You can build your own tools.
These small boards help you make things. You can make a little robot. You can make a tool that senses motion. It is fun to create.
What will you make?
Arduino is a way to build tools.
These small boards help you make things. You can make a little robot. You can also make a tool that senses motion.
You can tell the board what to do with a computer. The board uses tiny parts to work. It can connect to other parts to grow. People all over the world use these boards.
It is fun to create new things with them.
Arduino is a way to build digital tools.
It began in 2005 in Italy. Students wanted a cheap way to make devices. They wanted to build things that sense the world.
An Arduino board uses a microcontroller. This is a tiny computer on a single board. The board has many pins. These pins are points where you connect wires. You can use them to talk to sensors. Sensors help the board feel things like light or heat. You can also use them to run motors. This lets you make robots or thermostats.
To make it work, you need software. You write code on a computer. Then, you send that code to the board. You can use a special program called an IDE. This stands for integrated development environment. It is a tool that helps you write and load code. People use languages like C and C++ to program it. Today, millions of people use Arduino to create new things.
Arduino is a way to build digital tools and machines.
It is a project that uses special computer boards. These boards are called microcontrollers. A microcontroller is a tiny computer on a single circuit board. People use them to make many different things. You might build a simple robot or a motion detector. You could even make a thermostat to control heat.
These boards are great because they are easy to use. They help people turn their ideas into real machines.
Working with an Arduino board happens in a few steps. First, you connect the board to a computer. You use a cable like a USB to do this. Next, you write instructions for the board. These instructions are called code. You write this code using a special program called an IDE. This stands for an integrated development environment.
The IDE helps you write and check your code. After that, you send the code to the board. The board uses a bootloader to save your code. A bootloader is a small program that helps load new instructions. Finally, the board follows your code to control things.
The Arduino project started in 2005 in Italy. It began at a school called the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea. Students there needed a cheap way to make digital tools. Before Arduino, they used a tool called a BASIC Stamp. That tool cost about $50. The founders wanted something much less expensive. The team included Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis. They even named the project after a local bar. The bar was called Bar di Re Arduino.
This bar was located in the city of Ivrea.
There are many different types of Arduino boards. Some boards use a chip called an ATmega8. Other boards might use the more powerful ATmega128. Some boards have 14 digital pins for input and output. They also have six analog pins. These pins allow the board to talk to sensors. A sensor is a part that feels things like light. You can also use pins to power small motors. By 2013, about 700,000 official boards were being used. Today, the community has about 30 million active users.
This shows how much the project has grown.
You can think of an Arduino like a brain. Just as your brain tells your hands to move, the board tells machines what to do. It takes information from the world through its pins. Then, it makes a choice based on your code. It can then send a signal to make something happen. This makes it very useful for making interactive things. Many people use it to learn about science and building. It is a bridge between computer code and the physical world.
This makes it a favorite tool for makers everywhere.
Arduino is an open-source hardware and software ecosystem used to build digital devices.
It consists of single-board microcontrollers and the tools needed to program them. These boards act as the brains for various machines. They allow people to create devices that interact with their environment. This can include simple robots, thermostats, or motion detectors. Because the hardware is open-source, anyone can manufacture Arduino boards. The software is also released under open licenses like the GNU GPL. This openness has allowed a massive global community to grow around the project.
To make a device, a user follows a specific technical process. First, the user writes instructions using the Arduino Programming Language. This language is based on C and C++ and uses a standard API. These instructions are written in an Integrated Development Environment, or IDE.
The user then connects the board to a computer, often via a USB interface. The computer sends the code to the board through a serial connection. A small program on the chip called a bootloader manages this process. The bootloader simplifies uploading the code into the microcontroller's flash memory. Once loaded, the microcontroller executes the instructions to control connected parts.
Arduino boards use various types of microprocessors to function. Most common boards use Atmel 8-bit AVR microcontrollers. Examples include the ATmega8, ATmega168, ATmega328, ATmega1280, or ATmega2560. Some more powerful versions, like the 32-bit Arduino Due, use the Atmel SAM3X8E. These microcontrollers are connected to sets of input and output pins, known as I/O pins.
Digital I/O pins handle on or off signals. Analog pins can sense a range of values, such as light levels. Some pins can also produce pulse-width modulated (PWM) signals. Users can expand a board's abilities by plugging in "shields." These are extra circuit boards that add specific features to the main controller.
The project began in 2005 at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy.
Students there needed a low-cost way to build digital projects. Previously, they used a BASIC Stamp microcontroller that cost $50. The project was a fork of a platform called Wiring. Wiring was created in 2004 by Hernando Barragán for a Master's thesis. He worked under the supervision of Massimo Banzi and Casey Reas. The core Arduino team included Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis. They named the project after the Bar di Re Arduino, where they met.
Arduino has seen massive commercial and community growth over the years. In mid-2011, it was estimated that over 300,000 official boards had been produced. By 2013, the number of official boards in users' hands reached 700,000. As of February 2020, the community included about 30 million active users.
This large user base helps the project stay relevant in many fields. The project has moved from a small student tool to a global standard. Even as the company changed hands, the community of makers remained huge.
The history of the company includes a complex legal dispute. In 2008, the founders formed Arduino LLC to hold trademarks. However, a disagreement arose when Gianluca Martino's company registered the trademark in Italy. This led to a rift in the development team and legal battles. In 2015, Arduino LLC filed a lawsuit against Arduino SRL. Eventually, the two sides merged to form Arduino AG in 2016. Later, in 2017, a new group called BCMI acquired the trademarks. In October 2025, the company was acquired by Qualcomm.
Today, Arduino connects code to the physical world through many interfaces. Boards use serial communication to talk to computers and other devices. Some use USB-to-serial adapter chips, like the FTDI FT232, to manage data.
Others use Bluetooth or detachable adapters for wireless connection. The system also supports the IoT Cloud for internet-connected projects. This makes Arduino a central tool in the fields of robotics and the Internet of Things. It remains a bridge between software engineering and physical invention.
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