Electric motors are used in many applications from robotics to children’s toys. Although many of these motors are DC motors, Homopolar motors are the simplest of motors and are easy to show students in a classroom setting. All it takes to build your first simple motor are three common materials you can probably find around the house: copper wire, a AA battery, and neodymium magnets.
Common heart shaped approach. Photo Credit: electronics-micros.com
Constructing the motor is simple but getting it to work can take trial and error as well as a bit of patience. Here’s how to do it:
1) Attach the magnet to the negative side of the battery. 2) Strip the copper wire completely or for safety, in the middle and at the two ends. 3) Bend the wire so that one end touches the positive terminal and the other end touches the magnet. A common approach is a heart shaped wire for better stability. 4) Watch: As the copper wire touches the magnet, the wire will begin to spin.
Current (blue) flows from the positive terminal to the magnet at the negative terminal. The current flows in the presence of a magnetic field (red). This causes a force perpendicular to those directions (in the page on the left of the battery and out of the page to the right of the battery). This force causes the wire to spin. Photo Credit: Physics Central
How does it work? Well the theory can get as detailed as you want it to be but to keeps things simple, I will explain the homopolar motor briefly. The copper wire connects the positive terminal to the magnet at the negative terminal. This completes the circuit, allowing current to flow through the circuit (and the wire). Due to the magnet, the current is flowing in the presence of a magnetic field around the battery. When current flows in a magnetic field, it will experience a force called the Lorentz force. This force acts perpendicular to the magnetic field and the flow of the current (and the wire). Consequently, the perpendicular force pushes the wire around the battery.
Once you get a working motor, you can change the shape of the wire to any shape you want! Have fun!
The tiny toothed pincers above are part of a non-robotic system called the da Vinci Surgical System. The design is called non robotic as the operating doctor is in full control of the system. It basically translates the movements of a surgeon into micro-movements in the da Vinci’s intruments.
The idea behind this system is to give surgeons expanding capabilities and a minimally invasive option for major surgery. Here is a video of it in action:
This robotic glove, the “Teacher”, is designed to help you improve your drawing skills. It attaches to your hand and the machine coaches you to draw by forcing your hand to perform certain motions. The idea is that your hand will eventually develop the proper muscle memory and be able to draw free-handed.
Saurabh Datta, an engineering student from the Institute of Interaction Design Copenhagen, developed the glove for his graduation thesis. Initially, the equipment was designed to teach him how to play the piano. In it’s latest version however, the Teacher can help anyone without a natural born talent to draw through simple repetition. The robot forces your hand to repeatedly execute a series of basic drawing movements. The repetition of these movements end up being transferred to the muscle memory of your fingers, causing you to be able to repeat the movements naturally without the use of the glove. The idea of the glove is basically to “program” you so your lines become aesthetically better. The glove has no ability to interfere in the creative process so it’s still up to you whether or not to be able to put on paper something visually attractive.
I am not an artistic person but once I obtain one of these gloves who knows. You might see one of my drawings in a museum near you! 🙂
Nerf gun office war. Photo Credit: hrsolutionsinc.wordpress.com
Prompt: You are in an office and the annual Office War is about to begin. You have less than an hour, a desk (w/ pullout drawers), rolling chair, computer, keyboard, mouse (old roller-type), mouse pad, stapler, staples, three hole puncher, desk lamp (old fashion bulb), rubber bands, paper clips, pushpins, envelopes, printer, printer paper, clicker pens, No. 2 pencils, a white eraser, highlighters, 15 ft. Ethernet cable, scientific calculator, engineering pad, corded desk phone, a gallon water jug, a tin of Altoids, a hot cup of coffee (in a ceramic mug), and a frozen 4 lb. steak. It’s either you or them, and remember you are a mechanical engineer, not a tinkerer. Go!
NOTE: DO NOT try or create any of these ideas at home. This is purely for fun and we will not be held responsible for your actions! Enjoy!
The alarms have sounded, the office war has officially begun. You wipe the citrus flavored energy drink from the edge of your mouth and put the computer on standby mode. Confidence oozes from your pores like hot molasses, you stare at the closed door in your office and announce without fear, “Come at me brethren!” Footsteps suddenly stop, and redirect towards your position. You put your plan into action.
