Who uses Arduino?

Everyone who has ideas about something “new” and wants to develop it by themselves, isn’t required to be an electronic specialist to be able to do it. Arduino was developed for architects, designers, artists or inventors. If you don’t belong to any of these job groups, don’t worry, as all you need is good ideas.

The best thing you can do to start using Arduino is buy it and take part in an Arduino workshop, possibly with other people like you who want to learn. Otherwise you can look for an online course or buy a good book on the subject. A board or a kit can be  really cheap, from AUD 15 for the base board to AUD 70-80 for a complete kit.

What can I do with Arduino?

The best way to explain what is possible is to give some examples.

At the theatre:

It is possible to synchronise the actors’ movements on stage with the scenography by turning on lights and sound or simply using Arduino it for special effects which respond to actors’ movements.

The musician:

Somebody might decide to look for a new system to produce music. If you want to be able to read your hand movements and associate them with melodies, you can create a musical glove (see the pictures below).

The Creator:

Many of you might heard about 3D printers, but a few only know that the first affordable printers were built using an Arduino board. Still now if you buy one of these printers, you will find Arduino technology inside.

The stylist:

A Victoria University of Wellington student designed this “little slide dress”, using Arduino obviously.

The Barman:

…no comment..  😉

Conclusions

The main success of the Arduino technology is its simplicity, meaning that the “artist” can develop his/her own ideas directly, without the help of a specialised technician. The ‘Arduino community’ plays an important role in this success. Arduino designers can share their knowledge and exchange information thus supporting each other. Arduino is the first and the most widely used user-friendly electronic project which has enable a lot of people with little or zero electronic knowledge to realise their dreams. Arduino has opened a door in the minds of all those people who want to develop their own ideas but didn’t have the technical ability to do that without facing an excessive expense.

Andrea Mandorli, Upper-Int B