
falls.

3.2.1 Working Principle of LDR:

A light dependent resistor works on the principle of photo conductivity. Photo

conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which the materials conductivity is
increased when light is absorbed by the material. When light falls i.e. when the
photons fall on the device, the electrons in the valence band of the
semiconductor material are excited to the conduction band. These photons in the
incident light should have energy greater than the band gap of the
semiconductor material to make the electrons jump from the valence band to the
conduction band. Hence when light having enough energy strikes on the device,
more and more electrons are excited to the conduction band which results in
xxi
large number of charge carriers. The result of this process is more and more
current starts flowing through the device when the circuit is closed and hence it
is said that the resistance of the device has been decreased.
3.2.2 Characteristics of LDR:

LDR’s are light dependent devices whose resistance is decreased when light
falls on them and that is increased in the dark. When a light dependent resistor
is kept in dark, its resistance is very high. This resistance is called as dark
resistance. It can be as high as 1012 Ω and if the device is allowed to absorb light
its resistance will be decreased drastically.
If a constant voltage is applied to it and intensity of light is increased the
current starts increasing. Figure below shows resistance vs. illumination curve
for a particular LDR.

Figure3.4: Characteristics of LDR

Photocells or LDR’s are non linear devices. There sensitivity varies with the
wavelength of light incident on them. Some photocells might not at all response
to a certain range of wavelengths. Based on the material used different cells
have different spectral response curves. When light is incident on a photocell it
usually takes about 8 to 12 ms for the change in resistance to take place, while it

xxii
takes one or more seconds for the resistance to rise back again to its initial value
after removal of light. This phenomenon is called as resistance recovery rate.
This property is used in audio compressors.

Also, LDR’s are less sensitive than photo diodes and phototransistor (A photo
diode and a photocell (LDR) are not the same, a photo-diode is a PN junction
semiconductor device that converts light to electricity, whereas a photocell is a
passive device, there is no PN in this nor it “converts” light to electricity).

Photocell Resistance Testing Data:

Measured Resistance Comment

50 KΩ Dark light conditions (black vinyl tape

placed over cell)

4.35 KΩ Average light conditions (normal room

lighting level)

200 Ω Bright light conditions (flashlight

directly in front of cell)

Table 3.1 Photocell resistance data

xxiii
3.2.3 Applications of LDR:
LDR’s have low cost and simple structure. They are often used as light sensors.
They are used when there is a need to detect absences or presences of light like
in a camera light meter. Used in street lamps, alarm clock, burglar alarm
circuits, light intensity meters, for counting the packages moving on a conveyor
belt, etc.

3.3 SOLAR PANEL:

Figure3.5: solar panel

A solar tracker is a device used for orienting a photovoltaic array solar panel or
for concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun. The position of the sun
in the sky is varied both with seasons and time of day as the sun moves across
the sky. Solar powered equipment work best when they are pointed at the sun.
Therefore, a solar tracker increases how efficient such equipment are over any

xxiv
fixed position at the cost of additional complexity to the system. There are
different types of trackers. Extraction of usable electricity from the sun became
possible with the discovery of the photoelectric mechanism and subsequent
development of the solar cell. The solar cell is a semiconductor material which
converts visible light into direct current. Through the use of solar arrays, a
series of solar cells electrically connected, there is generation of a DC voltage
that can be used on a load. There is an increased use of solar arrays as their
efficiencies become higher. They are especially popular in remote areas where
there is no connection to the grid. Photo voltaic energy is that which is obtained
from the sun. A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is the
technology used for conversion of solar directly into electrical power. The
photovoltaic cell is a non mechanical device made of silicon alloy
.

Figure 3.6:solar cell

The photovoltaic cell is the basic building block of a photovoltaic system. The
individual cells can vary from 0.5 inches to 4 inches across. One cell can
however produce only 1 or 2 watts that is not enough for most appliances.
Performance of a photovoltaic array depends on sunlight. Climatic conditions
like clouds and fog significantly affect the amount of solar energy that is
received by the array and therefore its performance. Most of the PV modules are
between 10 and 20 percent efficient.

3.4 ARDUINO UNO

xxv
3.4.1 DEFINITION
Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use
hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a
sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output -
activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. To do so
you use the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring), and the Arduino
Software (IDE), based on Processing. Over the years Arduino has been the brain
of thousands of projects, from everyday objects to complex scientific
instruments. A worldwide community of makers - students, hobbyists, artists,
programmers, and professionals - has gathered around this open-source
platform, their contributions have added up to an incredible amount
of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to novices and experts alike.
Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design.

Institute as an easy tool for fast prototyping, aimed at students without a

background in electronics and programming. As soon as it reached a wider
community, the Arduino board started changing to adapt to new needs and
challenges, differentiating its offer from simple 8-bit boards to products
for IoT applications, wearable, 3D printing, and embedded environments. All
Arduino boards are completely open-source, empowering users to build them
independently and eventually adapt them to their particular needs. The software,
too, is open-source, and it is growing through the contributions of users
worldwide.

