I'm totally new to Arduino and hardware (also gained interest over the holiday). There are some good docs on the Arduino website, but once you get into less common components, it's weird to see how little info is out there. Programmers are incredibly lucky to have so many amazing resources and I think I've just taken that for granted.<p>I will say that Arduino has really sparked my imagination. I'm digging out garbage electronics (an old clock radio for example), taking them apart, and trying to figure out how to interface their components with Arduino.
If you're interested in Arduino and are familiar with js/node, check out Johnny-Five (<a href="https://github.com/rwldrn/johnny-five" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/rwldrn/johnny-five</a>).<p><i>"My goal for Johnny-Five is to create a framework for programming Arduino Robots with nothing more then JavaScript. I believe that JavaScript, inherently asynchronous and the platform that Node.js has built around this paradigm, is the perfect environment for writing evented, streaming programs for controlling the highly synchronous world of hardware."</i> -- via <a href="http://weblog.bocoup.com/javascript-arduino-programming-with-nodejs/" rel="nofollow">http://weblog.bocoup.com/javascript-arduino-programming-with...</a><p>I don't know anything about robotics or arduinos (though I've done a bit of electronics hacking/tinkering throughout my life), but this project makes me want to jump right in head first.
Pretty good write up for beginners. I think you should add a link to <a href="http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage" rel="nofollow">http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage</a> in the Whats Next so people can see what else they can do with the Arduino!
I also gifted myself an Arduino (Leonardo/Micro) over the holidays and have had a lot of fun working through the basic exercises and thinking up imaginative ways to use it.<p>Check out this Arduino for Beginners (In Comic Form) - probably particularly good for those of you who gifted an Arduino to children, and links to other resources in the last panels.<p><a href="http://www.jodyculkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/arduino-comic-latest.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.jodyculkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/arduino...</a>
Just as a tip for Arduino newcomers, if you want to put the UNO R3 into DFU mode [1], just bridge these two pins together with a jumper or a cable for a moment:<p><pre><code> ____________________
| o ···········
RESET ---> + · ·
GND -----> + · ·
_|____
| |
| USB |
|______|
|
|
</code></pre>
Then, if you want to use the dfu-programmer[2], you need to apply a patch[3] to make it work with the R3.<p>Being myself a complete newbie, I found it time consuming to reach the state in which I knew how and what to do just to upload a new firmware.<p>[1]: If you want/are interested in playing with Arduino as an USB device.<p>[2]: <a href="http://dfu-programmer.sourceforge.net/" rel="nofollow">http://dfu-programmer.sourceforge.net/</a><p>[3]: <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/dfu-programmer/" rel="nofollow">https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/dfu-programmer/</a>
This is a topic I've been interested in for some time now and this looks to be at the right level (i.e. absolute beginner) for me, so thanks very much for sharing.<p>Can anyone point me to a similar resource for the Raspberry Pi?
Excellent. I recently got my 9yo daughter started on those simple electronics kits with various components mounted on a cardboard frame and springs for terminals to interconnect them in various ways. But that's rekindled my _own_ interest in electronics (which I haven't really indulged in >15 years) and I've been considering Arduino or some stuff from Parallax based on the DEF CON badge from last summer.