Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on microcontroller used for electronic projects by millions all over the world. Without much knowledge of electronics, you can write a few simple lines of code and use Arduino in your projects.
Arduino is the best for beginners looking to get started with electronics for the first time. It features a combination of circuits, coding, DIY, problem-solving, and creativity, that marries together thinking across disciplines. Today, this post going to guide you step-by-step through getting your child/yourself started with Arduino prototype developer title.
About Arduino
As world has gone digitalized, devices are becoming smaller, feature rich and less power hungry. In world, per person five embedded devices are created. This is done by innumerable developers, professionals, hobbyists and students all over the world. Now teaching embedded technology is integral part of education curriculum. It is easy to use them, hack them and study them as they are available everywhere in reasonable price.
This post is one such effort. Arduino, a popular buzz word in embedded world for good reasons. This talks about single board controller or Arduino Uno board, why, where and how to get it is discussed in this post.
[Arduino board and its development environment IDE features and shows novice programmer how to hack the code is discussed in this eBook: Arduino: A Beginner's Guide 2nd edition ].
Embedded systems are found in a variety of common electronic devices, such as shown in above image.
One might say that nearly any device that runs on electricity either already has, or will soon have, a computing system embedded within it.
What is Arduino?
Arduino was born to teach Interaction Design, a design discipline that puts prototyping at the centre of its methodology. With Arduino, a designer or artist can get to know the basics of electronics and sensors very quickly and can start building prototypes with very little investment. This eBook or post helps reader to know what is Arduino, how to get it and what can you do with it and how?[This eBook Arduino: A Beginner's Guide 2nd edition helps reader to know about Arduino Uno board and its capabilities with the help of example codes and self-explaining circuits.]
Why Arduino is so popular?
Arduino is an embedded technology based design or prototype board for everyone. This means it contains some microcontroller chip as its main component in its board.
Now traditionally, microcontrollers are pretty complicated to use. The user manual for one is easily over 300 pages long, and it’s filled with tons of technical jargon.
What the creators of Arduino did was make using microcontrollers as easy as possible. So instead of just electrical engineers and computer scientists using microcontrollers, now pretty much anybody can get their hands dirty on them, and start building stuff.
Another reason Arduino is so popular is because there are many people using it which means there’s a lot of examples out there to work with.
Additionally, the Arduino board itself is open source hardware. That means while there is a company named Arduino that makes Arduino boards and supports the Arduino IDE, there are also lots of other companies that make Arduino compatible boards that can also be programmed in the Arduino IDE.
There’s a huge hardware and code ecosystem for you to work with.
Finally, Arduino hardware is generally pretty inexpensive, and that helps keep it popular as well.
Why to learn Arduino?
There are many prototype development boards used to learn coding and embedded technology, available in market, but they are not open source, usually.
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform so user can hack it as he desires without breaking any rules. It has user-friendly developing tools and supported by large number of third-party modules to enhance its features with minimal effort and in less time and money.
The philosophy of Arduino is to encourage students, creative minds, hobbyists and professionals alike to design embedded systems with less effort and time.
It is having its own genre product lines for all prototype needs, such as different types of boards are available [chip speed, memory size, output pins etc., are chosen as per user need], shields are provided for enhancing the features of board and interact with world in live [such as GSM, Ethernet etc.,] and accessories [such as TFT LCD screen, USB/Serial Light Adapter] are there to improve performance of prototype.
The Arduino board also supports other third-party components with proper interface protocol. So user can develop any concept to product/prototype using locally available components.
That does not mean Arduino technology is only for making prototype, it is used to manufacture product too under ―Arduino At Heart‖ tag line. For further details visit this link: http://arduino.cc/en/ArduinoAtHeart/HomePage
Who can become Arduino Developer?
• Complete Beginners [hobbyists/kids/layman/engineer/students/anybody]
• Beginners at coding
• Beginners at electronics
• People who want to build and program cool creations
• People who have struggled with other prototype boards
• Beginner Arduino developers
• People that are looking for an adventure that is clear and concise and building own new electronics things for pleasure or as a product.
Arduino programming for kids/yourself is the perfect way to introduce children/yourself to a whole new world of electronics and technology. Familiarity with technology not only gives your kids the confidence to help them thrive, but also it gives them a way to stay a step ahead of others.
Today, we are surrounded by electronic gadgets such as smartphones, televisions, computers and more. As a result, you've probably considered ways to introduce your children/yourself to something they/you cannot just play with, but also learn something. Arduino boards/kits are the perfect solution! They are fun for anyone who's interested in playing with technology.
Try Arduino Circuit examples: Introduction to Arduino program to discover the fundamentals of circuits, use resistors, and get introduced to Ohm's law while building a series of cool projects and experiments. In this Arduino development journey, one also code Arduino to build smart devices that sense their environment and respond accordingly. But don't worry if you don’t have much money, you don't have to buy the physical board. One can use an Arduino-simulator (though the code will work on the physical device if you have one). You can even get started with economical Arduino Uno physical boards to be sure you like it!
What can you do with Arduino?
Any kind of automation/robot/control systems can be done with Arduino board. It needs sensors for getting data from environment and depend upon user algorithm actuates connected output devices/actuators automatically. The board supports almost all kind of latest interface techniques and sensor/actuators available in market.
Developers have used Arduino to create some amazing electronics projects.
• For more examples visit Arduino website, and other links such as http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/arduino-technology-explained/
Arduino has huge flexibility with which you can make almost anything you imagine. It can be easily connected to a variety of modules like fire sensors, obstacle sensors, presence detectors, GPS modules, GSM Modules or anything with which you wish to give wings to your dream project.