The Trap: You grab the hot mug of coffee and let its bitterness energize your blood stream. Looking for a cloth to wrap the mug, you decide the shirt on your back will do. Taking the metal 3 hole punch you smash the wrapped mug into jagged shards and sprinkle them at the entrance of your fortress (office) along with push pins facing up. And finally using the telephone cord to create a trip wire for any of your mates who will be bursting from your door.
CQC (Close Quarters Combat): Eventually the bodies will pile up at the door and initial trap will prove to be ineffective, you need to ready to defend and attack directly. With the lamp shining bright you break the bulb filling the room with darkness. This will hinder the incoming attackers vision and allow you to use the faces of enemy’s as the resistance to complete open circuit of the lamp. Quickly you empty the drawers from your desk and disassemble them for a large wooden slab making for a wooden shield that can be strapped to your forearm with your computer mouse’s wire.
The Steak Flail: You can’t stay plugged into the wall forever, you grab the frozen steak and tie it to the end of the 15 foot Ethernet chord and swing it like a medieval flail. For added protection, you take the Altoids tin and plastically deform it into a shiv to drive into the hearts of your enemies. Now armed with a long and short distance weapon and a shield, you work your way over all the bodies in your office and out the doors to victory.
Hopefully an office purge will never happen but my wish is that this article may somehow help you strategize and survive if it does. What would you do? Comment below, let me know.
Connecticut-based company, GuardBot has recently released their take on an autonomous broadcasting, reconnaissance, and security robot. What began as a bot aimed for use on Mars, is now a potential patrolling robot for the US military. Guardbot, also the name of the bot, is capable of tackling various terrains from sand, grass, mud, and snow to even water. In solid to slightly wet environments, it can achieve a top speed of 6 mph and can even climb hills up to 30 degrees in slope. In water, Guardbot can achieve a top speed of 4 mph, still perfect enough for guard duties.
Going for a swim. Photo Credit: cdn.ft.rs
Guardbots can be ordered in a range of sizes from 4 inches to 9 feet in diameter but the standard size is 2 feet. Inside the bot, a number of electronic controls are housed to achieve various tasks. These tasks are set by the client and anything from night vision to laser scanners can be installed. It also features live streaming, high definition cameras and a pendulum-stabilized electronics tray to keep everything oriented upright.
Tiny GuardBot for home use. Photo Credit: soocurious.com
Although very different from our project, the goals of these two devices are the same. Both can be used for reconnaissance and security missions but can also be customized to meet other needs. Our project is capable of being used in tracking, exploratory, and guarding scenarios (in addition to our primary application of ISR). GuardBot can also be used to patrol parking lots and in emergencies where explosives or chemicals are present.
The 2014 year has been a good one to us in terms of technology. Many of these devices have not been publicly displayed enough for people to take notice. So I’m here to fill you in! Here is your list of the top 10 greatest feats in engineering!
10. Form-fitting compression space suit to aid in planetary exploration -Dr. Dava Newman, a professor of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Engineering Systems at MIT, created compression garments that incorporate small, springlike coils that contract in response to heat to improve upon the outdated, clunky spacesuits astronauts currently wear.
9. Simple, cheap, paper test for cancer -Another research team at MIT has definitely achieved success in this department as they developed a simple, cheap, paper test that can diagnose cancer, in a similar fashion to a pregnancy test.
8. Pocket spectrometer is your personal molecular scanner -This pocket friendly device uses near IR spectroscopy to identify the materials of the object it’s scanning. It works in partner with your smartphone via Bluetooth and the data from the scan is sent to the cloud to undergo algorithms, before feedback is sent back to the smartphone.
7. Daewoo’s exosteleton that gives its workers super strength -Daewoo began testing exoskeletons that allow workers to pick up, maneuver and hold objects weighing 30kg with no effort – perfect for their shipbuilders. A backpack carries the power for a system of hydraulic joints and electric motors running up the outside of the legs.
6. We finally have something that can be called a working hoverboard -An interesting use of electromagnetics and the hoverboard was a front for the new take on the technology which has potential for a lot of other great possibilities.
5. Ridiculous 43 Terabits/sec data transfer -The High-Speed Optical Communications team at the Technical University of Denmark set a new record for data transmission this year, passing 43 terabits per second worth of data over a single optical fiber. To put this in perspective, Reddit user candiedbug points out: “At 43 terabits per second you could download Netflix’s entire 3.14 petabyte library in 9.7 minutes.”
