The Arduino Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560

(datasheet). It has 54 digital input/output pins (o !hich "4 can be used as #$M outputs)%
"6 analog inputs% 4 &A'Ts (hard!are serial ports)% a "6 M() cr*stal oscillator% a &+,
connection% a po!er -ac.% an I/+# header% and a reset button. It contains e0er*thing
needed to support the microcontroller1 simpl* connect it to a computer !ith a &+, cable or
po!er it !ith a A/2to23/ adapter or batter* to get started. The Mega is compatible !ith
most shields designed or the Arduino 3uemilano0e or 3iecimila.
4A564 iles7 arduino2mega25602reerence2design.)ip +chematic7 arduino2mega25602schematic.pd
Microcontroller ATmega2560
8perating 9oltage 59
Input 9oltage (recommended) :2"29
Input 9oltage (limits) 62209
3igital I/8 #ins 54 (o !hich "4 pro0ide #$M output)
Analog Input #ins "6
3/ /urrent per I/8 #in 40 mA
3/ /urrent or ;.;9 #in 50 mA
<lash Memor* 256 =, o !hich > =, used b* bootloader
+'AM > =,
44#'8M 4 =,
/loc. +peed "6 M()
The Arduino Mega2560 can be po!ered 0ia the &+, connection or !ith an e?ternal po!er suppl*. The po!er source is
selected automaticall*. 4?ternal (non2&+,) po!er can come either rom an A/2to23/ adapter (!all2!art) or batter*. The
adapter can be connected b* plugging a 2."mm center2positi0e plug into the board@s po!er -ac.. 6eads rom a batter*
can be inserted in the 5nd and 9in pin headers o the #8$4' connector.
The board can operate on an e?ternal suppl* o 6 to 20 0olts. I supplied !ith less than :9% ho!e0er% the 59 pin ma*
suppl* less than i0e 0olts and the board ma* be unstable. I using more than "29% the 0oltage regulator ma* o0erheat
and damage the board. The recommended range is : to "2 0olts.
The Mega2560 diers rom all preceding boards in that it does not use the <T3I &+,2to2serial dri0er chip. Instead% it
eatures the Atmega>&2 programmed as a &+,2to2serial con0erter.
The po!er pins are as ollo!s7
VIN. The input 0oltage to the Arduino board !hen it@s using an e?ternal po!er source (as opposed to 5 0olts
rom the &+, connection or other regulated po!er source). Aou can suppl* 0oltage through this pin% or% i
suppl*ing 0oltage 0ia the po!er -ac.% access it through this pin.
5V. The regulated po!er suppl* used to po!er the microcontroller and other components on the board. This
can come either rom 9IB 0ia an on2board regulator% or be supplied b* &+, or another regulated 59 suppl*.
3V3. A ;.; 0olt suppl* generated b* the on2board regulator. Ma?imum current dra! is 50 mA.
GND. 5round pins.
The ATmega2560 has 256 =, o lash memor* or storing code (o !hich > =, is used or the bootloader)% > =, o
+'AM and 4 =, o 44#'8M (!hich can be read and !ritten !ith the 44#'8M librar*).
4ach o the 54 digital pins on the Mega can be used as an input or output% using pinMode()% digital$rite()% and
digital'ead() unctions. The* operate at 5 0olts. 4ach pin can pro0ide or recei0e a ma?imum o 40 mA and has an
internal pull2up resistor (disconnected b* deault) o 20250 .8hms. In addition% some pins ha0e speciali)ed unctions7
Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX); Serial 1: 19 (RX) and 18 (TX); Serial 2: 17 (RX) and 16 (TX); Serial 3: 15 (RX) and
1 (TX). &sed to recei0e ('C) and transmit (TC) TT6 serial data. #ins 0 and " are also connected to the
corresponding pins o the ATmega>&2 &+,2to2TT6 +erial chip .
!"#ernal In#err$%#&: 2 (in#err$%# 0)' 3 (in#err$%# 1)' 18 (in#err$%# 5)' 19 (in#err$%# )' 20 (in#err$%# 3)' and 21
(in#err$%# 2). These pins can be conigured to trigger an interrupt on a lo! 0alue% a rising or alling edge% or a
change in 0alue. +ee the attachInterrupt() unction or details.
