Utilizing the Arduino ADC Internal Reference

In this video we look at the ADC internal reference in an Arduino, why / when would you use it, how to ensure you get good measurement accuracy when using it, and how to use it to check your battery voltage.

**********************Arduino Code from the video****************************
float iREF = 1.08; //internal reference cal factor

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  analogReference(EXTERNAL);
  //burn some ADC readings after reference change
  for(int i=0; i<8; i++) analogRead(A0);
  Serial.begin(57600);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  delay(3000);
  Serial.print("Measured battery voltage is: ");
  Serial.println(fReadVcc());
  Serial.println();
}

//This function uses the known internal reference value of the 328p (~1.1V) to calculate the VCC value which comes from a battery
//This was leveraged from a great tutorial found at https://code.google.com/p/tinkerit/wiki/SecretVoltmeter?pageId=110412607001051797704
float fReadVcc() {
  ADMUX = _BV(REFS0) | _BV(MUX3) | _BV(MUX2) | _BV(MUX1);
  delay(3); //delay for 3 milliseconds
  ADCSRA |= _BV(ADSC); // Start ADC conversion
  while (bit_is_set(ADCSRA,ADSC)); //wait until conversion is complete
  int result = ADCL; //get first half of result
  result |= ADCH<<8; //get rest of the result
  float batVolt = (iREF / result)*1024; //Use the known iRef to calculate battery voltage
  return batVolt;
}