Q: Is the Arduino environment usefull for real life projects?

Hello,

after using the Arduino with various little projects, I made a round up of my experience with the Arduino environment. It is of course a personal view but shows what a beginner can do and when he should take more time to solve a problem 8). Have a look:

http://hajos-kontrapunkte.blogspot.com/2011/04/q-is-arduino-environment-usefull-for.html

Hajo

It would be nice if you added some links to more info about the projects on the tubes. I like the laserharp and the quadcopter playing balls!

Thanks for the suggestion.

Done.

Hajo

Hajo,

going by the projects you present on your page, the answer seems the be: No, the Arduino is just for gimmicks and toys.
Not that I want to belittle your projects, but they're very bad examples of doing something useful in real life with Arduino. If you want to answer the question you raise, you should choose better examples - of which there are many.

Korman

Korman,

perhaps I should have formulated the question a bit more conservatively, but I focused it on the themes of my blog: instrument building, music software development and ham radio.

So please take into account, that I choose projects which were focused on my interests. I would be happy to add more projects from the "real" world. If you have suggestions, you are welcome.

My main points:

  • You can do what ever you want with a microcontroller. The limit is defined by memory and clock speed.
  • The Arduino Environment (software and ports)is a great way to learn for a beginner and to prototype for an advanced user.
  • When you want to develop complex scenarios you need (most of the time) more than one head and profound knowledge about the problem and software implementation.
  • Small is beautiful and I like to have a processor, lcd interface and ethernet on three little boards for little money.

Hajo

I would never have got into micros without the soft start route of the Arduino.

I am now updating years of CMOS logic technology with 328 chips programmed with Arduino, including text LED displays, a 2 axis doming machine, a HD LCD screen text overlay, and some electronic scoreboards, all real life applications, and I didn't have a clue 6 months ago.

So it is not the available examples and existing ideas that limit its use, its ones imagination !