What is Arduino?

Mithat Konar
2015-10-27

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an ecosystem designed to let you easily build physical computing systems.

What is physical computing?

“Physical computing, in the broadest sense, means building interactive physical systems by the use of software and hardware that can sense and respond to the analog world.” (ref)

“Physical Computing is an approach to learning how humans communicate through computers that starts by considering how humans express themselves physically.” (ref)

Conventional computing

Input is from a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen …

Output is to a screen, printer, …

Physical computing

Input is from:

  • Ambient temperature or humidity
  • Pressure on an object
  • Distance between objects

Output is to:

  • Motors
  • Valves
  • Light sources

What kinds of things can you do with Arduino?

The Arduino ecosystem

  • Arduino processor boards
  • Arduino programming software
  • Additional parts
  • The community

Arduino processor boards

  • The official boards are open source (CC BY-SA 2.5).
    • The Uno is the most common.
  • Many unofficial variations and clones of the official boards.

Arduino programming software

    • The tools used to write and load Arduino programs.
    • The standalone Arduino IDE is open source (GPL v2).
    • The license for the online IDE is unclear.
  • Third-party libraries
    • Extend core functionality
    • Support external hardware (sensors, displays, etc.)

Additional parts

  • Input sensors
    • light, motion, temperature, etc.
  • Output devices
    • actuators, motors, lights, etc.
    • boards that plug into the Arduino board and provide advanced features
      • networking
      • image-capture
      • lcd panels
      • GPS
      • MP3

Arduino community

  • Lots of people use Arduino.
  • Support is easy to find.
  • Libraries are easy to find.

What do I need to get started?

What do I need to get started?

What do I need to get started?

  • Might need
    • Extra wire
    • Soldering iron and solder
    • Small pliers and other tools

What do I need to get started?

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources