Why using Arduino?
• It is flexible, offers a variety of digital and analog inputs, SPI and serial interface
and digital and PWM outputs
• It is easy to use, connects to computer via USB and communicates using standard
serial protocol, runs in standalone mode and as interface connected to
PC/Macintosh computers
• It is inexpensive, around $30 per board and comes with free authoring software
• It is an open-source project, software/hardware is extremely accessible and very
flexible to be customized and extended
• Arduino is backed up by a growing online community, lots of source code is
already available and we can share and post our examples for others to use, too!
What is Arduino used for?
I Input
I Sensors
I Digital Input (Serial, SPI, I2C)
I Output
I LEDs
I Displays
I Speakers
I Control and Communication
I Drive other machinery
I Directly or using a communuication protocol
The Arduino Hardware
Arduinos di er in design but all share some basic functionality
I AVR Microcontroller
I Amtel AVR Mega168 or AVR Mega8 (older models)
I Power Supply
I Either directly or via USB power
I Communications
I Serial (older models)
I USB (most models)
I Connections to a USB interface (smaller models)
I Pins for various functions