4. Google Cardboard lets you experience virtual reality with stuff you already have -With some android software you can create your own virtual reality experience with things possibly lying around your home right now. All you need is some cardboard, Velcro strips, magnets and plastic lenses (and of course an Android device), and you can experience a 3D virtual reality available from numerous apps.
3. Wireless electricity is now a thing -Wireless electricity has been creeping into our lives with the likes of wireless charging smartphone docks where the handheld devices lay on top of a pad. Now, WiTricity have used resonant wireless power transfer technology to develop a commercially viable product that can charge your devices without the need of them being left on a pad. It also works through wood and metal.
2. SpaceX’s FALCON 9 reusable test vehicle reaches 1000m -Elon Musk dreams to colonize Mars in the future but this year his company achieved a milestone with their reusable rocket, reaching 1000m. At a time when budgeting for space sciences is at risk, the industry needs more efficient and less costly solutions to continue our exploration beyond our own planet.
1. Solar power can be generated in the dark -Researchers from MIT and Harvard have created a way for solar panels to absorb and store the energy from the sun’s radiation, which can then be used on demand to create heat.
However, do not forget that we landed on a comet! In my opinion that is the greatest engineering feat! Feel free to look into each one of these great engineering feats yourself!
LED Sign Example. Photo Credit: animationlibrary.com
Welcome back for another round of learning Arduino! I just want to take a moment to thank those who are continuing this journey with me. For those just joining us, please take a look at Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to clear up any questions! I personally have come a long way since my start in Summer and have worked on some really awesome projects this past quarter. Through the use of my personal Arduino starter kit, I have been able to build an obstacle avoiding car, a temperature controlling HVAC system, and a self-stabilizing wing. These projects were completed for a Control of Mechanical Systems class I took this past quarter and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
In Part 3, we were able to build a simple circuit and breakdown the code to control the circuit. It was a nice intro project that showed how to setup an Arduino code and upload it to the board. This time around the task will be slightly more involved but will show you important coding practices to make future projects more manageable. We will be controlling multiple LED’s and manipulating their states at any given time. Let’s get to it!
What you need:
8 x LED’s (any color)
8 x 330Ohm Resistors (if you don’t know what you have, the color code is orange-orange-brown)
Arduino board
Breadboard
Assorted Jumpers
Friendly Note: We are not responsible for any misuse or risky behavior!
Photo Credit: Vilros Starter Kit Guide by Sparkfun
Place the LED’s anywhere on the breadboard, without plugging any two legs into the same rows. This can cause a short and you will experience unwanted circuit behavior. Also, take care in knowing which leg is the longer length (positive) and the shorter length (negative). You may want to place the LED’s in an organized fashion so that the light sequencing looks nice. Remember, we want to place a resistor in series with the LED’s to protect them from excess current. Next, place jumpers from the positive LED legs to the Arduino inputs such as digital inputs 2 -9. Finally, apply a 5V potential to the positive(+) column on the breadboard and a ground jumper to the negative (-) column. Take a look above for a better view of the circuit layout!
Code
The code below is VERY good at teaching what each part does. Instead of re-analyzing each part again, I will add to it in hopes of clarifying any questions. Simply copy and paste it into your IDE and upload it to your Arduino board. I have included a video demonstration below the code to give you a better visual of what to expect once you run it.
// for tips on how to make random() even more random.
index = random(8); // pick a random number between 0 and 7
delayTime = 100;
digitalWrite(ledPins[index], HIGH); // turn LED on
delay(delayTime); // pause to slow down
digitalWrite(ledPins[index], LOW); // turn LED off
}
Video Demonstration:
Here’s what you should expect to see in your circuit! Enjoy!
In future projects you will most likely need to use For Loops and Arrays to complete tasks efficiently and to consolidate writing space. These components of code show up in all different forms of script such as VBA and Matlab so learning it now will make you better prepared. Have some fun with the code above by playing with the timing of delays and with the mixing of functions. If you’re wondering what multiple LED’s are even used for just imagine a marquee display. They are made up of a bunch of LED’s that turn on and off independently to form a desired letter, symbol, or shape.
Thanks for reading Part 4 of my Learning Arduino series and don’t forget to visit our GoFundMe site to help us reach our fundraising goal!
A company called CyPhy Works has discovered a way to make UAVs that have “unlimited” run time! How is this possible you might ask?? Well it’s rather elementary.
