How-to: Using a 555 timer as an external clock for the Arduino

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By Marc de Vinck
Posted 2009/12/21 @ 11:36 am
Category Arduino

Here is another how-to from Jeff, this time he describes using a 555 timer as an external clock for the Arduino. It’s a really interesting technique on how to get a fairly accurate external interrupt at lower frequencies.

The key here is an ‘external clock’. Rather than have the Arduino keep track of when to perform the next task, you have an outside signal that says “Now!” and fires an interrupt which the Arduino responds to. If your source fires every 100 milliseconds, then 10 times a second, the Arduino will receive an interrupt which will stop any processing currently happening and immediately execute the interrupt handler. For every tick of the clock, the interrupt handler will execute.

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BY Marc de Vinck

I currently teach in Lehigh University’s Master’s of Technical Entrepreneurship program. I'm also an kit maker, author, father, tinkerer, and member of the MAKE Technical Advisory board.

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2 Responses to How-to: Using a 555 timer as an external clock for the Arduino

Ryan Fox on December 28th, 2009 at 1:55 am said:

Why would you choose to add more hardware when you could use one of the built-in timers?

Don’t get me wrong- I’m sure there’s a reason, but it’s not very obvious. (Other than to maybe add an extra timer when the others have already been taken?)

Reply ↓
- Jeff on December 28th, 2009 at 3:27 pm said:
  
  Hi Ryan,
  
  Good question, and the most honest answer is “because I didn’t know about the hardware timers when I wrote it”. [How many noob points do I get for that?]
  
  But I feel there are some good reasons why this is still a valid technique. For one, I think the longest interval the hardware timers will do is 8.3 seconds, and you might want something longer than that. Also, it’s possible that you could be interfacing with existing hardware that has a 555 running as it’s own clock that you want to sync to.
  
  But mostly this was a learning experiment for me, it had been a long while since I even looked at a 555 much less used it for anything, and I figured “hey, that would make a fun little project I could write up”.
  
  Jeff
  
  Reply ↓