Arduino Leonardo AVR Development Board

Arduino Leonardo AVR Development Board is a microcontroller board based on the Atmel ATmega32u4. It offers 20 digital IOs (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16MHz crystal oscillator, a micro USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. The Leonardo differs from all preceding boards in that the ATmega32u4 has built-in USB communication, eliminating the need for a secondary processor. This allows the Leonardo to appear to a connected computer as an HID, such as a mouse or keyboard, in addition to a virtual (CDC) serial / COM port. The Leonardo board contains everything needed to support the microcontroller. Simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.

Specifications

Microcontroller: ATmega32u4
Operating voltage: 5V
Input voltage (recommended): 7-12V
Input voltage (limits): 6-20V
Digital I/O pins: 20
PWM channels: 7
Analog input channels: 12
DC current per I/O pin: 40mA
DC current for 3.3V pin: 50mA
Flash memory: 32Kb (ATmega32u4)
of which 4Kb is used by bootloader
SRAM: 2.5Kb (ATmega32u4)
EEPROM: 1Kb (ATmega32u4)
Clock speed: 16MHz
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Here is one Hack that will give you example of extension if the application of the Leonardo.

The newly released Arduino Leonardo has a few very interesting features, most notably the ability to act as a USB keyboard and mouse.. This feature isn’t exclusive to the Leonoardo, as Michael explains in a build he sent in – the lowly Arduino Uno can also serve as a USB HID keyboard with just a firmware update.

The Arduino Uno (and Mega) communicate to your computer through a separate ATmega8U2 microcontroller. Simply by uploading new firmware with the Arduino Device Firmware Upgrade, it’s easy to have your old Arduino board gain some of the features of newer boards such as the Teensy or Leonardo.

Michael goes through the steps required to make this upgrade work and ends his build by showing off an Arduinofied ‘cut, copy and paste’ button project as well as a few multimedia controls. You can check those builds out in the video after the break.

If emulating a USB keyboard isn’t your thing, it’s also possible to install LUFA firmware to emulate everything from joysticks to USB audio devices. Very cool, and very useful.

Courtesy:

Mouser.com

www.hackaday.com