If you think about it, all your household appliances use the same cutting-edge technology. A power cord. Or in this case, a microfilament that provides energy, direct communication, high definition video, and receives data from sensors quickly and reliably. But you might think that having this “tether” is a huge drawback as the microfilament could get snagged and that would be the end of the UAV. This problem has been carefully considered. The UAV actually dispenses the spool of microfilament as it moves so it will never be in tension to hold it down. And if worst comes to worst, if someone decides to cut the microfilament, the UAV can simply return to its point of origin on battery power.
Helen Grainer, founder of CyPhy Works, says that this is a solution that solves the problem that most UV’s have and that is loss of communication when employed for duty. UVs go into bunkers, inside a building, around a corner. All lose communication and by the time communication is restored it’s already too late. Too late to recover the UV itself or any information it might have stumbled upon. The latest of CyPhy Works’ projects is the Pocket Flyer UAV that has a battery life of 2 hours or longer, with a microfilament cable that can spool up to 76 yards, and has replaceable spools for the drone to use after completion of each mission. The point of having a UAV so small is so soldiers always have a drone on their person no matter the situation and it can be run using an OS on a smart phone or other similar devices. These UVs are ready for production to get them into the hands of soldiers who need them the most. Here’s the incredible video of the prototype, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdCnRg81qE
I’m sure we have all done this at some point. Whether it was your computer running especially slow or your television just wasn’t giving you that “clear” picture. It just seemed liked a quick smack was the right thing to do to fix that problem! It worked for Fonzie to fix that skipping jukebox from “Happy Days”, so why can’t it work for you? Well in the older days when devices had many more mechanical components in them, and something could get jammed, a quick hit could get it right into place or a bad solder connection would reconnect. However, these techniques would only be a temporary fix, prolonging the inevitable.
How about more modern machines where many of the components rely less on mechanical operations? Well placing a few well-placed taps could identify a weak connection on a printed circuit board giving you an indication of a weak point in the part. There are definitely items where giving them a good smack would not help but do more damage than help. For example, giving a hard drive a good whack may not be the best solution. However, this so called “percussive maintenance” is still used today to determine faults in electronics like weak solder connections. This percussive maintenance is done by professionals where knowledge and experience comes into play. They know how to perform a few well-placed taps rather than throwing a Mike Tyson punch to the side of the device.
You could compare the “smacking back to life” idea to a doctor applying a “precordial thump” to the chest of a person in cardiac arrest. However, I would not suggest you do this unless you are a certified emergency aid.
As with many things in life, you must learn to crawl before you can walk. Learning how to actually use an Arduino board is no different therefore we will continue our Arduino Journey by completing a simple project. The first thing a novice should learn is how to control an LED. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are small, powerful lights that are used in many different applications such as notification lights in our phones, displays, and in sensors. Designers most often times don’t want their LEDs to always be on or at their full brightness so controlling an LED’s state will be the focus of this project.
The first thing an inventor needs to do is gather all necessary components to build the project. This includes the following:
1 x LED (any color)
1 x 330 ohm resistor
Various jumper wires
Arduino Uno (or similar board)
Protoboard (to place your components)
Arduino Code (I’ll cover this after hooking everything up!)
Most beginner kits will have these basic components already but if you are missing anything your local electronics store should carry it. The setup of the circuit is very straight forward as shown below. NOTE: Be smart with your decisions! We are not responsible for misuse of electronics and injury! Before connecting anything together, it’s safe practice to disconnect the Arduino board from your computer or power source. This essentially cuts power to the board allowing the user to move things around without the risk of shock. Place a jumper wire from the 5V output on the Arduino to the red positive vertical strip on the protoboard. Do the same for ground; running a jumper from GND to the negative strip on the protoboard. The two vertical columns on the side of the protoboard are all connected to together. Anything placed on the vertical positive column will be charged to 5V. Anything placed along the negative ground column will be grounded. Conversely, the middle rows of the protoboard are connected horizontally. Anything placed along the same row will be connected together.
