Arduino Programming Course And Certification

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open-source prototype platform, based on easy to find and use hardware and software.

Arduino is made up of a circuit board, which can be programmed (generally referred to as a microcontroller) and a ready-made software known as Arduino IDE, that is used to write and upload the computer software program to the physical board. 

Arduino products are licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) or under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which permits anyone to manufacture and distribute Arduino software and boards. Arduino boards are made commercially available in the preassembled form or as a do-it-yourself (DIY) kits.

Arduino board designs make use of a variety of controllers and microprocessors. The boards are fully equipped with assortments of digital and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be directly interfaced with various other expansion boards ('shields') or breadboards (used for prototyping) and other circuits.

The boards highlight various serial communications interfaces, some of which include Universal Serial Bus (USB) on some models, that are also used for loading software programs from personal computers. The microcontrollers can be programmed by using languages such as C and C++. In addition to using conventional compiler toolchains, the Arduino project presents an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is based on the Processing language project.

It is aimed at providing a low-cost and easy way for professionals and novices to create devices that interact with their environment by means of and actuators. Typical examples of such devices that are intended for beginner hobbyists include thermostats, simple robots, and motion detectors. The name Arduino comes from a bar in Ivrea, Italy, where some of the founders of the project usually meet up.

History of Arduino

The Arduino project kickstarted at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea (IDII) in Ivrea, Italy. during that time the scholars were using a BASIC Stamp microcontroller at a price of $50, a considerable expense for various students the year 2003 Hernando Barragán created the event platform Wiring as a Master's thesis project at IDII, under the supervision of Massimo Banzi and Casey Reas. Casey Reas is understood for co-creating, with Ben Fry, the Processing development platform. The project goal was to make simple, low-cost tools for creating digital projects by non-engineers. But rather than continuing the work on Wiring, they forked the project and renamed it, Arduino.

The founding Arduino core team was made up of Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis. Following the completion of the Wiring platform, lighter and fewer expensive versions were distributed within the open-source community.

Federico Musto, Arduino's former CEO, got half ownership of the corporation. In the month of April 2017, Wired said that Federico Musto had forged his academic record on his company's website, and even on some Italian business docs, Musto was not until recently posted as holding a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But in some other cases, his biography also claimed an MBA from NY University. Wired said that none of the universities had a record of Musto's attendance, and Musto later agreed in an interview that he doesn't have any of those degrees. Around that very same time, Massimo Banzi announced that the Arduino Foundation would be a fresh start for Arduino but a year later, the inspiration still hasn't been established, and therefore the state of the project remains unclear.

Features of Arduino

Below are some of the features of Arduino

1. Arduino boards are designed to be able to read either analog or digital input signals from different sensors and then convert it into an output such as turning LED on/off, activating a motor, connect to the cloud and many other actions.

2. You can manage the functions of your board by sending a series of instructions to the microcontroller on the board through the Arduino IDE (known as uploading software).

3. Unlike most preceding programmable circuit boards, Arduino does not require an extra piece of hardware in order to load new code onto the board. You can simply use a USB cable to transfer the code.

4. Additionally, the Arduino IDE makes use of a simplified version of C++, therefore making it easier to learn and program.

5. Finally, Arduino presents you with a standard form factor that breaks down the functions of the micro-controller into a more accessible package.

Benefits and advantages of Arduino

Below are some of the benefits of Arduino

1. Arduino kits are always cheap.

2. It comes with an open supply of hardware features that allows its users to develop their own kit.

3. The software of the Arduino is fully-fitted with all kinds of operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Macintosh, etc.

4. It also comes with an open supply software system trait that allows tough software system developers to use the Arduino code to blend with the current programing language libraries and may be extended and changed.

5. For beginners, Arduino is very simple to use.

6. You are exposed to different job opportunities when you learn how to use Arduino. 

7. You can command high paying hardware jobs when you learn Arduino.

Parts of an Arduino Board

1. Power (USB/Barrel Jack).

2. Pins (3,3V, 5V, Analog, GND, AREF, Digital, PWM).

3. Rest Button.

4. Power LED Indicator.

5. TX RX LEDs.

6. Main IC.

7. Voltage Regulator.

The Arduino Family 

1. Arduino Uno (R3): The Arduino Uno is actually a really great choice for your very first Arduino board. It has everything you need to kickstart your Arduino journey. It contains every single thing you need to work with the microcontroller, easily connect it to a PC with a USB cable or turn it on with an AC-to-DC adaptor or power pack or battery to get started. 

2. LilyPad Arduino.

3. RedBoard.

4. Arduino Mega.

5. Arduino Leonardo.

6. Sensors.

7. Shields.