3.4.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328
(datasheet). It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM

xxvi
outputs), 6 analog inputs, 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 Uno differs
from all preceding 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. "Uno" means one in Italian and is named to mark the upcoming
release of Arduino 1.0. The Uno and version 1.0 will be the reference versions
of Arduino, moving forward. The Uno is the latest in a series of USB Arduino
boards, and the reference model for the Arduino platform; for a comparison
with previous versions, see the index of Arduino boards.

3.4.3 SUMMARY

Arduino ATmega328

Operating Voltage 5V

Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12V

Input Voltage (limits) 6-20V

Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)

Analog Input Pins 6

DC Current per I/O Pin 40Ma

DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50Ma

Flash Memory 32 KB of which 0.5 KB used by

bootloader

SRAM 2KB

EEPROM 1KB

Clock Speed 16MHz

xxvii
 Table 3.2 Components And Specification

Figure 3.7: ARDUINO BOARD

3.4.4 POWER
The Arduino Uno can be powered via the USB connection or with an
external power supply. The power source is selected automatically.

External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter

(wall- wart) or battery. The adapter can be connected by plugging a 2.1mm
center-positive plug into the board's power jack. Leads from a battery can be
inserted in the Gnd and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector.

The board can operate on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts. If supplied

with less than 7V, however, the 5V pin may supply less than five volts and the
board may be unstable. If using more than 12V, the voltage regulator may
overheat and damage the board. The recommended range is 7 to 12 volts. The
power pins are as follows:

1. VIN. The input voltage to the Arduino board when it's using an external
power source (as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other
regulated power source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or, if
supplying voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin.
2. 5V. the regulated power supply used to power the microcontroller and
other components on the board. This can come either from VIN via an

xxviii
 on-board regulator, or be supplied by USB or another regulated 5V
supply.
3. 3.3V A 3.3 volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum
current draw is 50 mA.
4. GND. Ground pins

3.4.5 MEMORY
The Atmega328 has 32 KB of flash memory for storing code (of which
0,5 KB is used for the boot loader It has also 2 KB of SRAM and 1 KB of
EEPROM (which can be read and written with the EEPROM library).

3.4.6 INPUT AND OUTPUT

Each of the 14 digital pins on the Uno can be used as an input or output,
using pinMode(), digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. They operate at 5
volts. Each pin can provide or receive a maximum of 40 mA and has an internal
pull-up resistor (disconnected by default) of 20-50 kOhms. In addition, some
pins have specialized functions:

1. Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL
serial data. TThese pins are connected to the corresponding pins of the
ATmega8U2 USB-to-TTL Serial chip .
2. External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an
interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.
See the attachInterrupt() function for details.
3. PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the
analogWrite() function.
4. SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI
communication, which, although provided by the underlying hardware, is
not currently included in the Arduino language.
5. LED: 13. There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 13. When the
pin is HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off.

The Uno has 6 analog inputs, each of which provide 10 bits of resolution (i.e.
1024 different values). By default they measure from ground to 5 volts, though
is it possible to change the upper end of their range using the AREF pin and the

xxix
 analogReference() function. Additionally, some pins have specialized
functionality:

1. I2C: 4 (SDA) and 5 (SCL). Support I2C (TWI) communication using

the Wire library. There are a couple of other pins on the board.
2. AREF. Reference voltage for the analog inputs. Used with
analogReference().
3. Reset. Bring this line LOW to reset the microcontroller. Typically used
to add a reset button to shields which block the one on the board.

3.4.7 COMMUNICATION
The Arduino Uno has a number of facilities for communicating with a
computer, another Arduino, or other microcontrollers. The ATmega328
provides UART TTL (5V) serial communication, which is available on digital
pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX).

An ATmega8U2 on the board channels this serial communication over

USB and appears as a virtual com port to software on the computer. The '8U2
firmware uses the standard USB COM drivers, and no external driver is needed.
However, on Windows, an *.inf file is required..

Arduino software includes a serial monitor which allows simple textual

data to be sent to and from the Arduino board. The RX and TX LEDs on the
board will flash when data is being transmitted via the USB-to-serial chip and
USB connection to the computer (but not for serial communication on pins 0
and 1).A Software Serial library allows for serial communication on any of the
Uno's digital pins. The ATmega328 also support I2C (TWI) and SPI
communication. The Arduino software includes a Wire library to simplify use
of the I2C bus; see the documentation for details. To use the SPI
communication, please see the ATmega328 datasheet.

3.4.8 PROGRAMMING
The Arduino Uno can be programmed with the Arduino software
(download). Select "Arduino Uno w/ ATmega328" from the Tools > Board
menu (according to the microcontroller on your board). For details, see the
reference and tutorials.

xxx
The ATmega328 on the Arduino Uno comes preburned with a boot loader that
allows you to upload new code to it without the use of an external hardware
programmer. It communicates using the original STK500 protocol (reference, C
header files).

You can also bypass the boot loader and program the microcontroller
through the ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) header; see these instructions
for details.

.2.1.9 DIMENSION DRAWING

xxxi