ICSP

RESET_BUTTON

POWER_SOCKET

ATmega328

USB_SERIAL_CONVERTER

ICSP_USB_SERIAL

The main processor of the Arduino Uno Rev3 is the 

 microcontroller in 28-pin SPDIP (Shrink Plastic Dual-in-Line Package).

Arduino Uno Rev3 Microcontroller

The ATmega328 Microcontroller

The reset button can be used to restart the microcontroller or to put it into bootloader mode for uploading new sketches. It has the same effect as connecting the 

Unique

Arduino Uno Rev3 Reset Button

Reset Button

The ICSP header is intended for programming the Arduino Uno Rev3 with an external programmer. It's another way of programming the board. You can connect a programmer board (a dedicated hardware) to these pins and transfer your firmware to the board via that. You can also use another Arduino board as a programmer. It's mostly used in cases where you can't program the board using USB via Arduino IDE.

Arduino Uno Rev3 ICSP Header

ICSP Header

The board has a USB Type B port, which can be used for programming the board as well as for providing power to the board. Also when the board is connected to the computer, any data transfer via Serial library is done via this connector.

Arduino Uno Rev3 USB Port

USB Port

The board has 4 builtin LEDs of which 1 is accessible in code:

TX LED: Turns on whenever the board is transmitting data via USART through USB connector.

RX LED: Turns on whenever the board is receiving data via USART through USB connector. 

Power LED (Labeled "ON"): Stays on as long as the board is powered (obviously)

 pin. It can be toggled on or off by setting that pin to HIGH/LOW correspondingly.

Digital

Arduino Uno Rev3 LEDs

LEDs

Arduino Uno Rev3 comes with a dedicated ATmega16U2 programmed to do the USB To Serial conversion. When communicating via USART through 

 pins, they go to this processor and get converted to the USB protocol and vice versa. This allows your program on the board to communicate with the computer via serial interface and abstract away the USB protocol completely.

USART

Arduino Uno Rev3 ATmega16U2 as USB to Serial Converter

USB To Serial Converter

The board has a secondary ICSP headers that are connected to the 

 processor on board. In rare cases where you may need to update the firmware on that processor, you can use the secondary ICSP headers to do so. For more details check 

ATMega16U2

Arduino Uno Rev3 ATmega16U2 ICSP Headers

ATmega16U2 ICSP

A 2.1mm center-positive power socket is one of the options to power the board. You can connect the battery pack or an AC-to-DC adapter (wall-wart) to this socket.

Arduino Uno Rev3 Power Jack

Power Socket

The Arduino Uno Rev3 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328. It is the most famous boards in the whole Arduino family and is a versatile platform for hobbyists and professionals alike, due to its ease of use and user-friendly interface. The following are some of the key features and technical specifications of the Arduino Uno Rev3:

Based on the ATmega328 microcontroller with 16 MHz clock speed

Compatible with a wide range of software development environments

14 digital I/O pins, 6 of which can be used as PWM outputs

User-friendly interface with a variety of input/output options including a USB connection, power socket, and ICSP header

32 KB of flash memory for storing code, 2 KB of SRAM, and 1 KB of EEPROM

Extendable via a big ecosystem of extension boards

In this section we review the Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout and will have an overview on its physical properties as well as major components on the board.

The Arduino Uno Rev3 board size measures 53.4mm x 68.6mm.

Arduino Uno Rev3 Dimensions

Arduino Uno Rev3 Digital Pins

Arduino Uno Rev3 Analog Pins

The GPIO pins of the board require 5V to work and the board itself can be powered in four different way: Power socket, USB Connection, 

Power

 This is the most common way to power the board after the prototyping phase is finished and is useful when the board is not connected to a computer. You can connect the battery or the AC-to-DC adapter to this socket. The socket is regulated on-board, so it can accept a wide range of voltage levels, from 7-12 V.

: The Arduino Uno Rev3 has a built-in USB Type B connection, allowing it to be powered and programmed directly from a computer or laptop. This is a convenient and easy option for many projects, especially when working on a desktop or in a laboratory setting.

Arduino Uno Rev3 VIN Pin

Arduino Uno Rev3 +5V Pin

Arduino Uno Rev3 GND Pin

+3V3

Arduino Uno Rev3 3.3V Pin

Regardless of how you choose to power the Arduino Uno Rev3, it is important to ensure that you select a power source that is appropriate for your project and that meets the voltage and current requirements of the board and your connected components.

The I/O pins of the board are capable of providing up to 20 mA of current. Any use-cases that requires more current, should be powered by an external power source.

