Arduino Boards

Arduino Boards are designed by using a variety of controllers and microprocessors. These boards are fitted with various sets of digital and analog input/output pins that can be interfaced to various other expansion. These boards also feature serial communications interfaces including Universal Serial busses in some models to connect to personal computers and other hardware equipment.

There are several varieties of Arduino Boards that are used for a variety of purposes like implementing motion sensors, LEDs, Sensors, Meters, etc. Some boards look a little different from others but they all share a few common attributes that are detailed below.

Pins:
The pins on an Arduino are where you connect wires to create a circuit usually in conjunction with a breadboard and some wires. They usually have black headers that let you plug a wire right into the board. Pins are usually of various different kinds like 5V, 3.3V, GND, Analog, Digital, PWM, AREF.

Reset Button
Every Arduino board consists of a reset button that when pushed will temporary connect the reset pins to the ground and restarting any code that was loaded onto the Arduino

Power LED Indicator:
Every Arduino board should have an LED indicator that lights up whenever you plug it into a power source.

TX/RX LED indicators:
These LEDs are used to indicate the pins that are required for serial communications. They are used to indicate when the Arduino is receiving or sending data.

Main IC:
An IC or integrated circuit is the black thing with all the metal legs. It is more or less known as the brain of the Arduino.

Voltage Regulator:
The voltage regulator as the name implies controls the amount of voltage that is let into the Arduino Boards.

The Arduino Family

Arduino makes several different kinds of boards that are used for various purposes and has different capabilities. Thanks to the Arduino boards being an open-sourced hardware, The capabilities of the Arduino boards are vast with anyone being able to repurpose them to suit their needs but there are plenty of preconfigured boards that you can buy from Arduino Tech. These can have anything that you need including digital or analog input/output pins, USB sockets, Reset buttons, Power jacks and more.
Some of the most common Arduino Boards are as follows

Entry Level Boards

These boards will help you get started with Arduino. They are easy to use and are ready for first-time users. They are best used for tinkering and learning the code.
Some examples of Entry Level boards are Arduino Uno, Arduino Leonardo and others.

Enhanced Feature Boards

These boards can be used for larger and more complex projects. They are faster and have enhanced features. These include boards like the Arduino Mega 2560 or Arduino Zero and many others.

Internet Of Things Boards

Connecting devices to the internet and local servers has never been more easy with these IoT boards that open you up to so much more. Some of the boards that can do this are Arduino Yun, Arduino Ethernet and others you can find on Arduino Tech.