Arduino is still quite experimental (although already used in teaching). These are the steps you need to follow in order to be up and running.
To use Arduino you will need:
Here is a step by step instruction list and explanation of everything that you need to rapidly get started with Arduino.
The Arduino i/o board is a simple circuit featuring the Atmega8 processor from Atmel. The board is composed of a printed circuit board (PCB) and electronic parts. There are a few ways to get an Arduino board:
If you are using a USB Arduino, you will need to install the drivers for the FTDI chip on the board. These can be found in the drivers
directory of the Arduino distribution.
On Windows, you will need to unzip FTDI USB Drivers.zip
. Then plug in the Arduino board and point the Windows Add Hardware wizard to the FTDI USB Drivers
directory.
On the Mac, mount the FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_0_1.dmg
disk image and run the included FTDIUSBSerialDriver.pkg
.
The latest version of the drivers can be found on the FTDI website.
To program the ARDUINO board you just need the Arduino IDE (programming environment). The Arduino IDE is a derivation of Processing therefore it should be very easy to use for those who are accustomed to programming Processing.
Download Arduino: From the software page.
Mac OS X note: After downloading the IDE, run the macosx_setup.command
. It corrects permission on a few files for use with the serial port and will prompt you for your password. You may need to reboot after running this script.
Linux note: For help getting the Arduino IDE running on Debian, please see this forum thread.
If you're using a serial board, power the board with an external power supply (6 to 25 volts DC, with the core of the connector positive). Connect the board to a serial port on your computer.
On the USB boards, the power source is selected by the jumper between the USB and power plugs. To power the board from the USB port (good for controlling low power devices like LEDs), place the jumper on the two pins closest to the USB plug. To power the board from an external power supply (needed for motors and other high current devices), place the jumper on the two pins closest to the power plug. Either way, connect the board to a USB port on your computer.
The power LED should go on.
Open an Arduino sketch (the led_blink or serial_comm | serial_write_basic examples are good choices).
Select the serial device of the Arduino board from the Tools | Serial Port menu. On Windows, this should be COM1
or COM2
for a serial Arduino board, or COM3
, COM4
, or COM5
for a USB board. On the Mac, this should be something like /dev/cu.usbserial-1B1
for a USB board, or something like /dev/cu.USA19QW1b1P1.1
if using a Keyspan adapter with a serial board (other USB-to-serial adapters use different names).
Push the reset button on the board then click the Upload button in the IDE. Wait a few seconds. If successful, the message "Done uploading." will appear in the status bar.
If the Arduino board doesn't show up in the Tools | Serial Port menu, or you get an error while uploading, please see the FAQ for troubleshooting suggestions.
If you uploaded the serial_write_basic
example, you can check that it's working with the serial monitor. Make sure the Tools | Serial Monitor Baud Rate is set to 9600 and press the Serial Monitor button. You should see HIGH or LOW in the editor console, showing you the voltage on digital pin 0.
After the setup you will have to learn the to program Arduino that allows you to control and fully take advantage of the ARDUINO[hw] board.
There are also some examples available in the examples
directory inside the arduino directory.
More examples are available on the tutorials page
There is an API reference that documents the functions in the Arduino language.
The Arduino programming language is compatible with the Wiring language allowing porting applications from the Wiring board to Arduino. Please note the differences between the Wiring and Processing languages.
If you're having problems, check the FAQ. If you don't find a solution there, try posting in the forums.