arduino.cc



why are arduinos awesome?



Reasons:


1: Cost

2: Durability

3: Availability / Community

Cost


seeedstudio.com

adafruit.com

$20-32

Durability


Arduino is also very resilient. Drop it, smash it and it still stays alive. Add to that its low-power requirement, and the product becomes a must-have for DIYers. An Arduino can run on a 9V-battery for days.
~ Wired 

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/hardware-hobbyists-arduino/

Simple



Simple


100% open source
-> cheap and easy to clone

Built-in IDE and development environment


AVAILABILITY


You can find Arduinos at RadioShack, lying around labs, etc.

Additionally, it's a standard platform, pinouts and cpu
So picking up another similar device is, well, similar.


Community


  • based off previous strengths, built strong community
  • software libraries, header boards, support forums
  • forum.arduino.cc

Where do I get started?



Install the IDE:

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Write some code & upload!

Key Code Concepts:

void setup 
void loop

const int ledPin =  13;      // the number of the LED pin

void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); } void loop(){ digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); delay(1000); digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); delay(1000);}
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