arduino
Arduino is a popular, open-sourced electronics platform used for teaching embedded programming skills to students of all ages (from primary to higher education, and beyond!). Arduinos can be used to read data from inputs and sensors, and used to control outputs such as motors, lights, and other actuators. Arduinos can be used to build almost any kind of simple-ish electronic gadget you can dream of, and is a good gateway to other electronic platforms such as Raspberry Pi's and other microcontroller families. You can read the official Arduino Introduction page for more information on why Arduino is great.
ℹ️ For the educator
If you're an educator and considering using Arduino to teach younger students (typically younger than year 8), we would encourage the use of the micro:bit module, and programming it with Scratch instead. {.is-info}
The term platform means that Arduino includes a lot of things which all work together to provide an amazing practical learning experience. The most common thing people think of when thinking about the word Arduino is the physical boards, such as the Arduino UNO, and the Arduino Nano (both based on the popular ATmega238p microcontroller by Microchip). However, Arduino also means the software environment used to program the devices. Finally, it can also refer to the "modules" which can be plugged into an Arduino to enhance its capabilities, commonly known as shields.
Over a dozen different variants of Arduinos, but all are Arduino. These variants provide different capabilities which are suited for different applications and needs
It's important to know that physical Arduinos come in many different variants, including some products designed for use by makers and students which may not even look like a traditional Arduino board, but are instead "Arduino compatible" (commonly labelled as Arduino AtHeart). This means they can be reprogrammed with the Arduino IDE.
Installing the Arduino IDE
Click the link below that is the best choice for your PC (if using a school PC, your teacher may need to organise that Arduino is installed for you).
MacOS
Other Resources
Student Resources
Trainers Resources
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