RESET

Arduino Uno Rev3 Reset Pin

AREF

Arduino Uno Rev3 AREF Pin

IOREF

Arduino Uno Rev3 IOREF Pin

The ATmega328 processor of the Arduino Uno Rev3 provides a range of peripherals to utilize in a project. Some of the most important peripherals include:

The ATmega328 has divided I/O pins in three groups (or as it's called in its datasheet: three Ports): Port B, C and D. Each port has three registers for configuring and accessing the I/O pins belong to that port as well as reading and writing them. The pins assigned to each port are:

The processor has two 8-bit timers named Timer/Counter 0 and Timer/Counter 2 as well as a single 16-bit one named Timer/Counter 1. Timers 0 and 2 are general purpose 8-bit Timer/Counter module, with two independent Output Compare Units, and with PWM support. The 16-bit Timer/Counter 1 unit allows accurate program execution timing (event management), wave generation and signal timing measurement.

Each timer is configurable via a set of registers and provides outputs based on the control bits configured on those registers. Arduino Uno Rev3 timer pins provide access to the output of these timers as below:

OC0A

OC0B

OC1A

OC1B

OC2x

CLKO

ICP1

The watchdog peripheral provides a way to recover from faults in your projects. It can be used to reset the board if it becomes unresponsive or if a critical error occurs. It can also be configured to give an interrupt so that the code can react to such situations. Another option is to set it up to wake-up the Arduino Uno Rev3 from sleep modes. The timer counts the cycles of a separate on-chip 128kHz oscillator.

The board supports known communication protocols, including USART, I2C, and SPI. These protocols provide a way to interface with a wide range of external components and devices, allowing you to send and receive data, control motors or other devices and more.

MISO

MOSI

USART (Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter)

Programming the Arduino Uno Rev3 board is a simple process thanks to the various Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) available. These IDEs provide an easy-to-use interface for users to write, upload, and debug their code. Some of the most popular IDEs for programming the Arduino Uno Rev3 board include:

: The official IDE for the Arduino platform, providing a simple and straightforward way to write, upload, and debug code on the board.

: PlatformIO allows developer to compile the same code with different development platforms using only one IDE. It is one of the most popular tools on top of Visual Studio Code. It supports a variety of boards in including Arduino Uno Rev3

: A professional IDE for developing applications on Atmel microcontrollers, including the ATmega328 used on the Arduino Uno Rev3.

: The Arduino Web Editor allows you to write code and upload it to Arduino boards from your web browser. It doesn't require user to install any software on his/her computer which makes it a good choice for beginners. Your code will be stored in your Arduino cloud account.

: AVRDUDE is a command-line tool that can be used to program the ATmega328 microcontroller. It supports a wide range of programming methods, including JTAG, ISP, and PDI. It is especially useful for advanced users who are comfortable working with command-line interfaces.

: AVR Studio is a proprietary software that is developed by Atmel, the company that manufactures the microcontroller. It provides advanced features like debugging, programming, and device programming.

To fully utilize the capabilities and understand its architecture of the microcontroller of the board, it is important to have access to detailed information and guides. Here are some of the best online resources for the Arduino Uno Rev3:

: This is the official page of Arduino Uno Rev3 in the Arduino website.

: The microcontroller is the heart of the board. This datasheet provides detailed information about the microcontroller's features, including its memory, I/O, and peripherals.

Arduino Uno Rev3 Pinout: A pinout diagram provides a visual representation of the board's I/O pins and their functions. That's where 

 shines. So no need to go anywhere, just check the diagram at the beginning of this page.

There are several features that could make the Arduino Uno Rev3 even more versatile and useful for makers and hobbyists. Here are some of the features that could be added to the board:

More Memory: The ATmega328 microcontroller on the board only has 32 Kbytes of Flash, which can quickly become limiting for more complex projects. Adding more memory would allow for larger sketches and more advanced projects.

More I/O Pins: The board currently has 14 digital I/O pins and 6 analog inputs, which can be limiting for some projects. Adding more I/O pins would allow for more inputs and outputs to be used in a single project.

When looking for boards similar to Arduino Uno Rev3, there are many options to choose from. So the decision is mostly based on whether we want to have the same processor and different form factor or vice versa. Here is the list of 3 options to choose from:

: This board has the same processor but it has much smaller form factor. You can do your prototypes using Arduino Uno Rev3 and use Pro Mini for your final build as it takes much less space.

Arduino Pro Mini

: The Leonard board has the same form factor of the Arduino Uno Rev3 but it uses ATmega32U4. That processor has USB to serial converter, so it doesn't need to have a dedicated chip for that. Also it is an SMD component which takes less space on the board.

Arduino Leonardo

: The Nano board utilizes the ATmega328 and is breadboard friendly. This makes is much easier to use for prototyping and for beginners.

