Keyestudio EASY plug Control Board V1.0

Introduction:

Keyestudio Easy-plug control board is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P-PU (datasheet). It has 14 digital input/outputs (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, 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.

For convenience of wire connection, we simplify the pins GND and VCC into each plug, so you only need one RJ11 6P6C connector wire to connect a module, no need to separately connect the VCC and GND.

The pins on the original UNO are all redesigned into plug interface. On the board, you can find ports D2-D13, A0 to A5, an IIC port and a COM port. All in one simple plug.

Note: you should use the RJ11 6P6C connector wire to connect other modules to the board.

Specifications:

Microcontroller

ATmega328P-PU

Operating Voltage

5V

Input Voltage (recommended)

DC7-12V

Digital I/O Pins

14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)

PWM Digital I/O Pins

6 (D3, D5, D6, D9, D10, D11)

Analog Input Pins

6

DC Current per I/O Pin

20 mA

Flash Memory

32 KB of which 0.5 KB used by bootloader

SRAM

2 KB

EEPROM

1 KB

Clock Speed

16 MHz

Details:

  • PCB Dimensions: 122mm x 92mm x 18mm

  • Weight: 90g

Element and Interfaces:

Here is an explanation of what every element and interface of the board does:

Specialized Functions of Some Pins:

  • SPI communication: D10 (SS), D11 (MOSI), D12 (MISO), D13 (SCK).

  • IIC communication: A4 (SDA); A5(SCL)

  • Serial communication: Digital pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX).

  • PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation): D3, D5, D6, D9, D10, D11

  • External Interrupts: D2 (interrupt 0) and D3 (interrupt 1). These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.

  • SPI communication: D10 (SS), D11 (MOSI), D12 (MISO), D13 (SCK). These pins support SPI communication using the SPI library.

  • IIC communication: A4 (SDA); A5(SCL)

Detailed Use with ARDUINO Software as follows:

Step1| Download the Arduino IDE

When you get the board, first you should install the Arduino software and driver.

We usually use the Windows software Arduino 1.5.6 version. You can download it from the link below:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/OldSoftwareReleases##1.5.x

Or you can browse the ARDUINO website to download the latest version from this link, https://www.arduino.cc, pop up the following interface.

Then click the SOFTWARE on the browse bar, you will have two options ONLINE TOOLS and DOWNLOADS.

Click DOWNLOADS, it will appear the latest software version of ARDUINO 1.8.5 shown as below.

In this software page, on the right side you can see the version of development software for different operating systems. ARDUINO has a powerful compatibility. You should download the software that is compatible with the operating system of your computer.

We will take WINDOWS system as an example here. There are also two options under Windows system, one is installed version, the other is non-installed version.

For simple installed version, first click Windows Installer, you will get the following page.

This way you just need to click JUST DOWNLOAD, then click the downloaded file to install it.

For non-installed version, first click Windows ZIP file, you will also get the pop-up interface as the above figure.

Click JUST DOWNLOAD, and when the ZIP file is downloaded well to your computer, you can directly unzip the file and click the icon of ARDUINO software to start it.

Installing Arduino (Windows):

Install Arduino with the exe. Installation package downloaded well.

Click “I Agree” to see the following interface.

Click “Next”. Pop up the interface below.

You can press Browse… to choose an installation path or directly type in the directory you want. Then click “Install” to initiate installation.

Wait for the installing process, if appear the interface of Window Security, just continue to click Install to finish the installation.

Introduction for Arduino IDE Toolbar:

Double-click the icon of Arduino software downloaded, you will get the interface shown below.

(Note: if the Arduino software loads in the wrong language, you can change it in the preferences dialog. See the environment page for details.)

The functions of each button on the Toolbar are listed below:

http://wiki.keyestudio.com/index.php/File:IDE.png

Verify/Compile

Check the code for errors

Upload

Upload the current Sketch to the Arduino

New

Create a new blank Sketch

Open

Show a list of Sketches

Save

Save the current Sketch

Serial Monitor

Display the serial data being sent from the Arduino

Installing the Driver:

Next, we will introduce the driver installation for the board. The driver installation may have slight differences in different computer systems. So in the following let’s move on to the driver installation in the WIN 7 system.

The Arduino folder contains both the Arduino program itself and the drivers that allow the Arduino to be connected to your computer by a USB cable. Before we launch the Arduino software, you are going to install the USB drivers.

Plug one end of your USB cable into the Arduino and the other into a USB socket on your computer.

When you connect the board to your computer at the first time, right click the icon of your “Computer” —>for “Properties”—> click the “Device manager”, under “Other Devices”, you should see an icon for “Unknown device” with a little yellow warning triangle next to it. This is your Arduino.

Then right-click on the device and select the top menu option (Update Driver Software…) shown as the figure below.

It will then be prompted to either “Search Automatically for updated driver software” or “Browse my computer for driver software”. Shown as below. In this page, select “Browse my computer for driver software”.

After that, select the option to browse and navigate to the “drivers” folder of Arduino installation.

Click “Next” and you may get a security warning, if so, allow the software to be installed. Shown as below.

Installation completed, click “Close”.

Up to now, the driver is installed well. Then you can right click “Computer” —>“Properties”—>“Device manager”, you should see the device shown below.

Step2| Connect the board

Connect the control board to your computer using the USB cable. The power LED should go on.

Step3| Select the Arduino Board

Open the Arduino IDE, you’ll need to click the “Tools”, then select the Board that corresponds to your Arduino.

Step4| Select your serial port

Select the serial device of the Arduino board from the Tools | Serial Port menu. Note: to avoid errors, the COM Port should keep the same as the Ports shown on Device Manager.

Step5| Upload the Code

Below is an example code for displaying the Hello World!

Copy and paste the code to the Arduino environment IDE.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

int val;

int ledpin=13

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(9600);

pinMode(ledpin,OUTPUT);

}

void loop()

{

val=Serial.read();

if(val==’R’)

{

digitalWrite(ledpin,HIGH);

delay(500);

digitalWrite(ledpin,LOW);

delay(500);

Serial.println(“Hello World!”);

}

}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Then click verify button to check the errors. If compiling successfully, the message “Done compiling.” will appear in the status bar.

After that, click the “Upload” button to upload the code. Wait a few seconds - you should see the RX and TX leds on the board flashing. If the upload is successful, the message “Done uploading.” will appear in the status bar.

Step6|Open the Serial Monitor

After that, click the serial monitor button to open the serial monitor.

Then set the baud rate as 9600, enter an “R” and click Send, you should see the RX led on the board blink once, and then D13 led blink once, finally “Hello World!” is showed on the monitor, and TX led blink once.