The Arduino Basics

The Arduino is an amazing prototyping tool. You can use it for a variety of purposes, including blinking some lights or controlling an entire camera system. An Arduino could do practically anything. You just need to tell it to do so. For most people, that's where the trouble comes. But don't worry, I've decided to help.

First off, let it be said that for some things, I won't post lengthy tutorials. I'll most likely post links to other tutorials just because its already been done. However, for some unique and interesting uses, I will provide the help.

The Arduino itself is 2 things, the actual board and the IDE itself. You code it with a language similar to processing, which is an easy to learn, open source development environment. You upload programs (called sketches) to the actual board it self via a USB connection and watch the magic happen.

Probably the most basic you could get with Arduino is the Blink Sketch. The Blink sketch just blinks the Arduino's on-board light. There are plenty of good tutorials out there.

I highly recommend this tutorial, along with the guy who makes them; Jeremy Blum. Go watch his series. Its really good.

There are also some really good books out there on the subject too.

Arduino for Dummies is a great way to get started with Arduino. It starts slow, but gets more and more advanced as you progress.

Exploring Arduino is a book by Jeremy Blum. Like Arduino for Dummies, it starts with beginner lessons and gets into more complex topics as you progress.

Thats all for now! Hopefully that will get you started.