Introduction to Arduino Pro Micro

Hi Folks! Hope you’re well today. Happy to see you around. In this post today, I’ll walk you through the Introduction to Arduino Pro Micro.

Arduino Pro Micro is an Arduino compatible microcontroller board that is based on ATmega32u4. It operates at a frequency of 16MHz and 5V. It comes with 4 analog pins, 12 digital I/O pins, and 5 PWM pins. Moreover, it also supports serial communication UART with pins Rx and Tx.

Arduino is an open-source platform provided by Arduino.cc that offers both hardware and software customization. Open-source means you can use, edit, or customize the board and software based on your requirements.

Arduino boards are introduced in 2005 in Italy with the aim to provide a single platform where non-tech persons can get a hold of these boards and develop electronic devices that can interact with the environment using actuators and sensors. These boards are so easy to operate that even a common man with little knowledge about the boards can use them. These boards come in different sizes, memory space that you can incorporate in your electrical project.

Not only can you program these boards, but you can also interface them with other shields and breadboard through digital I/O pins. Loading program from the personal computer is just one click away as some boards incorporate USB (universal serial bus) through which you can test and upload program directly from computers.

This board is slightly different from the Arduino Micro board. The Arduino Pro Micro doesn’t include a reset button, 13 pin LED, and ICSP header and is smaller in size compared to the Arduino Micro board.

I suggest you buckle up as in this tutorial I’ll detail the complete Introduction to Arduino Pro Micro covering pinout, pin description, features, communication and programming, and applications.

Let’s jump right in.

Introduction to Arduino Pro Micro

• Introduced by Sparkfun, Arduino Pro Micro is an Arduino compatible microcontroller board based on ATmega32u4.
• This board operates at the frequency of 16 MHz which is required for the synchronization of the internal functions.

• It comes with a built-in micro USB port that helps you test and program the Arduino board with a computer.
• Though this tiny beast is small in size, it can perform functions like regular Arduino boards. This board comes with a flash memory of 32KB. And SRAM and EEPROM memories are 1KB and 2.5KB respectively.
• The flash memory is the memory where the Arduino Program (sketch) is stored. While EEPROM memory is used to store long-term information and SRAM memory is used to produce and manipulate variables when it starts running.
• In addition, this board is compatible with breadboards which makes it an ideal pick for a range of testing projects before you actually incorporate this device into your electrical project.
• This board supports UART serial communication with two pins Rx and Tx. The former is the receive data line used to receive serial data while the latter is the transmission line used to transmit serial data.
• The board incorporates resettable poly-fuse mainly employed to secure the USB port. It keeps the board from consuming too much power from the computer. When the current exceeds the given limit, the resistance of this polymeric material increases while it heats up. When the overcurrent is removed from the device, this fuse cools down and its resistance comes back to its original value.

Arduino Pro Micro Datasheet

Before you install this board into your electrical project, it’s wise to go through the datasheet of the board that contains the main characteristics of the board. Click the link below to download the datasheet of Arduino Pro Micro.

Arduino Pro Micro Features

The following are the main features of the Arduino Pro Micro board.

CPU = 8bit

Microcontroller = Atmega32u4

Digital I/O pins = 12

Oscillator = 16MHz

USB = 1

ADC = 4x 10-bit ADC inputs

PWM pins = 5

UART = 1

Reset button = no

ICSP header = no

Pin 13 LED = no

Software Used = Arduino IDE

Flash memory = 32KB

EEPROM = 1KB

SRAM  = 2.5KB

Size = 34mm x 18mm

Arduino Pro Micro Pinout

The following figure shows the pinout diagram of Arduino Pro Micro.

Arduino Pro Micro Pin Description

Hope you’ve got the sneak peek of this Arduino board. In this section, we’ll detail the pin description of pins incorporated on the board.

Digital I/O Pins

There are 12 digital I/O pins available on the board that are either used as input or output based on the requirement. These pins are either OFF or ON. When they are ON they receive 5V and are considered as HIGH and when they are OFF they receive 0V and are considered LOW.

Analog Pins

This board incorporates 9 channels of 10-bit ADC. These are analog pins that receive any number of values in contrast to digital pins that get only two values i.e. HIGH and LOW.

PWM Pins

The Pro Micro board features 5 PWM channels which are used to get some of the analog output’s functions. When the PWM pins are triggered, the board creates analog results with digital means.

UART Pins

Moreover, it supports UART serial communication with two pins Rx and Tx. Both pins are used to transmit and receive serial data.

SPI Pins

This board comes with a serial peripheral interface (SPI) used to layout communication between the microcontroller and other peripheral devices such as and sensors shift registers.

There are two pins for SPI communication i.e. MOSI (Master Output Slave Input) and MISO (Master Input Slave Output) – these pins are employed for sending and receiving the data by the microcontroller.

I2C Pins

• Two pins are used for I2C communication which is a two-wire communication protocol. One is SDA and the other is SCL.
  
• The former is a serial data line used to carry the data and the latter is a serial clock line used for the synchronization of all data transfer over the I2C bus.

Programming

• The Arduino IDE (integrated development environment) software is used to program this Arduino board. This software is introduced by Arduino.cc which is used to program all kinds of Arduino boards.
• This software is easy to use. As you install the software, you are given some basic LED blinking programs through which you can easily test the board on the go.
• This tiny little beast contains a built-in Bootloader that is used to burn the program and it sets you free from the drill of compiling and burning the program from the external burner.
• With a micro USB port, you don’t require a secondary processor as it appears to an attached computer as a keyboard and mouse. With this port, you can test and program the Arduino board directly from the computer.

Difference between Arduino Pro Micro and Arduino Micro

• Through both boards incorporate Atmega32u4 microcontroller they differ in few features.
• The Micro board comes with a reset button and ICSP header while the Pro micro board doesn’t incorporate those features.
• Moreover, pro micro is smaller than micro board thus fewer pins are brought out to the Arduino terminal pins.
• The missing pins include AREF, A4, A5, SS, 11, 12, and 13. This also projects that pin 13 doesn’t carry LED but it still supports Tx and Rx pins with LEDs for serial communication.

• In addition, you cannot use the SPI interface in slave mode in the case of the Pro micro board as this board doesn’t bring out SS pin. And since the pro micro board cannot bring out AREF, the external ADC reference voltage ability is absent.

• It is important to note that, though the board doesn’t carry ICSP connector, still it supports ICSP interface through which you can program the board.

Arduino Pro Micro Applications

The ability to easily groove in hard to reach places makes this board an ideal pick for a range of applications. This board can be used in the following projects.

• Windows PC lock/unlock application
• USB Trackpad
• USB Joystick
• Water Level Meter
• Electric Bike
• Creating a wireless keyboard
• Automatic Pill Dispenser

That’s all for today. I hope you’ve got a clear idea about this Arduino Pro Micro board. If you have any questions, you can approach me in the section below. I’d love to help you the best way I can. Feel free to share your valuable feedback and suggestions around the content we share, so we keep producing quality content customized to your exact needs and requirements. Thank you for reading the article.

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