Courtesy of Vilros Starter Kit Guide by Sparkfun
Place a jumper wire from any pin (such as pin 13) to any location in the middle of the protoboard. Now we place our LED. The two legs of our LED are of different lengths. The longer leg should be connected to positive (+) and the shorter leg should be connected to negative (ground). LED’s are diodes which mean that the current is meant to flow from positive to negative, so knowing which leg is which is important. The positive leg of the LED is connected in the same row at the jumper from pin 13. Now that we have placed our LED we can place our resistor. Resistors are components that reduce current flow and act to lower voltage in circuits. It is used in this project to protect our LED by reducing the current flowing through it. One leg is placed in the same row as the negative LED leg and the other is connected to ground completing our circuit. You most likely have to bend the legs of your resistor by 90o to fit into the protoboard. If you are lost, just take a look above at the layout diagram to clear things up!
Now that we have hooked up all of our components, we can move onto the code. For the Arduino code to successfully operate two “functions” are necessary to define. The first is setup() which essentially sets up all the pins we need to work with. We can make our pins operate as inputs or outputs depending on what our project needs. For this specific task all we need to do is set pin 13 (or the pin you’re using) as an output. This is done by saying: pinmode(13,OUTPUT);
The next function is called loop() which runs indefinitely until we unplug our Arduino board. Here we place our desired actions, calculations, and operations. For this project we need to make the LED turn on and then turn off. This is done by saying: digitalWrite(13, HIGH) and digitalWrite(13,LOW). Setting our pin HIGH means supplying the pin with 5V, which turns our LED on. LOW supplies the pin with 0V which turns the LED off. Adding the delay, as shown in the code below, pauses the loop for a given amount of time (measured in milliseconds). Adjusting the delay value will change how long the LED stays on versus the time it stays off. You can simply copy the code below into your code window and it should work. All that’s left to do is connect your Arduino board to the computer, click verify, click upload, and your project will be up and running!
CODE
void setup() { pinMode(13,OUTPUT); }
//this is setting up pin number 13 on the arduino board as the output pin. //the first value in the parenthesis is a pin and the second value is the function.
//now we move onto the loop which will run forever until the board is unplugged or reset.
void loop() { digitalWrite(13, HIGH); // LED on.
//digitalWrite is a function used to make an ouput HIGH or LOW, 5V or 0V.
delay(1000); //this pauses the loop for a given amount of time measured in milliseconds
digitalWrite(13, LOW); //LED off.
delay(1000); }
As I said before, adjusting your delay values will result in different blinking rates so go ahead and try it out! Keep a look out for my next tutorial on controlling multiple LED’s.
We appreciate all of your support! Please check out our GoFundMe site to help us complete our senior project. Thanks!
It’s been some time since I posted Part 1 of this series. In my first post, I covered the idea behind Arduino and the many applications of their boards. I have taken the past month to gain experience in micro-controlling and, as promised, I will share more of my educational journey.
Photo Credit: Future Electronics
Layout
Since an Arduino board interprets inputs and controls outputs, it only makes sense that you mostly see inputs and outputs on the front face. For the sake of keeping this guide as concise as possible without technical overload, I will only highlight the most critical parts of the board. As shown in the orientation above, the UNO R3 (a popular starter Arduino board) has digital pins up top that can be used as an input and/or output. Working around the board clockwise, we have a reset button that can be used to disrupt the current task and start from the beginning again. Next, we have the ATmega328 micro-controller which acts as the brain of the board. Below the brain, we have another strip of inputs and outputs. Starting from the far left, the user has freedom to use 6 analog inputs which can be used for sensors or other components. The next 3 pins are unregulated voltage (Vin) and two ground pins. The last 3 pins are a regulated source of 5V, 3.3V, and a reset pin. Lastly, we find the external power supply and the USB plug for power and communication purposes.
Inputs and Outputs
The 14 digital pins located up top can be used as inputs or outputs to fit various needs. They operate at 5V and can stand up to 40mA of current. Some pins have special functions but I will cover that when the times comes to use them.
The 6 analog inputs on the UNO have the same 5V operations level and provide 10 bits of resolution. Working with analog and digital signals at the same time can be a bit tricky but, like stated above, I will get to that when the project calls for it.
Power
The UNO R3 can be powered via an external power supply such as a wall adapter or by USB connection. The board can be supplied with 6 to 20V but anything above 12V is NOT recommended. The board can become very hot at higher voltages! Connecting a USB cable supplies the board with 5V but more potential can be supplied using an external power supply. This is important for driving components that may need more power than the regulated 5V supplied by USB.
Software
Standing by the idea of making coding and micro-controlling easy to learn, the software supplied by Arduino allows the user to jump right in without any headaches. The IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is easy to setup and looks very clean. A sample screenshot is included below to help highlight some important areas.