Arduino Nano

Here you can find a list of top 5 projects using Arduino Uno Rev3 that would hopefully sparkle an idea on your mind for your next project:

A Plant Watering System Powered by Arduino Uno Rev3

Arduino Uno Water Heater Thermostat for PWM Pumps

Arduino Uno Rev3 Pinout includes 14 digital I/O pins, 6 analog inputs and 6 PWMs. Arduino Uno uses ATmega328 microcontroller at 16MHz.

The registers of each port are named as (replace the 'x' with the port name):

 - The Port x Data Direction Register - read/write

 - The Port x Input Pins Register - read only

Each bit in these registers corresponds to a specific I/O pin. For example in order to set pin 

, you can set the corresponding bit on the PORTB register to 1. 

We set the bit 0 of the PORTB register to 1, because of the 

 pin in the Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout diagram. The 

 means that the pin 0 of the Port B registers (i.e. DDRB:0, PORTB:0 and PINB:0) correspond to the 

Port Register Pin

PB0,PB1,PB2,PB3,PB4,PB5,PC0,PC1,PC2,PC3,PC4,PC5,PC6,PD0,PD1,PD2,PD3,PD4,PD5,PD6,PD7

The ATmega328 processor of the Arduino Uno Rev3 has a six channel 10-bit ADC referred as 

 of the board accordingly. The 10-bit ADC provides the resolution of 1024 value which means any analog input signal between 0V to 5V applied to these pins gets mapped proportionately to a value between 0 to 1023.

Analog

ADC0,ADC1,ADC2,ADC3,ADC4,ADC5

The PWM or variable frequency output generated by the Waveform Generator based on the comparison of the current value of the Timer 0 with the value in OCR0A register. The 

 is accessible in Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout via 

Timer

The PWM or variable frequency output generated by the Waveform Generator based on the comparison of the current value of the Timer 0 with the value in OCR0B register. The 

The PWM or variable frequency output generated by the Waveform Generator based on the comparison of the current value of the Timer 1 with the value in OCR1A register. The 

The PWM or variable frequency output generated by the Waveform Generator based on the comparison of the current value of the Timer 1 with the value in OCR1B register. The 

The PWM or variable frequency output generated by the Waveform Generator based on the comparison of the current value of the Timer/Counter 2 with the value in OCR2A/OCR2B registers. The 

 is accessible on Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout via 

OC2A,OC2B

The ATmega328 can output the system clock on the 

 pin. To enable the output, the CKOUT Fuse has to be programmed. This mode is suitable when the chip clock is used to drive other circuits on the system. You can not program fuses using Arduino IDE. So in order to use the 

 output, you need to use another software and program your board using SPI via ICSP headers.

The Timer/Counter incorporates an Input Capture unit that can capture external events and give them a timestamp indicating time of occurrence. The external signal indicating an event, or multiple events, can be applied via the 

 pin or alternatively, via the analog-comparator unit. In this scenario, the pin acts as an input.

The Timer/Counter 0 can be clocked internally, via the prescaler, or by an external clock source on the 

 pin. When the timer need to be clocked externally, it should be configured via TCCR0B register. The 

 pin is accessible on Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout via 

The Timer/Counter 1 can be clocked internally, via the prescaler, or by an external clock source on the 

 pin. When the timer need to be clocked externally, it should be configured via TCCR1B register. The 

Arduino Uno Rev3 supports 2 external interrupts. The External Interrupts can be triggered by a falling or rising edge or a low level. This is set up as indicated in the specification for the External Interrupt Control Registers - EICRA. The 

Interrupt

INT0,INT1

External interrupts can also be triggered by any of the 

 pins. They only gets triggered when the logic level voltage of the corresponding pin changes.

Pin Change Interrupt

PCINT0,PCINT1,PCINT2,PCINT3,PCINT4,PCINT5,PCINT8,PCINT9,PCINT10,PCINT11,PCINT12,PCINT13,PCINT14,PCINT16,PCINT17,PCINT18,PCINT19,PCINT20,PCINT21,PCINT22,PCINT23

The Analog Comparator compares the input values on the positive pin 

 is higher than the voltage on the negative pin 

, the Analog Comparator output, ACO, is set. The comparator’s output can be set to trigger the Timer/Counter 1 Input Capture function. In addition, the comparator can trigger a separate interrupt, exclusive to the Analog Comparator. The user can select Interrupt triggering on comparator output rise, fall or toggle.

Analog Comparator

 pins on the board. It is also possible to select any of the 

 pins to replace the negative input to the Analog Comparator.

AIN0,AIN1

 (Serial Clock) is a clock signal used to synchronize the processor and peripherals. The line is used as a shared line for all connected peripherals and is available on pin 

 pin is also accessible on ICSP headers on the board.

