Arduino. A microprocessor with endless possibilities.

Easy, simple and inexpensive. These are the main characteristics of Arduino. Arduino is an open source software that allows everyone to access,modify or replicate other users code. This feature is building up a big community to exchange ideas and projects all over the world.

The hardware is a simple electronic plate, you can connect the peripherals to it through the in/out interface or operate it independently. You can also connect it to a computer or to other Arduino.

Already interested in getting one? You can buy it in the official store or one of the official distributors. You can even build your own one by etching and assembling a single-side serial board but check the prices first: it only costs 25€!

Arduino is quite simple to use. After getting the board, the Arduino Software (IDE) allows you to write programs, upload them to it and save your sketches in the cloud. Also, if you need some help, you can find lots of courses and tutorial online that will show you all the secrets to get and Arduino-expert.

There are some awesome projects such as adapting a doorbell for deaf people, instead of pressing a button outside and hear the sound inside, you can connect your arduino to the switch and when you push it the lights flicker inside the house.

Some of our favourite ideas to make with Arduino are the following ones:

• Build a tiny weather display
• Build a MIDI controller
• Make an ultrasonic range finder or radar detector
• Add a fingerprint scanner to the garage door openerMute
• Add motion night lights under the bed
• Mute specific phrases on TV
• 3D printing
• Build a robot arm or a LEGO Wall-E, a turn signal biking jackets, an alarm system, a traffic light controller, a laser cutter…

As you can see, from basic projects to really complicated systems, the possibilities are endless.

To sum up, there are a few reasons to recommend Arduino: it is cheap , easy to program and there is a huge web community to support beginners and a lot of examples for projects that you can adapt to your own. Run out and get one!