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[on:]

I was just reading about the new INPUT_PULLUP in Arduino 1.0.1+ and had a couple of questions.
Firstly my understanding of this function is that instead of:
10k resistor from 'button' pin to ground and then 5v > 'button' pin being toggled by the button/switch etc.
if (buttonpin == HIGH) {
do stuff here
}

We can use:
Only GND > 'button' pin via switch/toggle
INPUT_PULLUP instead of INPUT
if (buttonpin == LOW) {
do stuff here
}

So firstly is my understanding correct?
Secondly, is there a limit on how many INPUT_PULLUP's we can use or is it available to every digital pin?
Thirdly, are there any con's in using it this way?  To me saving on a resistor and the additional wiring is a massive pro, but why would one NOT use this INPUT_PULLUP and instead use INPUT with a manually inserted pulldown resistor?

[Reply #1 on:]

The pull-up isn't new.  It was just more cryptic to use before 1.0.1.  Every pin has a pull-up resistor that can be turned on, including the analog inputs.

One tradeoff is that Pull-Ups will have inverted logic relative to a Pull-Down.  E.g. when a button is NOT pressed, the value will be HIGH.  when the button IS pressed, the value will be LOW.  (This trips up some people at first.)

[Reply #2 on:]

So firstly is my understanding correct?
Secondly, is there a limit on how many INPUT_PULLUP's we can use or is it available to every digital pin?
Thirdly, are there any con's in using it this way?  To me saving on a resistor and the additional wiring is a massive pro, but why would one NOT use this INPUT_PULLUP and instead use INPUT with a manually inserted pulldown resistor?

1 Yes.
2 No limits.
3 Resistors value are not accurate, 20 - 50 kOhm.  Plus, for battery powered  MCU this is too low, if button get pressed for long. 

[Reply #3 on:]

Thanks for that James - That's what I thought in terms of the logic (The new relay circuits I purchased also were LOW to trigger instead of HIGH which caused me some issues)
Can anyone elaborate on Magician's 3rd comment? More specifically:
Is there a problem with having these 'bad' valued resistors if I'm only using it to take input(s) for a button(s)?
What is meant by "Plus, for battery powered  MCU this is too low, if button get pressed for long."? 

[Reply #4 on:]

If the internal pull up is only 20k, then each time a button is pressed 250uA is drawn.  I guess the concern is the button is held down for a long period of time, it could contribute to reduced battery life.  With external resistors you could use larger (known) values.

I'm not sure I'd put a lot of thought into that though, but, that's just me.

[Reply #5 on:]

So in a nutshell for anyone else who looks at this thread the following is correct for using INPUT_PULLUP?:
Pro: Less physical wiring
Cons: 250ua (0.00125w) extra drain per button in use.  Logic reversed - If (XX == HIGH) now needs to be If (XX == LOW) for the function to remain working the same)

For my particular project the battery life doesn't matter as it's going to have 12v 7AH batteries as it's only a small part of a larger project but I understand for some people that battery life is critical.

Thanks for the help guys, you've saved me about $0.20 in resistors and $50 in time

[Reply #6 on:]

in a noisy environment and with longish leads >6" I would install a 1K pull-up or a .047 uf cap from the button pin to Vcc, might even buy some cheap debounce w/o the 1K resistor. Both together would simply add to the noise suppression.

Doc

[Reply #7 on:]

So in a nutshell for anyone else who looks at this thread the following is correct for using INPUT_PULLUP?:
Pro: Less physical wiring
Cons: 250ua (0.00125w) extra drain per button in use.  Logic reversed - If (XX == HIGH) now needs to be If (XX == LOW) for the function to remain working the same)

For my particular project the battery life doesn't matter as it's going to have 12v 7AH batteries as it's only a small part of a larger project but I understand for some people that battery life is critical.

Thanks for the help guys, you've saved me about $0.20 in resistors and $50 in time

The current drain is only when the switch is closed. However, you get the same draw if you use an external resistor -- it's just that you get to use whatever value resistor you want (although 10k to 20k is standard -- I've always used 10k, so the built in resistor draws less power).

[Reply #8 on:]

The whole point was not what was conventional but a possible source of intermittent sketch operation due to noise being picked up if only the weak pull-up is used, either by passing it with more pull-up current (lowering it's input impedance to 1K instead of 20 - 50K or by by-passing the noise picked up to the positive rail and thus into the nearest big bypass with the .047uF cap a larger value might be needed the caution would be not to make it so large as to provide a delay of it's own..., either way would work. Both methods bypass the antenna lead (the wire to the button) and solve a potential noise issue that has plagued several users here. In those cases it was an open input pin, disconnected that was ultimately tied to a pin with nothing connected to it, merely proximity to the OP's hand.

Doc