0 Arduino Demystified

So, what is Arduino? 

Arduino is an open source elctronics prototyping platform based on easy to learn software and hardware. It can interact with the environment through the plethora of sensors, and can react to the stimulus by the actuators attached to it - all with only your input. Much like teaching a child, you can write programs (The language is one of the easiest to learn), thus instructing if what to do when a certain stimuli is recieved or whether to do anything at all. Due to the inexpensive hardware, open source software, easy to use interface and loads of support on the internet, it has become the most popular prototyping platform in the world!

Getting Started

For beginners, if you are actually (with all your heart) interested in robotics, I would suggest you buy the Arduino Uno. It's inexpensive (you wont regret it even if you burn it!), lots of support available and plenty of connectors.

To begin using Arduino, first go to the Arduino site (www.arduino.cc) and download the software for Mac, PC, or LINUX. You can then either buy an official Arduino, or buy a clone or build your own Arduino board ( the directions for which I will post shortly ), each option less expensive than previous. There are many different types of boards, each with it's own functions. However the programs work with every one of the boards.When you are making a project with an Arduino, you will need to download programs onto the board using a USB lead between your computer and the Arduino. This is one of the most convenient things about using an Arduino. Many microcontroller boards use separate programming hardware to get programs into the microcontroller. With Arduino, it’s all contained on the board itself. This also has the advantage that you can use the USB connection to pass data back and forth between an Arduino board and your computer. For instance, you could connect a temperature sensor to the Arduino and have it repeatedly tell your computer the temperature. The power supply is generally 7-12V so a 9V battery will do just fine for portable applications. What's more? Well you can buy ( or design your own ) so called shields that are just some hardware addons to Arduino for increasing it's functionality and usability. Some of the functions that the shields are used for are :

• Connection to Ethernet Networks
• LCD displays and touch screens
• Wireless data communications
• Sound 
• Motor control
• GPS functionality
• Many more

You can use prototyping shields to design your own shields.

Without further ado, we will connect the Arduino board to the computer through an A to B USB lead, which is the same lead you use to connect the printer to the computer. If every thing is working okay, the LED on pin 13 will blink once every 2 seconds.

Installation On Windows

Follow the download link on the Arduino home page (www.arduino.cc) and select the download for Windows. This will start the download of the Zip archive containing the Arduino software. The Arduino software does not distinguish between different versions of Windows. The download should work for all versions, from Windows XP onwards. Select the Save option from the dialog, and save the Zip file onto your desktop. The folder contained in the Zip file will become your main Arduino directory, so now unzip it into which ever folder you want, in my case C:\Program Files\Arduino. You can do this rightclicking the Zip file to show the menu and selecting the Extract All option. This will open the Extraction Wizard. This will create a new directory for this version of Arduino in the folder C:\Program Files\Arduino. This allows you to have multiple versions of Arduino installed at the same time, each in its own folder.

Now that we have got the Arduino folder in the right place, we need to install the USB drivers. We let Windows do this for us by plugging in the Arduino board to trigger the Windows Found New Hardware Wizard. Select the option No, Not This Time, and then click Next. On the next screen, click the option

to install from a specified location, enter or browse to the location C:\Program Files\Arduino\arduino-

0017\drivers\FTDI USB Drivers, and then click Next. Note that you will have to change 0017 in the path noted if you download a different version.

The installation will then complete and you are ready to start up the Arduino software itself. To do this, go to My Computer, navigate to C:\Program Files\Arduino\arduino-0017, and click the Arduino icon. The Arduino software will now start. 

Configuring Your Arduino Environment

Whatever type of computer you use, you should now have the Arduino software installed on it. We now need to make a few settings. We need to specify the operating system name for the port that is connected to the USB port for communicating with the Arduino board, and we need to specify the type of Arduino board that we are using. But first, you need to connect your Arduino to your computer using the USB port or you will not be able to select the serial port. The serial port is set from the Tools menu. If you use many USB or Bluetooth devices, you are likely to have quite a few options in this list. On Windows, the serial port can just be set to COM3. From the Tools menu, we can now select the board that we are going to use.

And TADA!, you are ready to use your Arduino board!

You can start modifying your sketches or even creating them by starting with this post