Arduino – The hardware that made Innovation Accessible and cheap.

Arduino is an open source electronics creation platform , which is based on free, flexible and easy to use hardware and software for creators and developers. This platform allows you to create different types of single-board microcomputers to which the community of creators can give different types of use.

In order to understand this concept, first you need to know about free hardware and free software concepts. Free hardware are devices whose specifications and diagrams are publicly accessible, so anyone can replicate them. This means that Arduino offers the base so that any other person or company can create their own boards , being able to be different from each other but equally functional when starting from the same base.

Free software is a computer program whose code is accessible by anyone so that whoever wants to use can use and modify it. Arduino offers the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) platform, which is a programming environment with which anyone can create applications for Arduino boards, so that they can be given all kinds of utilities. The Arduino is a board based on an ATMEL AVR microcontroller. Microcontrollers are integrated circuits where instructions can be recorded , which you write with the programming language that you can use in the Arduino IDE environment. These instructions allow you to create programs that interact with the circuitry on the board.

What is it used for ?

With Arduino it is possible to automate anything to make autonomous agents (if you want we can call them Robots). To control lights and devices, or anything else you can think of, you can go for an Arduino-based solution, especially in developments of devices connected to the Internet.

Importance of Arduino in the Hardware world

Arduino and by extension free hardware has become an important element not only in the maker world but also in the hardware manufacturing industry. More companies are developing innovative products and we have better tools for prototyping and manufacturing available. Access to and knowledge around these tools is becoming more and more universal. Of these tools, Arduino, Raspberry Pi and 3D printers stand out.