Ks0342 Keyestudio MEGA 2560 Compatible Board Advanced
Introduction
Keyestudio Mega 2560 compatible Advanced is a microcontroller board based on the ATMEGA2560-16AU , fully compatible with Keyestudio Mega 2560 R3 board and ARDUINO MEGA 2560 REV3.
It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, 2 ICSP headers, and a reset button.
It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller. With its bootloader, program can be downloaded directly with USB and you don’t need to use other external programmer.
Just simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it via an external DC power jack (DC 7-12V) or via female headers Vin /GND (DC 7-12V) to get started.
Note: the most important difference between keyestudio MEGA 2560 compatible board Advanced and keyestudio MEGA 2560 R3 board is the voltage regulator chip used in the board.
The voltage regulator chip used in keyestudio MEGA 2560 R3 board is NSP1117. When connect the external power, output 5V, the drive current is 1A. However, keyestudio MEGA 2560 compatible board Advanced features the voltage-regulator chip MP2307DN. When connect the external power, output 5V, the drive current can be 2A.
The MEGA 2560 is designed for more complex projects. With 54 digital I/O pins, 16 analog inputs and a larger space for your sketch, it is the recommended board for 3D printers and robotics projects. This gives your projects plenty of room and opportunities.
| keyestudio MEGA 2560 compatible board Advanced | keyestudio MEGA 2560 R3 board | |
|---|---|---|
| voltage-regulator chip | MP2307DN | NSP1117 |
| Power Output | 5V | 5V |
| Drive Current(external power) | 2A | 1A |
| Drive Current(USB power) | 0.5A | 0.5A |
keyestudio MEGA 2560 R3 board:

keyestudio MEGA 2560 compatible board Advanced:

TECH SPECS
| Microcontroller | ATMEGA2560-16AU |
|---|---|
| Operating Voltage | 5V |
| Input Voltage (recommended) | DC7-12V |
| Digital I/O Pins | 54 (D0-D53) |
| PWM Digital I/O Pins | 15 (D2-D13; D44-D46) |
| Analog Input Pins | 16 (A0-A15) |
| DC Current per I/O Pin | 20 mA |
| DC Current for 3.3V Pin | 50 mA |
| Flash Memory | 256 KB of which 8 KB used by bootloader |
| SRAM | 8 KB |
| EEPROM | 4 KB |
| Clock Speed | 16 MHz |
| LED_BUILTIN | D13 |
Details
- Dimensions: 108mm x 53.5mm x 15mm
- Weight: 33.6g
Element and Pin Interfaces
Here is an explanation of what every element and interface of the board does:
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Digital I/O
Arduino MEGA has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs). These pins can be configured as digital input pin to read the logic value (0 or 1). Or used as digital output pin to drive different modules like LED, relay, etc. |
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GND
Ground pins |
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AREF
Reference voltage (0-5V) for analog inputs. Used with analogReference(). Configures the reference voltage used for analog input (i.e. the value used as the top of the input range). |
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SDA
IIC communication pin |
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SCL
IIC communication pin |
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ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) Header
the AVR, an Arduino micro-program header consisting of MOSI, MISO, SCK, RESET, VCC, and GND. Connected to the ATMEGA16U2-MU. When connecting to PC, program the firmware to ATMEGA16U2-MU. |
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USB Connection
Arduino board can be powered via USB connector. |
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D13 LED
There is a built-in LED driven by digital pin 13. When the pin is HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off. |
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ATMEGA 16U2-MU
USB to serial chip, can convert the USB signal into serial port signal. |
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TX LED
Onboard you can find the label: TX (transmit) |
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RX LED
Onboard you can find the label: RX(receive ) |
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Crystal Oscillator
How does Arduino calculate time? by using a crystal oscillator. |
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Voltage Regulator
Convert an external input DC7-12V voltage into DC 5V, then switch DC 5V to the processor and other components. Output DC 5V, the drive current is 2A. |
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DC Power Jack
Arduino board can be supplied with an external power DC7-12V from the DC power jack. |
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IOREF
This pin on the board provides the voltage reference with which the microcontroller operates. A properly configured shield can read the IOREF pin voltage and select the appropriate power source or enable voltage translators on the outputs for working with the 5V or 3.3V. |
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RESET Header
Connect an external button to reset the board. The function is the same as reset button. |
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Power Pin 3V3
Provides 3.3V voltage output |
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Power Pin 5V
Provides 5V voltage output |
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Vin
You can supply an external power input DC7-12V through this pin to Arduino board. |
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Analog Pins
Onboard has 16 analog inputs, labeled A0 to A15. |
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RESET Button
You can reset your Arduino board, for example, start the program from the initial status. You can use the RESET button. |
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ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) Header
the AVR, an Arduino micro-program header consisting of MOSI, MISO, SCK, RESET, VCC, and GND. |
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Microcontroller
Each Arduino board has its own microcontroller. You can regard it as the brain of your board. |
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Power LED Indicator
Powering the Arduino, LED on means that your circuit board is correctly powered on. If LED is off, connection is wrong. |
Specialized Functions of Some Pins
- Serial Communication: D0 (RX0) and D1 (TX1); Serial 1: D19 (RX1) and D18 (TX1); Serial 2: D17 (RX2) and D16 (TX2); Serial 3: D15 (RX3) and D14 (TX3).
Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. Pins 0 and 1 are also connected to the corresponding pins of the ATmega16U2 USB-to-TTL Serial chip.
- PWM Pins (Pulse-Width Modulation): D2 to D13, and D44 to D46.
Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analogWrite() function.
- External Interrupts: D2 (interrupt 0), D3 (interrupt 1), D18 (interrupt 5), D19 (interrupt 4), D20 (interrupt 3), and D21 (interrupt 2).
These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low level, a rising or falling edge, or a change in level. See the attachInterrupt() function for details.
- SPI communication: D53 (SS), D52 (SCK), D51 (MOSI), D50 (MISO).
These pins support SPI communication using theSPI library. The SPI pins are also broken out on the ICSP header, which is physically compatible with the Arduino Uno.
- IIC communication: D20 (SDA); D21 (SCL). Support TWI communication using the Wire library.
Tips
- Automatic (Software) Reset:
Rather than requiring a physical press of the reset button before an upload, the Mega 2560 board is designed in a way that allows it to be reset by software running on a connected computer.
- The Mega 2560 board contains a trace that can be cut to disable the auto-reset. The pads on either side of the trace can be soldered together to re-enable it. It's labeled "RESET-EN". You may also be able to disable the auto-reset by connecting a 110 ohm resistor from 5V to the reset line; see this forum thread for details.
Detailed Use with ARDUINO Software as follows:
Step1 | Download the Arduino environment (IDE)
When you get the Mega 2560 development board, first you should install the Arduino software and driver.
We usually use the Windows software Arduino 1.5.6 version. You can download it from the link below:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/OldSoftwareReleases#1.5.x
Or you can browse the ARDUINO website to download the latest version from this link, https://www.arduino.cc, pop up the following interface.
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Then click the SOFTWARE on the b

























