Tiny tank robots, dubstep DJing, and quadcopters: these projects featured in the CEID blog were made possible by one type of microcrontroller, an Arduino.. With the guidance of CEID aide, Alex Carrillo (’16), fifteen lucky CEID members got a chance to dive into the world of Arduino programming and wiring on Wednessday at the second Arduino Workshop.
After some background on basic circuitry, the workshop participants broke up into smaller groups. Starting with only a Sparkfun Inventor kit and a little bit of extra hardware, they were able to construct three wheeled vehicles that would respond to commands imparted by code they wrote on their computers and then uploaded to the Arduino. After connecting some wiring, attaching wheels, and sending commands, they instructed their robots to travel following a line of black tape.
The flashing, pin-covered boards provide an easy interface between code written on a computer and the physical world, translating commands into action. Code can actually be uploaded to an Arduino, so its only dependence on the computer is for power. At any point the computer could be replaced with a nine volt battery and still run perfectly making these boards the perfect tool for fast and easy prototyping.
