OK, now I may seem very stupid to ask this but I ask it anyways.
Recently I became interested in microcontrollers, heard a lot about arduino so I bought one and I really like it, also am currently building an S3V3.
Now, when I try to explain to my friends about arduino they get very confused about what is it. So after a long time thinking what to say I came to a conclusion that maybe even I don't exactly know what an arduino is.
I mean how is it different from any other development board that are in market using AVRs.What makes a circuit with a few components connected to it an Arduino?
If its the software then I suppose other boards can also run using the same IDE with some tweaking.
One thing is surely the open source philosophy but when you are explaining something most people don't give much importance to that.
Has anybody been in such a situation where you think I know its great but I cannot point out why ?
What makes it an Arduino is the ATmega processor, the pin naming conventions, the Arduino core libraries and the serial bootloader. The bootloader allows you to program the Arduino without buying specialized programming hardware.
An arduino can be described (albeit very basically), as a microcontroller that you can program from a computer and do cool stuff with. It can control things with outputs, sense things with inputs and talk to things with serial. There is a full description on the main page, starting with:
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
I think the question is relevant - what distinguishes the Arduino from other AVR kits and/or other OpenSource-EasyUse kit?
Well, to me the word Arduino is more than just the board - it is the whole thing.
The Arduino board, and includes several power options.
The IDE. It is free. And it works (I tested it before buying). Single button push for automatic compile&upload right out-of-the-box (I dislike that expression, but it fits here). Of course this is because of the autobootloader, it needs a mention, too.
The core and its libraries. Almost a micro OS. Small, simple, sufficient.
The USB connection - giving the "emulated" serial which is so easy to understand
The chip type is almost irrelevant, but Atmega gives so many options : Analog, SPI, Serial, digital...
The extensibility and OpenSource of the core or circuit or anything - feel free to improve or change. And that is possible due to the good support right here - the Forum
I recall only 18 months ago (?!) when I was trying to start doing my own 3D printer from scratch, my own design (a project that is shelved for now) and I was wondering how to interface the pc to the stepper motors. And after some extensive browsing discovered and decided on an Arduino. It was even affordable. Once it arrived it took me no more than 30 minutes and I had created my version of Blink (with an RGB LED colorcycling). It was so easy!!! Almost plug-n-play. To be fair I have used other microcontrollers back in the 70ies, and I knew some C, so these where no hurdles. But likewise from my past, I really appreciated the easy interface (the IDE "Upload button", and communicating with my sketches via a simple "Serial").
So when someone asks the question in the subj:, the answer tends to get long. But as Onion quotes from the homepage, that is the best short answer. The bit missing is this forum, ie. the active user community helping anyone that gets stuck (And yes, I looked at the Forum before buying, it showed me how diverse applications could be and I could actually get some support)