Arduino Leonardo released and available

Posted: Juli 25th, 2012 ˑ Filed under: controller, DIY, Hardware ˑ Comments Closed

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

Arduinio Leonardo is a new board in the Arduino Family and available for sale in the Arduino shop now. Arduino Leonardo is based on an Atmega32U4 with a 16 MHz crystal oscillator which has built-in USB communication and is running Arduino Rev3 programming layout. The Leonardo differs from all preceding boards in that the ATmega32u4 eliminates the need for a secondary processor. The integrated USB controller allows the Leonardo to appear to a connected computer as a generic mouse and keyboard, in addition to a virtual (CDC) serial / COM port. This will open up some more possibilities to use an Arduino board as a custom USB controller.

Arduino Leonardo has 20 digital input/output pins of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs (+ micro USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button). With a small micro USB connector, fewer and smaller parts but more connections the board looks much cleaner in comparison to its relatives, the Arduino Uno or Arduino Duemillanove.

In this video Massimo explains the Arduino Leonardo, talking about its differences with Arduino UNO and playing around with its mouse & keyboard features.