Exploring the World of Development Boards and Electronics Components

Electronic circuits and embedded systems are made, prototyping configured, and tested through development boards. That is the best tool for the electronic and programming field. Eniggers can make and debug hardware and software using development boards that are microcontrollers and microprocessors with other devices.

Table of Contents

What is the development board?

The development board, also called the dev board, and system used for the development and creation of hardware to provide processing designs and evaluations of different electronic devices and software
This type of board comes with a microprocessor, controller, and other input-output configurations and provides programming and debugging features.
The use of development boards helps to make prototypes, assess, and solve any issue before the completion of the project.

Types of Development Boards

Arduino Boards:

Arduino is an open-source platform and configured with hardware and software based on controllers like Atmel AVR or ARM. These boards are compatible with Arduino, user-friendly, and best to be used for different project creations.

STM32 Development Boards:

This basic structure is based on microcontrollers within the STM32 family and made by STMicroelectronics. It is versatile and used for different applications such as industries, vehicles, and other consumer electronics.

Raspberry Pi

It is a computer-based device and size like a credit card that uses a microprocessor and works on an operating system configured with Linux. It has higher features than other boards for low-power use and is part of different applications such as servers, media centers, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

ESP8266/ESP32 Boards:

These boards are made with the use of ESP32 microcontrollers and are mostly used for IoT applications since they come with Wi-Fi functionalities.
It is used for the creation of smart home devices and other sensor components.

Microcontroller vs. Development Board

Microcontroller:

A microcontroller is a small-size controller that has a compact size and CPU system, another device like memory, input-output, and is used for processing and control in embedded systems.
It executes programs and other operations based on firmware and is used as a computing device.
It is used for different industrial automation and part of consumer electronics.

Development Board:

It is hardware called a dev board and comes with the integration of a microcontroller or microprocessor.
It is used for testing and applications of projects with easy features,
Its main components are the power supply, debug features, connectors, input/output interfaces, and pre-loaded firmware that comes with the microcontroller in a development board.

Parts of the Development Board

Microcontroller or Microprocessor

Microcontrollers (MCUs) or microprocessors (MPUs) are considered the main components of the development board. Codes are applied and computed through processors. Embedded software employs controllers, and the complicated system uses a microprocessor as a working component. The microprocessor used in the Raspberry Pi board Arduino board uses a microcontroller such as an ATmega328P.

Power Supply

There is a need for a proper stable power source for the working of development boards. Some external power adapters, USB cables, and batteries are used for providing power. The input voltage of boards is controlled with the use of voltage regulators.

Input/Output (I/O) Pins

For making connections with other devices, input and output pins are used, such as sensors, actuators, and other components that are connected with the use of pins. Digital and analog inputs and output pins are part of these pins. Normally, these boards come with 14 digital I/O pins and 6 analog input pins.

Communication Protocol

USB:

It performed the programming and power supply functions.

UART

It is used for serial communication with microcontrollers, computers, or peripherals.

SPI

It is high-speed synchronous communication used to make the connection between sensors and memory devices.

I2C :

Different protocols are used for I2C interfacing multi-master, multi-slave, and serial communication bus, packet-switched, single-ended

Memory

Development boards come with 2 types of memory units. Flash memory and RAM. Data is stored in RAM and firmware, and codes are stored in flash memory. Arduino Uno, SRAM is 2 KB, and flash memory is 32 KB.