April 11th 2021

Trying out Arduino for the first time

Introduction

At the start of this year, I wanted to get a kit to try building some fun electronic projects and I discovered Arduino in my research.

What is Arduino?

So what is so good about Arduino? Let's start off by talking about what exactly Arduino is. Arduino has been around for over two decades, since its inception in the early 2000s.

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform that lets you build interactive electronic devices quickly. The Arduino programming language is a simplified version of C++, so it helps if you have a bit of programming knowledge but you can use Arduino even if you are new to programming.

It's a favourite tool for computing enthusiasts and beginners because it is easy to use and provides a good range of functionality with an impressive variety of firmware options. What's more, there are some amazing projects specifically made for children or anyone who wants to learn how computers work. Anybody who has ever had any interest in technology or engineering should definitely take a look at Arduino.

You can use it to make many different projects. Some of them are really complicated and require knowledge in various fields, while others only need basic knowledge about electricity.

Users have programmed Arduino to do everything from controlling a robotic arm to making a musical instrument. But the starter projects are a great introduction for those who are looking to get started.

How i got started

I started with the Blink project as the kit provided a resource with easy to follow tutorials for starter projects. To be honest the kit came with a CD with the tutorials on but I didn't use the CD as it is not 2002! So I found the tutorials online in a handy document on the Elegoo website.

The tutorial doc contained all the basic information about how to use the Arduino controller board, sensors and components. If you want to study Arduino in more depth, they recommend that you read the Arduino Cookbook written by Michael Margolis.

Some of my first introductory projects included making a simple device with an LDC screen that displayed the words Hello World and the number of seconds it had been powered on for.

I also made a speaker that played a fun, simple song which was quite cool. In this blog post, you'll find some examples below of Arduino projects that will help you get started on your own project.

What comes in the kit?

I got the kit from a company called Elegoo, on Amazon here - with a 4.5 star Amazon rating and over 800 reviews so I was pretty happy with that.

It is called the Elegoo Uno R3 Project - The most complete ultimate starter kit compatible with Arduino IDE w/tutorial, UNO R3 control board, LCD 1602, Servo, Stepper Motor.

Price: £50.99

Top 5 Arduino projects I'd like to build in future

Below I have compiled a list of the next Arduino projects I want to try building in future:

  1. Small games console - A small game console made entirely with arduinos which could play basic games such as snake
  2. Drone - A flyable remote control drone made from arduino with a built in gyroscope and GPS
  3. Digital Alarm Clock - A project using a clock chip to make a digital clock with an alarm built in
  4. Remote Control Car - A remote control car with the Arduino Uno and servos
  5. Interactive Robot - An interactive voice activated robot.

Find out more

I've had a lot of fun learning with my Arduino set so far. If you are interested in trying out some DIY electronics, then I recommend giving it a go. You can find more info and lots of tutorials for free on the official Arduino website to help get you started on making your own cool projects.