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Not my finest hour as a technical illustrator, but here are pictures of two Arduino clones from Modern Device. I like both of them! (Do shrink the width of your browser window until the boards are shown life sized for the best effect. As I said earlier, these ARE seriously cool!)
I think the following people may be interested in what's on this page:
People interested in low cost electronics project development. Relatively "beginner-friendly"... though you will possibly be a little daunted if you have no background in programming or electronics. But: You Can Do It!!
People interested in microcontrollers.
People interested in any of the following: the Dallas 1-wire product line, the I2C bus, data logging, process control systems, alarm systems (burglar or other), weather monitoring.... and, not least: having fun with electronics (without spending tons of money)!!
The Arduino is a neat little microprocessor-based device that can do more than some of the "full" computers I worked with in the 80s. The project is not so old as to be hampered by ancient chips, nor so new that I fear it may only be a "flash in the pan". It does seem to have momentum and a dedicated following. The software and the hardware are Open Source, which, as all Right Thinking People know, is The Way to Go!
These are seriously cool "proper" computers, programmable in a C-like language, with many bits of digital I/O, some analogue I/O and a serial port. You don't need a QUERTY keyboard, a disk drive and a 1280x1024LCD monitor to do useful computing! (And while the basic Arduino doesn't have even close equivalents, it IS possible, if your application needs them, to hook keyboards, backing store (USB thumbdrive being my choice), and alphanumeric displays to Arduinos.)
There are the "official" Arduinos, and a number of clones.
I have some of both. They work. They rock!
They offer a great deal, for not very much money! All you need besides the Arduino or clone is a power supply (cheap "wall wart"), a USB interface (more on this in a moment) and the free software. A prototyping board will make connecting LEDs, switches, potentiometers, etc. easier.) (You also need a "proper" computer, but only for the programming of your Arduino. Windoze, or Linux or Mac. Once the Arduino is programmed, it will run independently of the big computer. The programming is easy, both in terms of the intellectual issues, and the "doing it" issues. The Arduino has flash memory to which you write the program, a bit like storing data in a thumbdrive.)
I've been using Arduino clones from Modern Device and Wulfden (see below) but they are not the only sources.... which is, I think, one of the strengths of the product.
The USB interface:
To program your Arduino, you need a way for your big computer to talk to the Arduino. The free development software for your big computer sends the program out via one of it's ports. Typically, people plug in a USB device for these comms. I've done a separate page about your choices for connecting the Arduino for programming. Cost: $15-$25, and it can be one device for multiple Arduinos. (Only one at a time, though!)
N.B.: If you have one of the old cables, but have moved to the 3.3v Arduinos, you may have issues. More on this at the page cited above)
Since writing the first edition of this page and much of which remains here, I have "settled" on the RBBB from Modern Device.com as the "Arduino" I most like. ($11 in kit form at 6/08. $14 for just one full kit, including p&p, at 7/09. PayPal accepted. See: Easy! I told you!) (Although the project is open source, technically (registered trademark... on an open source product(? Duh?) only some boards made to the design can be called "Arduino"s.) My first Arduino was an assembled "Diecimilo": $40 / £32 when I bought mine. (There are much less expensive alternatives... see below.) I bought it in the UK, from Tinker.It, and it came quickly, without hassle.
My favorite "Arduino" is the RBBB from Modern Device.com. (Not Modern Device**S**, note.) Both of the Arduinos in the photo at the top of the page were from Modern Device. The lower one is the RBBB. Not only do I like the device, but I've also had excellent customer support from Modern Device and Wulfden.
Further comment on the support at ModernDevice: Look for the links at the bottom of the main page for the RBBB or the BBB, as appropriate to what you are building. Modern Device kindly keeps the docs for old versions online. Just because the latest BBB is revision E doesn't mean there aren't people out there needing the old information. If only the big manufacturers were as customer loyal!
Other good instructions relating to the RBBB can be found in the PDF from Wulfden, and a photo guide at Instructables. If using the guide: Be careful when you install the resistors. R1 (the board is clearly marked) is 1k: brn-blk-ORANGE. R2 is 10k: brn-blk-RED.
There are good prices and all sorts of Neat Stuff at the Wulfden site. The mini-prototyping breadboards are great for use with RBBBs. ($13 for 3, including p&p, at 7/09.) And, besides Things To Buy, you will also find useful tutorial material.
This isn't the place for the next item... I'll try to move it one day... but while I have this page open for editing, let me mention that when you first fire up your Arduino, one little "gotcha" to watch out for is that you need to set your development software to talk to the Arduino on the right port. Tools | Settings, or some such. (The "development software" is free stuff that you download... and of a very high quality. Don't be fooled by the price.)
In a similar vein: If you have a new Arduino on the way, or have just started with one, read my cables page for a warning about reversing a connection. It is at the bottom of the page.
I've written a little page about my first steps with my Arduino. My hope is that it will answer any questions you may have, and encourage you to try one. I've written some tutorials to help you master the Arduino and its programming language. Tell me what you think! Does anyone want me to go further with the work?
Even before I had explored it in depth, having looked at a number of such devices over the years, I was very enthusiastic... and experience has only increased my enthusiasm. They seem to have got many things "right". They say they've produced 10,000 of them, so this isn't a limited product with a bleak future. The hardware and essential software is open source; you'll find legal clones available. (The "BoArdino" is one that appealed to me before I became "hooked" on the ModernDevice design. I liked the fact that it looked like it would be easy to use with prototyping boards... as are the boards from ModernDevice. It is one of the designs that doesn't have the USB onboard... good, in my opinion, as I said.)
Originally what came next was just "I'd tell you more... but I'd rather go play with my Arduino!"
I've now played with Arduinos for many hours over many months. Still loving them. My first serious project was a prototype "client/server" system which lets me put the overheads of looking at a 16 key matrix keyboard into a separate device (a BasicStamp at the moment, eventually an ad hoc PIC), using just two lines of the Arduino to "talk" to the keyboard as necessary. I told you the beast was capable! (Other people have done similar things to simplify interfacing an Arduino to an LCD display.
I've also worked up an access control device driven by an Arduino. It has two switches, two LEDs, and must be connected to an electro-mechanical strikeplate for actual use... but you can use an LED just to see the device in action. It presents the person wanting entry to some premises a "challenge" in the form of a pattern of "ons" and "offs" on the LEDs. If the user gives the right "response", by pressing one or both of the buttons, the door will open for 10 seconds. (That "open" time can be adjusted.) Just a little example of what an Arduino can do. The program only used a tenth of the available memory, and a piffling number of the available I/O pins. (For "real world" use, I would add at least another LED and another switch, making the "code" harder to crack.)
A I first came across the Arduino at the start of 2008, quite by accident, thanks to the enthusiastic mention on Peter Anderson's microcontroller page.
I hope I've convinced you to give one a try, if you are in the market for an inexpensive microcontroller development environment. If I haven't, please let me know where my "pitch" is lacking? No, Virginia, I don't get any commission... I just have had a lot of fun, and expect you could have similar fun!
Page tested for compliance with INDUSTRY (not MS-only) standards, using the free, publicly accessible validator at validator.w3.org
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