I appologise if my question seams a dumb one but despite my research i did not find a satisfactory answear, so i beg of you to clarify a few short things for me, i also appologise if the topik is posted in the wrong section but as you can see i am new here and so i do nor know verry well how things go, if othe section is more suited for my topik please direct me to there, or move my topik there.
Let's get to the point, please tell me what is ARDUINO UNO R3 all about? i do not want specific detailles, just it's basic principle of use, as i see in what i have read it's sort of a more user friendly microcontroller, meaning it has the microcontroller but also all it needs to work, just load the code and connect it with othe stuff, am i wrong?
If i am right than it would seam that it does what many other cheaper microcontrollers do, the difference beiyng it's mounting on that board... or is it more than that? is it a simple and easy way to test code options or other stuff? sort of like a fancy breadboard...
Again i appologise if my questions are dumb ones but i realy need to know, i do have a fairly knoledge of programming language and sone basic experiance with microcontrollers, someone gave me the ARDUINO UNO R3 board and i would like to know what is it about, not speciffic detailles, just bullet points, basic stuff made possible only by arduino...
The (huge IMO) advantage of the Arduino is the abstraction via libraries of common micro controller susbsystems like analogue input, PWM output, serial and digital I/O into an easy-to-use C/C++ framework, with portability across a range of boards, without needing specialised hardware to program the chip.
Without these, there's a massive learning curve of binary arithmetic and disparate registers.
Arduino is useful as a parallel port expansion module for a PC. It has other value, but for me, Arduino Due makes my Acer Netbook expand the USB port to include more than 40 parallel port pins and 2 Analog outputs. There are other products that can do that, but my search told me that Arduino is the best choice, plus it has Radio Shack support and a C compiler with serial monitor. It is perfect for my engineering a new product.
Dj_Marik:
Greetings.
...
Let's get to the point, please tell me what is ARDUINO UNO R3 all about? i do not want specific detailles, just it's basic principle of use, as i see in what i have read it's sort of a more user friendly microcontroller, meaning it has the microcontroller but also all it needs to work, just load the code and connect it with othe stuff, am i wrong?
Aside from the UNO or any model Arduino, to me, the the basic principle use is hobby and experimental, and is often integrated into products for consumer sale.
If i am right than it would seam that it does what many other cheaper microcontrollers do, the difference beiyng it's mounting on that board... or is it more than that? is it a simple and easy way to test code options or other stuff? sort of like a fancy breadboard...
Thank you for your time.
With respect Dj marik.
There are alternatives such as basic stamp, freescale, TI launchpad...I do not know why Arduino took off, I guess it had the right kind of obscure name, but certainly the best feature of Arduino is the community with its extensive support chains and custom user libraries, plus the huge collection of modules and sensors that eveolved...
Aroound the time I got my first Arduino, I also got a PicKit2 programmer and PIC chips - I just found Arduino quicker and easier to get up and running...
A lot of it depends on what you want to do with it. How many units you want to program and have running. If you want to have 500 units running, you may want to look for something else. If you want 50, you may want to have a couple arduion boards, and some more clones.
If you already know some other system language well, you may want to stick with it.
If you mean UNO R3 hardware specifically rather than Arduino as a whole or Arduino hardware in general then I would say that the UNO R3 is the most commonly used Arduino, supports the widest range of shields and libraries, and therefore the one which will be easiest to get to grips with when learning how to use Arduinos. There are other Arduino boards and chips which have various advantages over the UNO R3 such as additional integrated devices, more I/O pins, more memory, more processing power or more flexibility, smaller physical size and cost, but the UNO is the most generic and widely used Arduino board.
I have a friend that is not to computer savvy, and I help on occasions. They ask; what do I do now?
I ask, what do you want to do? So, until you know what some wants to do, you can't advise them what to do!
Isn't that right?
First of all thank all of you for your imput, it is verry appreciated, so again thank you.
Now to be honest i haven't a clue of what to do with my Arduino Uno R3 yet, as i see it is way to expensive for me so i cannot just stuck it in some stand alone project, i do like the ideea of beiyng able to test code parts with it ( sort of like a develepment board ) but i am not sure as this would be the main reason for it's creation...
AmbiLobe:
...Arduino is useful as a parallel port expansion module for a PC. It has other value, but for me, Arduino Due makes my Acer Netbook expand the USB port to include more than 40 parallel port pins and 2 Analog outputs...
Ok than please correct me if i am wrong but do i understand that it can be an extension of the PC?
All the best wishes to all of you.
Respectfully Dj marik.
Going back to your original question ... "what is ARDUINO UNO R3 all about?"
It's hard to tell from your questions whether you are already familiar with using and programming microprocessors - let's assume you are not.
The Arduino system (not just the Uno) provides a simple way to learn about programming microprocessors and building projects that interact with external devices - such as servos, relays or temperature measurement. In the past I built some projects with PIC microprocessors and using the Arduino system is much easier. (However nowadays there are also easier systems for working with PICs - but I don't think they are any cheaper than Arduino systems).
