What is Arduino? How to Get Started

by Clemens Valens | 11 December, 2022

How come everybody is into Arduino but not you? It sounds interesting, but you're not sure what Arduino exactly is and why you would want to use it? How do you get started? If you have these questions or similar, then watch this video.

It seems like everybody around you is doing Arduino, but not you? Why? It sounds interesting, but you're not sure what exactly it is and why you would want to use it. What is Arduino? How do you get started? If you have these questions or similar, then this video is for you.

What is Arduino?

Strictly speaking, it is the ensemble of a microcontroller board, programming tools, function libraries and a bootloader. The most popular Arduino microcontroller board is the UNO based on the ATmega328 microcontroller from Microchip's AVR family, but today it can be almost any microcontroller from any manufacturer.

The programming environment is a simplified and easy-to-use Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for creating usually small programs, commonly referred to as Sketches. There are offline versions and there is a cloud-based IDE that can be used without installing anything on your computer. The power lies in the huge collection of software libraries that make writing a working program a breeze. From sensors and peripherals to networking and home automation, there is a library for almost anything.

Finally, the bootloader programmed inside the microcontroller makes special programming tools unnecessary. The only tool you need is a computer with a USB port.

Frequently Asked Questions

We receive many questions about Arduino. Most of them have been asked before, and some several times. There is, of course, a countless number of webpages out there which treat most of these questions in some way, but it means digging through forums and blogs to find the answers. As this can be quite time-consuming, Elektor Labs decided to compile their own Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and write down the answers to them once and for all. So, before asking us, check our Arduino FAQ to see if the answer to your question is already there.

Want to Know More?

Elektor has published many articles and videos on Arduino-related topics, below are a few. To find them all and never miss another article again, subscribe to this tag.

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