Arduino: Arduino Is An Open-Source Single-Board Microcontroller, Descendant of The Open-Source Wiring
Arduino: Arduino Is An Open-Source Single-Board Microcontroller, Descendant of The Open-Source Wiring
What is Arduino?
Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world
than your desktop computer. It's an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple
microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.
Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking inputs from a variety of switches or
sensors, and controlling a variety of lights, motors, and other physical outputs. Arduino projects
can be stand-alone, or they can be communicate with software running on your computer (e.g.
Flash, Processing, MaxMSP.) The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled;
the open-source IDE can be downloaded for free.
The Arduino programming language is an implementation of Wiring, a similar physical
computing platform, which is based on the Processing multimedia programming environment.
Why Arduino?
There are many other microcontrollers and microcontroller platforms available for physical
computing. Parallax Basic Stamp, Netmedia's BX-24, Phidgets, MIT's Handyboard, and many
others offer similar functionality. All of these tools take the messy details of microcontroller
programming and wrap it up in an easy-to-use package. Arduino also simplifies the process of
working with microcontrollers, but it offers some advantage for teachers, students, and interested
amateurs over other systems:
Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language (syntax and libraries), similar
to C++ with some simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-based integrated
development environment.[4]
Current versions can be purchased pre-assembled; hardware design information is available for
those who would like to assemble an Arduino by hand. Additionally, variations of the Italian-
made Arduino—with varying levels of compatibility—have been released by third parties; some
of them are programmed using the Arduino software.