Arduino IDE Screenshot. Photo Credit: Majd Srour
The 5 buttons at the top left starting from the right are: verify, upload, new, open, and save. Verify is used to compile your code and approve it for use. Upload sends your code to the Arduino board. New opens up a new “sketch”, or code. Open allows the user to open an existing sketch and Save is self-explanatory. The magnifying glass to the top right is a serial monitor that shows what the Arduino is transmitting and is useful for debugging. The large white field is open space to write your code and the black field below is a message area where the IDE tells you of any errors.
What a post! I hope Part 2 doesn’t confuse you and if you have any questions, please feel free to comment. I will get back to you as best as I can but just know that I’m learning this environment for the first time too! My next post will get into our first project dealing with LED’s and code debugging. I will also include a video to help you visualize what all is going on. Until next time!
The Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: NASA.gov
The galaxy is a wonderful and mysterious thing isn’t it? The only way we have been able to provide answers and/or theories is through pictures granted by the machines we have created. For example, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has played a huge role in providing pictures to scientists to conjure answers about our galaxies. However, our answers are only as good as the pictures they provide. If I were to design a telescope for the same use as NASA’s Hubble Telescope here are a few components I would want to do research in.
Research in electrical engineering components is a huge priority in this situation. Since there are a wide variety of electrical components in a space telescope (we have to receive the picture somehow right?) more research in this is needed. There’s dust and gas everywhere in space which could cover the lens and give a bad picture. A Near Infrared Camera & Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) allows the telescope to observe infrared light, with wavelengths between 0.8 and 2.4 micrometers, providing imaging and slitless spectrophotometric capabilities.
Another major component would be a Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). In space, color has A LOT of information (wavelengths help determine distance, amount of various elements present, etc.). The STIS separates the incoming colors of light to aid in the reading of these pictures. Improvements lead to clearer/informative/breakthrough pictures to help provide a better understanding of space.
Since I’m a mechanical engineering major I have to add something that is relative to my field of study of course! I would definitely look into the engine. Since we can only store a certain amount of fuel in the space telescope it keeps us from going on distant missions. I would look into a device that uses no fuel and provides movement by means of transferring momentum. Since space is considered a vacuum there would be no drag (unless you hit an asteroid then drag is the least of your worries) so you could travel far distances without using up any fuel. With this device we could travel even farther into space and take pictures deeper than we could imagine!
After finishing that last final of the academic year, it’s all too easy to walk away from campus and fully immerse yourself into what I call “Summer Mode”. There’s no homework to worry about, no lectures to listen to, and NO DEADLINES. This is a time of pure relaxation and wearing sweatpants (unless you have to work but that’s a different story). Summer after summer, I have fallen for this paradise only wishing I had been more productive in my free time. This summer I made a commitment to better myself both personally and professionally.
Out of all the goals I had set for myself this break, I have chosen to show you one. As a mechanical engineering student, our time in the electrical and electronics field can be limited to one class and one lab. We almost have to take it upon ourselves to learn more than just the basics. After taking a few classes dealing with measurements, system response, and sensors, I realized that I have a deep fascination of electronics and computer programming. I figured the best way to continue my education in these fields was to buy an Arduino starter kit online.
You’re probably wondering…what is an Arduino? Arduino is an open-source physical computing platform first introduced in 2005. It was designed to provide students with an inexpensive and easy way to learn electronics, fast. Today, Arduino provides both microcontroller boards and a simple Integrated Development Environment (IDE) software. The uses are endless and projects can range from controlling simple robots to controlling 3D printers.
Arduino UNO board courtesy of Sparkfun. Photo Credit: Sparkfun.com
An Arduino board is a tool for gathering various inputs from sensors or switches and quickly reacting through outputs such as motors or actuators. The board controls this process by an uploaded program written in the IDE. This enables the creator to make a connection between the physical world and the electronics world.
I ordered the Ultimate Arduino Uno Starter Kit by Vilros which can be found online. It has a wide variety of basic components from simple resistors to a LCD screen module and of course the Arduino board itself. The included tutorials range from turning a LED on and off to displaying captured data on the LCD module. I plan to show you my completed projects in the next few posts of this series, as well as the code used to make them all work. Please stay tuned!
Visit Arduino.cc if you would like to explore the world of Arduino for yourself!