hello i am searching for a way to detect the heartbeat or human pulse with arduino. is anyone of you familiar with that or can suggest some hardware? (it is for a project at my university of applied sience).
You can use a commercial heart rate monitor like one of the older Polar units, and combine it with a receiver like this:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8661
Jon
Freetronics: www.freetronics.com
Just google 'diy ecg', there are lots of designs out there.
Or you can use IR oxymetry. Shine an IR LED into your finger and monitor the signal on an IR phototransistor the other side of your finger. As your blood pulses, so does the amount of light transmitted through your finger.
Project 12 here: http://www.arduinoevilgenius.com where you can download the sketch for free.