The Uno is a single board that contains all the components necessary to get an Arduino program working, including connecting to a PC through a USB connector. The connection with the PC can serve two purposes - firstly it allows you to upload programs (the Arduino community calls them sketches) to the Uno and secondly it allows the Arduino to collect information and pass it to the PC (perhaps from temperature measurements or on/off switches such as whether a door is open) and it allows a program on th PC to control external devices - including things you used to be able to do directly from the PC when they used to include parallel printer ports. (If you are young you may never have seen one of these).
It is easy to build an Arduino clone on a breadboard using an Atmel Atmega328 and there is advice about how to do this on the Arduino website. The main cost will be the 328 chip, which is a lot cheaper than an Uno board. There are two difficulties for a beginner. First, you will need a way to connect your PC's USB port to the 328 - this is usually done with an "FTDI cable" or equivalent. And second, you will need to upload the Arduino "bootloader" code onto the 328. The bootloader is a small piece of program that sits permanently on the 328 and which makes it easy to upload other programs onto the chip. I don't know if it's possible to upload the bootloader with an FTDI cable. But once the bootloader is installed it is easy to upload programs using the FTDI cable. It is easy to upload the bootloader on a blank 328 if you already have a Uno - I have done that.
Of course it is perfectly possible to program Atmega328 chips without the bootloader and without any of the Arduino system. But then, in my opinion, you lose all of the extensive support that is available from the Arduino community including pieces of software (libraries) that make it easy to work with many different external devices.
The Uno uses a 28 pin DIP version of the 328 chip - which is easy to build on a breadboard or on stripboard. However many of the other Arduino boards use surface-mount chips which are not easy to install and the cost of those boards is probably justified for their convenience.
Even if you haven't got an Uno, I think you will learn a lot by downloading the Arduino IDE and studying all of the examples.
Arduino is all about a concept, not a particular model. The official models are varied as can be seen here: Arduino - Wikipedia
Then, because Arduino as a concept is open-hardware AND open-software, there are large numbers of work-alike devices that add value in many ways: List of Arduino boards and compatible systems - Wikipedia
The concept is about empowerment to use the open source hardware/software to satisfy a need. That need may be electronic experimentation or it may be MIDI instrument controllers or it may be an Artist creating a control module for animation - or lighting - or sound... anything that can be controlled from a program (script.)
Because Arduino is based on a concept, there is a community of varied experiences which drive further uses. An EE may help an artist to develop a light controller. An aerospace engineer may help a hobbyist build a home weather station. An musician may help another with connecting a MIDI device. The interaction is like chaos theory!
Arduino, it is many things, but it is unconfined and difficult to describe unless you put it into a context and then in many ways that takes away from the utility of the system because the definition is narrow.
Arduino is an evolution, of hardware design and of software libraries which allow sensors and devices to be interfaced and controlled easily by anyone. Arduino is the collective of many, many people and with each addition the utility of the platform becomes more universal.
One note: you spoke of costs and that the UNO was too expensive to be placed into a project and left. Agreed. There are open source solutions to this that can bring the cost down to the price of the chip, $3 - $5, plus a few small parts from Radio Shack. The official Arduino site supports home-brew boards http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardSerialSingleSided3
Dj_Marik:
Now to be honest i haven't a clue of what to do with my Arduino Uno R3 yet, as i see it is way to expensive for me so i cannot just stuck it in some stand alone project, i do like the ideea of beiyng able to test code parts with it ( sort of like a develepment board ) but i am not sure as this would be the main reason for it's creation...
It's mainly used for prototyping. Putting a full sized Arduino UNO in to a permanent project may not be the most cost effective way. However, their are plenty of cheaper Arduino-compatible devices that you can use. You could also simply buy the chip, and use it in a standalone setup.
So you want some suggestions as to what to do with your arduino.
First, get the IDE, hook the arduino to your computer, and try a lot of the example programs. When you see them work, then make a few changes to the code, and test it.
I assume you are doing this as a hobby, not your business?
@Robin2 I wouldn't have come here if i didn't have at least some understanding of microcontroller programming, it would have bben unfair for me to ask you guys to teach me the basics, i have worked only with PIC microcontrollers, yesterday i have finished my latest project.
Now as i say someone gave me Arduino but didn't explain much of it, so i have come here to ask of it, and your description gave me everything i needed, and also confirm some of my suspicions about it, to be short it is a nice piece of technology, verry user friendly and with lots of possible ussages, i especially like the part where it can be made as an extension of the PC...
Anyway, i have my unswears so many thanks to all of you, it is nice to see souch nice and helping people, and i wish you all the best.
Respectfully Dj marik.
The Arduino is a user friendly, project building platform, allowing a user to more easily integrate a microcontroller and programming into a project. In so, it gives the opportunity to replace much circuitry with the microcontrollers' capabilities and logic. - Scotty