From which board of Arduino should we start?
If you want to enter the world of Arduino for the first time, experts suggests Arduino UNO and NANO. Arduino UNO is the most popular and best-selling Arduino board. As mentioned, this board is equipped with an ATMEGA328 microcontroller. It has standard female pin headers with 2.54 mm spacing and is compatible with various shields. 14 input and output pins, 6 of which are capable of generating PWM signals, along with 6 analog input pins, make this the proper board for simple projects such as running LCDs, motors and more. This board has useful features to connect to sensors, for example, serial port (UART) shared with USB port, the capability of generating software serial, SPI, and I2C communication protocols.
What does mean by prototype and development kit?
Prototype means in electronics field, proof-of-concept [POC] for a new product idea and one’s first step is to choose a good development kit. A development kit will serve as the brains of your project and will communicate with all the interconnected electronic components.
Criteria to select proper Arduino Board?
When recommending an Arduino board for beginners, experts typically consider the following criteria:
• How easy the board is to setup;
• How easy the board is to learn;
• Is the board available to buy from stores;
• How compatible is the board with Arduino shields;
• How much does it cost;
• What are the options for starter kits;
• Does the board have WiFi and Bluetooth;
• How fast is the board;
• How much memory does the board have?
Why to learn Arduino first and then Raspberry Pi later?
In basic terms, Arduino is designed for real-world building of models and prototypes, using simple coding for control. It teaches the interaction between software and hardware. A Raspberry Pi is a mini computer for learning programming and software development. It can be extended to activate hardware, but that’s not its primary purpose.
Note that Microcontroller is called system-on-chip, means a whole system can be built around single microcontroller chip. Whereas Raspberry Pi is called as Single Board Computer, which helps learn programming and software development!
An Arduino is a microcontroller motherboard. A microcontroller is a simple computer that can run one program at a time, over and over again. It is very easy to use.
A Raspberry Pi is a general-purpose computer [microprocessor], usually with a Linux operating system, and the ability to run multiple programs. It is more complicated to use than an Arduino.
An Arduino board is best used for simple repetitive tasks: opening and closing a garage door, reading the outside temperature and reporting it to Twitter, driving a simple robot.
Raspberry Pi is best used when you need a full-fledged computer: driving a more complicated robot, performing multiple tasks, doing intense calculations (as for Bitcoin or encryption)
Think of a microcontroller as the brains behind products such as wearable tech, remote controls, drones, or microwaves. A microprocessor, on the other hand, serves as the brains behind products like computers and smart phones.
How to learn Arduino?
To know this, how to learn Arduino? One must know what exactly Arduino at board level is and what all-features it offers to the developer.
An Arduino is tool for controlling electronics or in simple term an open source prototype design tool for everyone.
If you want a simple easy-to-use board to handle simple repetitive tasks like reading the weather, opening a door, driving a simple robot, turning on an LED, etc. an Arduino would be perfect.
So those are the three components that basically make up what’s ”Arduino is”, and roughly what it does.
How to setup Development Environment?
The first step to consider while setup Arduino development environment is Software section. Because one has to decide which platform he/she has to use for code development.
There are three ways: first way is using Computer as host to load code [one need AB cable for that]; second way is using mobile phone as host to load code [one need special mobile to Arduino board cable: ask for it to one’s electronics vendor]; and last way is using Arduino-simulator and learning the prototype board where you need only computer with internet connection as physical board is not needed.
The second step to consider while setup Arduino development environment is Code/Logic section. The developer has to decide what he/she wants to learn: any specific path he has to choose-any specific online YouTube/website tutorial or eBook contents or any Arduino developer course. Ask the provider or take down the components requirement list or inventory and then decide the last section the Hardware section.
In the last section of Arduino development environment setup purchasing the components is required. The Arduino board and its peripherals are available both in local electronics shops and online shops like amazon, Arduino official website etc., for purchase.
Inventory for learning Arduino and becoming Arduino Developer
• A laptop or PC or mobile
• An Arduino Nano (or Uno if you prefer) plus charging/programming USB cable
• A breadboard, jumper wires and basic electronic components such as buttons, LEDs, sensors and so on. E.g. an Arduino Starter Kit
• A willingness to learn
• A desire to become a proficient Arduino developer and maker
Go easy on yourself: Step-by-step details to become Arduino Developer
Master individual techniques and concepts first.
- Start with blinking an LED using the “Blink” example included in the Arduino IDE.
- Then blink an LED that you wired up to an output.
- Then, write a sketch to blink several LEDs at once.
- Then make the LED blink when you push a button.
- Then write a sketch that does an analog read from a potentiometer to control the LED blink speed.
Any project you ultimately want to accomplish is reducible to smaller tasks. For example, by putting little jobs such as de-bouncing a button press, outputting to an LCD, reading a temperature sensor, and blinking an LED together, you can make a temperature-controlled switch.
Each concept you learn is a like a brick, and your project is a wall made of those bricks.
As a final note, never under estimate at the lowly blinking LED steps. No matter what prototype board or microcontroller thrown at one, the first thing usually do is blink a couple of LEDs. Those flickering lights let know that he/she has initialized the chip at least partially correct, and that he/she can begin to exert a measure of control over the hardware.
Learn how to use Arduino Libraries
What if large chunks of the code one need was already written and available? Wouldn’t that really speed up ones time to project completion? Well, that code is out there and it is just waiting for one to grab and load into his/her sketches. These collections of code are called libraries.
A library is like a box of tools for a related set of tasks. You just have to include the toolboxes that contain the tools you need in your project.
For About Arduino Posts list: Index click it!
…till next post, bye-bye and take care!
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