Compound operators in Arduino work just like in C, and they help save you some writing time, and also reduce the number of lines in your code. As the name seems to suggest, compound operators combine multiple operators.The following table lists the compound operators in Arduino.Assume that a and b are integers having values a = 5 and b = 2 in all the following examples −OperatorDescriptionExampleOutput++Incrementa++a=6--Decrementa--a=4+=Compound Additiona+=ba=7-=Compound subtractiona-=ba=3*=Compound multiplicationa*=ba=10/=Compound divisiona/=ba=2%=Compound remaindera%=ba=1&=Compound bitwise ANDa&=ba=0|=Compound bitwise ORa|=ba=7^=Compound bitwise XORa^=ba=7

In order to convert variables from one type to another, you use the CAST operator. The syntax is −(type) var;Where var is the variable to be casted, and type is the new type to which you wish to convert it. For example, if you have a variable of type float, and wish to cast it as an int.ExampleHere’s how you can do it −float f; int i; void setup() {    // put your setup code here, to run once:    f = 5.6;    i = (int) f;    Serial.println(f);    Serial.println(i); } void loop() {   ... Read More

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the STM32 Blue Pill Board.Arduino UnoSTM32duino (Blue Pill)UnoSTM32 Blue PillGeneralDimensions2.08¨ x 0.9¨4¨ x 2.1¨Pricing$20-23$3-5ConnectivityI/O Pins1437PWM Pins615Analog In Pins610Analog Out Pins (DAC)--ComputingProcessorATMega328PSTM32F103C8T6Flash Memory32 kB64 kBSRAM2 kB20 kBEEPROM1 kB-Clock speed16 MHz72 MHzVoltage Level5V3.3VUSB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBMicro-USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports13SPI SupportYes (1x)Yes (2x)CAN SupportNoYesI2C SupportYes (1x)Yes (2x)Apart from the details mentioned above, please note that STM32duino’s microcontroller is ARM Cortex M3 based. It is one of the most cost-effective boards out there, having better specs than Arduino Uno. It is growing in popularity, and for many, it is their first introduction to ... Read More

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the Teensy 3.5 board.Arduino UnoTeensyPlease refer to the table below for the detailed comparison −UnoTeensy3.5GeneralDimensions2.7¨ x 2.1¨2.5¨ x 0.7¨Pricing$20-23$25-28ConnectivityI/O Pins1442PWM Pins620Analog Pins625ComputingProcessorATMega328PMK64FX512VMD12Flash Memory32 kB512 kBSRAM2 kB256 kBEEPROM1 kB4 kBClock speed16 MHz120 MHzVoltage Level5V3.3V (though all pins are 5V tolerant)USB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBMicro-USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports16SPI SupportYes (1x)Yes (3x)CAN SupportNoYesI2C SupportYes (1x)Yes (3x)Apart from the points mentioned above, as you can see from Teensy 3.5’s visual, it has a builtin SD Card Holder. It also has a Cryptographic Acceleration Unit, Real Time Clock and CRC Computation Unit. Its microcontroller is ... Read More

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the ESP32 DevKit v1 DOIT BoardArduino UnoESP32Please refer to the table below for the detailed comparison −UnoESP32GeneralDimensions2.7¨ x 2.1¨2¨ x 1.1¨Pricing$20-23$10-12ConnectivityI/O Pins1436PWM Pins616Analog Pins6Up to 18 *Analog Out Pins (DAC)2ComputingProcessorATMega328PXtensa Dual Core 32-bit LX6 microprocessorFlash Memory32 kB4 MBSRAM2 kB520 kBEEPROM1 kB-Clock speed16 MHzUpto 240 MHzVoltage Level5V3.3VUSB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBMicro-USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports13SPI SupportYes (1x)Yes (4x)CAN SupportNoYesI2C SupportYes (1x)Yes (2x)Additional FeaturesWiFi-802.11 b/g/nBlueTooth-v4.2 BR/EDR and BLETouch Sensors-10CAM* Only 8 can be used along with WiFiThe above table itself would have driven home the point that ESP32 is hands-down much better than ... Read More

We will have a comparison of the specifications of Arduino Uno and the Arduino Due BoardArduino UnoArduino DueUnoDueGeneralDimensions2.7¨ x 2.1¨4¨ x 2.1¨Pricing$20-23$40-42ConnectivityI/O Pins1454PWM Pins612Analog Pins612Analog Out Pins (DAC)-2ComputingProcessorATMega328PAT91SAM3X8EFlash Memory32 kB512 kBSRAM2 kB96 kB (split in two banks of 64 kB and 32 kB)EEPROM1 kB-Clock speed16 MHz84 MHzVoltage Level5V3.3VUSB ConnectivityStandard A/B USBMicro USBCommunicationHardware Serial Ports14SPI SupportYesYesI2C SupportYesYesNote that the Due board differs from other Arduino boards in terms of voltage level. The microcontroller in Arduino due runs at 3.3 V instead of 5 V (common in most other boards). If you connect a higher voltage to the pins, you may end ... Read More

A hardware serial, as the name suggests, denotes that a dedicated piece of hardware (UART) enables Serial communication. In Arduino Uno, for instance, pins 0 and 1 have UART support, and they are connected to the USB via a USB-to-UART converter. That facilitates communication between your computer/laptop and the Arduino. While Arduino Uno has a single Hardware Serial, other boards like Mega have multiple. They are accessed using Serial, Serial1, Serial2, and so on.You can have a look at an example of using Multiple Hardware Serials by going to File → Examples → Communication → MultiSerialSoftware serial is a library ... Read More

If you are starting off with Arduino, then the following 5 projects can be taken up by you −7-segment display using ArduinoInterface a 7-segment display with Arduino and count from 0 to 9 on that display. This will help you get a good understanding of GPIOsAs a next step, you can interface Arduino with a potentiometer, and display the truncated voltage value (read using ADC) on the 7 segment display.Fire Alarm SystemInterface the Arduino with a smoke detector or a flame sensor and a buzzer to give a warning as soon as the readings from the smoke detector cross a ... Read More

Here are some popular boards that can be programmed using Arduino IDE −ESP8266This board is used primarily for IoT applicationsIt has WiFi and BlueTooth capabilitiesTo make this compatible with Arduino IDE, the following JSON has to be added to File → Preferences → Additional Boards Manager URLs −Next, you need to go to Tools → Boards Manager, search for ESP8266 and install this board.ESP32This is an upgrade over ESP8266It comes with two cores (supporting dual core operation) and in general has superior specs over ESP32There are various variants of this board, some like the TTGO Board even having OLED, LoRa ... Read More

The word() function converts a variable of any data type to the word data type. It is essentially a cast function.SyntaxThe syntax is −word(var)Where var is a variable of any datatype.Alternatively, you can also construct a word by specifying two bytes, the higher byte and the lower byte.SyntaxThe syntax is −word(highByte, lowByte)For instance, word(2,5) will return 517 (2 is 0b00000010 and 5 is 0b00000101; word(2,5) will return 0b0000001000000101, which equals 517).You can try out other combinations of characters and data types. You can read more about the word function from Arduino’s official documentation here.