 (Slave Select) is connected to each peripheral device and controller can enable or disable specific device using that. When controller set this pin for a specific device to low, it means that devices can communicate with the controller. When it's high, it means the device is disabled should ignore any data coming from 

. This enables controller to connect to multiple SPI enabled peripherals and sharing the same 

 on Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout. Recently it's being referred in different documents as CS (Chip Select).

 (Master Out Slave In) is for sending data from the processor to the peripheral device. It's available as pin 

 on the board. Recently it's being referred in different documents as COPI (Controller Out Peripheral In)

 is the Serial Clock pin used as clock signal between two chips communicating via the two-wire serial interface (TWI) also known as I2C. It is exposed on pin 

 is the Serial Data pin and is part of the two-wire serial interface (TWI) that can be used to communicate with other devices using a 2-wire protocol, such as I2C. It is exposed on pin 

The Arduino Uno Rev3 exposes the USART serial communication of ATmega328 on pins 

 respectively on the board). The board also utilizes a dedicate ATmega16U2 processor that is only used for converting the serial communication to USB protocol and vice versa. The USB com drivers on the computer operating system presents the serial communication port of the processor as a virtual com port on the computer. The RX and TX LEDs on the board will flash when data is being transmitted via the ATmega16U2 chip to the computer (but not for serial communication on those pins).

RXD,TXD

 (Transfer Clock) pin is the input clock for the USART transfer. It is only used by synchronous transfer mode of the USART peripheral. The pin is available on Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout on 

 on Arduino Uno Rev3 pinout as well as the Arduino Uno Rev3 board itself. By default the PWM frequency is 490 Hz, except for pins 

The PWM signals are being produced using the Timer/Counter peripherals of the processor. So in order to do any customization on the PWM signal, like changing the frequency or duty cycle, one should initialize registers corresponding to the timer producing those PWM signals.

Arduino Uno Rev3 has 14 digital input/output pins labeled from 

. Also all the analog pins of the board can be used as digital pin. This is explicitly mentioned in the documentation of 

A digital pin can be used either as input or output pin. This should be specified first using the 

When the pin mode is set, you can read the value of an input pin like this:

Also to write a digital value to a pin, you can call the 

 function passing one of the constant values 

 along with the pin number to write it to:

, the given pin will be internally connected to the 5V so that if the given pin is floated (i.e. you don't connect it to to either of 5V or GND) it will be read as 

 are labeled as RX0 and TX1. It's because they're used for serial communication when the board is connected via USB to computer. So it's better not to use them until you really ran out of digital pin for your project. 

D0,D1,D2,D3,D4,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9,D10,D11,D12,D13,D14,D15,D16,D17,D18,D19

The board provides 6 analog input pins labeled 

 connected to its 10-bit ADC. They can be used for reading analog signals such as temperature sensors, light sensors, and potentiometers.

A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5

 pin can be used to power the board with an external voltage source. This pin is regulated on-board, so it can accept a wide range of voltage levels, from 7-12 V.

This pin outputs a regulated 5V voltage. The voltage comes from either 

 pin or the USB. But it can also be used to give the power to the board. When it's used as input, it must be provided with a 5V regulated voltage. When used as voltage output, this pin can be used to power other components or devices in your project, such as sensors or actuators.

 pin of the board to your power supply ground. There are three 

 pins in total in Arduino Uno Rev3 board.

Ground

 pin that is an output of the onboard regulator. You can use it to power the sensor or other modules in the project that require lower voltage level.

Arduino Uno Rev3 has a reset pin that if gets connected to the 

 will reset the board. That's exactly what happens when you push the reset button available on the board. The board also contains a small circuit that resets the board when programming a new sketch on it. That's why you don't need to hold the reset button on the board in order to program it.

 pin is used to provide the voltage level that should be used as a reference for ADC module of the processor. The board has a 10 bit ADC which means any analog input voltage will be converted to a number between 0 to 1023. By default the board considers the input voltage (i.e. 5V) as a reference and consider a signal on that level as 1023 and any signal with a value less than 5V will be converted to a number between 0 to 1023 accordingly. When the 

 is provided with a voltage, that voltage will be considered as 1023 and all the voltage level below that will be mapped accordingly.

In order to use it, you should enable it first by calling 

 (Input/Output Reference) pin on Arduino Uno Rev3 is used as a reference voltage for the input/output voltage levels of the board. It is connected to the voltage regulator and can be used by shields to let them know the voltage level used by the board.

 (Master In Slave Out) is for sending data from the peripheral (e.g. a SPI LCD module) to the processor. It's available as pin 

Arduino Uno Rev3 Pinout

Related Development Boards

Arduino Pro

Arduino Leonardo

Arduino Nano Every