()*: 0 #+ 13. #ro0ide >2bit #$M output !ith the analog$rite() unction.
S(I: 50 (*IS,)' 51 (*,SI)' 52 (S-.)' 53 (SS). These pins support +#I communication% !hich% although
pro0ided b* the underl*ing hard!are% is not currentl* included in the Arduino language. The +#I pins are also
bro.en out on the I/+# header% !hich is ph*sicall* compatible !ith the 3uemilano0e and 3iecimila.
/!D: 13. There is a built2in 643 connected to digital pin ";. $hen the pin is (I5( 0alue% the 643 is on% !hen
the pin is 68$% it@s o.
I
2
-: 20 (SD0) and 21 (S-/). +upport I
2
/ (T$I) communication using the $ire librar* (documentation on the
$iring !ebsite). Bote that these pins are not in the same location as the I
2
/ pins on the 3uemilano0e.
The Mega2560 has "6 analog inputs% each o !hich pro0ide "0 bits o resolution (i.e. "024 dierent 0alues). ,* deault
the* measure rom ground to 5 0olts% though is it possible to change the upper end o their range using the A'4< pin and
analog'eerence() unction.
There are a couple o other pins on the board7
0R!1. 'eerence 0oltage or the analog inputs. &sed !ith analog'eerence().
Re&e#. ,ring this line 68$ to reset the microcontroller. T*picall* used to add a reset button to shields !hich
bloc. the one on the board.
The Arduino Mega2560 has a number o acilities or communicating !ith a computer% another Arduino% or
other microcontrollers. The ATmega2560 pro0ides our hard!are &A'Ts or TT6 (59) serial communication.
An ATmega>&2 on the board channels one o these o0er &+, and pro0ides a 0irtual com port to sot!are on
the computer ($indo!s machines !ill need a .in ile% but 8+C and 6inu? machines !ill recogni)e the board
as a /8M port automaticall*. The Arduino sot!are includes a serial monitor !hich allo!s simple te?tual
data to be sent to and rom the board. The 'C and TC 643s on the board !ill lash !hen data is being
transmitted 0ia the ATmega>&2 chip and &+, connection to the computer (but not or serial communication
on pins 0 and ").
A +ot!are+erial librar* allo!s or serial communication on an* o the Mega@s digital pins.
The ATmega2560 also supports I2/ (T$I) and +#I communication. The Arduino sot!are includes a $ire
librar* to simpli* use o the I2/ bus1 see the documentation on the $iring !ebsite or details. To use the +#I
communication% please see the ATmega2560 datasheet.
The Arduino Mega2560 can be programmed !ith the Arduino sot!are (do!nload). <or details% see the
reerence and tutorials.
The Atmega2560 on the Arduino Mega comes preburned !ith a bootloader that allo!s *ou to upload ne!
code to it !ithout the use o an e?ternal hard!are programmer. It communicates using the original +T=500
protocol (reerence% / header iles).
Aou can also b*pass the bootloader and program the microcontroller through the I/+# (In2/ircuit +erial
#rogramming) header1 see these instructions or details.
'ather then reDuiring a ph*sical press o the reset button beore an upload% the Arduino Mega2560 is
designed in a !a* that allo!s it to be reset b* sot!are running on a connected computer. 8ne o the
hard!are lo! control lines (3T') o the ATmega>&2 is connected to the reset line o the ATmega2560 0ia a
"00 nanoarad capacitor. $hen this line is asserted (ta.en lo!)% the reset line drops long enough to reset the
chip. The Arduino sot!are uses this capabilit* to allo! *ou to upload code b* simpl* pressing the upload
button in the Arduino en0ironment. This means that the bootloader can ha0e a shorter timeout% as the
lo!ering o 3T' can be !ell2coordinated !ith the start o the upload.
This setup has other implications. $hen the Mega2560 is connected to either a computer running Mac 8+ C
or 6inu?% it resets each time a connection is made to it rom sot!are (0ia &+,). <or the ollo!ing hal2second
or so% the bootloader is running on the Mega2560. $hile it is programmed to ignore malormed data (i.e.
an*thing besides an upload o ne! code)% it !ill intercept the irst e! b*tes o data sent to the board ater a
connection is opened. I a s.etch running on the board recei0es one2time coniguration or other data !hen it
irst starts% ma.e sure that the sot!are !ith !hich it communicates !aits a second ater opening the
connection and beore sending this data.
