ARDUINO TUTORIALS FOR BEGINNERS-I

I have been working with Arduino's for some two years now and have completed many interesting projects using this simple micro-controller Board ,so before i start posting my projects here i would like to post a series of arduino tutorials for those new to the world of this magical device.

"ARDUINO-FAQ'S"

So the first question that many people ask me when they hear about arduino.

 1) What is this ARDUINO????

so the answer is simple---wikipedia says this.

1. "Arduino is a family of single-board micro controllers, intended to make it easier to build interactive objects or environments. The hardware consists of an open-source hardware board designed around an 8-bit Atmel AVR micro controller or a 32-bit Atmel ARM".

so putting this in simple words,Arduino is a "MICRO-CONTROLLER" that has a Programming Environment (IDE)  provided by the arduino people which is so simple to use that you will never forget it.

So now lets get started!!!

2) What do you require to begin learning arduino?????

• ARDUINO software ----->get it on the following link                                       http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

 

• A ARDUINO BOARD-----> you can search for store nearby or even order it online arduino is easily available,because it is very much popular and used among developers because of its simplicity.

• A COMPUTER

• Very important---"Some innovative ideas in your mind"

That is it,this is all that you need for learning arduino

3) Which Arduino to select??????

      If you are Beginner than the best to start up with is arduino "UNO" it is sufficient for beginners and can be used for complex task as well because this is what i used for most of my project's and the second reason it is "CHEAP" as compared to other arduino boards so not a big issue if yu fry up your new arduino "UNO" 

 

4) What is the Difference between a Micro controller and a Micro processor?????

BRAIN POWER:

    So putting it in simple word's for beginners, A micro controller has low processing power which means it cant process large and complex tasks e.g processing a image, but a micro processor can do very much complex task with ease.

MUSCLE POWER:

      BUT the micro processor  does not sufficient power to drive external devices that is it cant control external devices easily but the micro-controller can do so and thus is named a controller while a processor is called so because of its high processing power.

So your Arduino is a  Micro controller and can drive external devices like a LED,Transistor,MOSFET, and even servo motor but a processor cant.

So in simple words a micro controller has muscle power but has low brain power while a processor is sharp at brain but has low muscle power 

the following video may clear it furthur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vhvnaWUZjE

Hope that most of your questions as regards to arduino are solved now and in the next post we will go through the arduino IDE and learn the simple arduino programming SYNTAX.