Building connected devices with Arduino
Arduinos are the default choice for many people new to the world of microcontrollers. They’re simple to get started with and you can do a lot with them without needing to solder components or work out the underlying nature of the electronics going on behind the scenes (some people see this as a downside though!). This guide will provide links to key resources around the web that can help with your Arduino adventures.
Getting Started
- Getting Started with Arduino [Arduino.cc] – Official getting started guide from Arduino.
- SIK Experiment Guide for Arduino – V3.2 [SparkFun] – An online version of the guide that comes with SparkFun Inventors Kits.
- Make: Getting Started with Arduino, 3rd Edition [O’Reilly Book] – Co-authored by one of the Arduino founders.
Arduino Kits
- Makers’ Guide to Boards [Make] – A good list of always updated boards with filters to help you decide what board you might need.
- SparkFun Inventor’s Kit – V3.2 [SparkFun] – Patrick’s personal favourite!
- AllThingsTalk Arduino Starter Kit [AllThingsTalk] – We even had a great interview with Tom, the CEO of AllThingsTalk here at Dev Diner about getting into the IoT.
- Experimenters Kit for Arduino [Freetronics]
- Starter Pack for Arduino Uno [Adafruit]
- ARDX – The starter kit for Arduino [Amazon]
- Official Arduino Starter Kit [Amazon] – The official kit by Arduino seems to always be out of stock on their website but is available on Amazon.
- Libelium kits [M2M Connectivity] – Looking to go beyond the basics? The kits and tech here at M2M Connectivity might get you seriously inspired. We also spoke with their team here at Dev Diner about the possibilities of the IoT.
Using Arduino with JavaScript and Node (yay NodeBots!)
Keen to learn JavaScript so you can get into all of this? This list of resources for JavaScript learners by Eric Elliott might come in handy!
- Getting Started with Johnny-Five [Johnny-Five]
- Johnny-Five API [Johnny-Five]
- Arduino Experimenter’s Guide for NodeJS
- Controlling an Arduino with Node.js and Johnny-Five [SitePoint video]
- Displaying Web APIs on an Arduino LCD Using Node.js [SitePoint]
- Displaying Images on a Dot Matrix LED Display with Node.js
- Make: JavaScript Robotics [O’Reilly Book] – Not entirely Arduino (some Beaglebone and Raspberry Pi too) but focused on the Johnny-Five framework.
- Introduction to IoT Programming with JavaScript [O’Reilly Video Training] – Contains a section on Arduino, also on Particle Core, Tessel and other tech. For absolute beginners.
Finding Inspiration From Projects
- Hackster.io Arduino Page [Hackster.io] – A great list of projects people have built with Arduinos that could give you some ideas.
- Hackaday Arduino Tag [Hackaday] – Another valuable site which showcases some pretty neat projects, here’s a link to all their Arduino ones.
- Make: Arduino Projects [Make] – Make has a whole range of useful resources, this tag here has all their Arduino project posts.
Troubleshooting
- Official Arduino Troubleshooting Page – Pretty thorough list of common issues.