The Mega contains a trace that can be cut to disable the auto2reset. The pads on either side o the trace can
be soldered together to re2enable it. It@s labeled E'4+4T24BE. Aou ma* also be able to disable the auto2reset
b* connecting a ""0 ohm resistor rom 59 to the reset line1 see this orum thread or details.

The Arduino Mega has a resettable pol*use that protects *our computer@s &+, ports rom shorts and
o0ercurrent. Although most computers pro0ide their o!n internal protection% the use pro0ides an e?tra la*er
o protection. I more than 500 mA is applied to the &+, port% the use !ill automaticall* brea. the connection
until the short or o0erload is remo0ed.
The ma?imum length and !idth o the Mega #/, are 4 and 2." inches respecti0el*% !ith the &+, connector
and po!er -ac. e?tending be*ond the ormer dimension. Three scre! holes allo! the board to be attached to
a surace or case. Bote that the distance bet!een digital pins : and > is "60 mil (0."6E)% not an e0en multiple
o the "00 mil spacing o the other pins.
The Mega is designed to be compatible !ith most shields designed or the 3iecimila or 3uemilano0e. 3igital
pins 0 to "; (and the ad-acent A'4< and 5B3 pins)% analog inputs 0 to 5% the po!er header% and I/+#
header are all in eDui0alent locations. <urther the main &A'T (serial port) is located on the same pins (0 and
")% as are e?ternal interrupts 0 and " (pins 2 and ; respecti0el*). +#I is a0ailable through the I/+# header on
both the Mega and 3uemilano0e / 3iecimila. (lea&e n+#e #2a# I
2
- i& n+# l+3a#ed +n #2e &a4e %in& +n #2e
*e5a (20 and 21) a& #2e D$e4ilan+6e 7 Die3i4ila (anal+5 in%$#& and 5).
Arduino can sense the en0ironment b* recei0ing input rom a 0ariet* o sensors and can aect its
surroundings b* controlling lights% motors% and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is
programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on $iring) and the Arduino
de0elopment en0ironment (based on #rocessing). Arduino pro-ects can be stand2alone or the* can
communicate !ith sot!are on running on a computer (e.g. <lash% #rocessing% Ma?M+#).
Arduino is a cross2platoorm program. AouFll ha0e to ollo! dierent instructions or *our personal
8+. /hec. on the Arduino site or the latest instructions. http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage
8nce *ou ha0e do!nloaded/un)ipped the arduino I34% *ou can #lug the Arduino to *our #/ 0ia &+, cable.
Bo! *ouFre actuall* read* to GburnH *our
irst program on the arduino board. To
select Gblin. ledH% the ph*sical translation
o the !ell .no!n programming Ghello
!orldH% select
1ile8S9e#32:++98
0rd$in+;00178!"a4%le&8
Di5i#al8<lin9
8nce *ou ha0e *our s.ecth *ouFll
see something 0er* close to the
screenshot on the right.
In T++l&8<+ard select M45A
Bo! *ou ha0e to go to
T++l&8Serial(+r#
and select the right serial port% the
one arduino is attached to.
1. )arran#ie&
"." The producer !arrants that its products !ill conorm to the +peciications. This !arrant* lasts or one (") *ears rom the date o the sale. The
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".; 4C/4#T A+ +4T <8'T( A,894% #'83&/T+ A'4 #'89I343 EA+ I+E AB3 E$IT( A66 <A&6T+.E T(4 #'83&/4' 3I+/6AIM+ A66 8T(4'
$A''ABTI4+% 4C#'4++ 8' IM#6I43% '45A'3IB5 #'83&/T+% IB/6&3IB5 ,&T B8T 6IMIT43 T8% ABA IM#6I43 $A''ABTI4+ 8<
M4'/(ABTA,I6ITA 8' <ITB4++ <8' A #A'TI/&6A' #&'#8+4
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pro0ided b* the producer.
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In no e0ent the producer shall be liable to the /ustomer or an* third parties or an* special% collateral% indirect% puniti0e% incidental% conseDuential or
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