The links on the right contain Tips and Tricks I would have found useful while learning Arduino, in somewhat chronological order. There are plenty of learning resources out there already, but certain things were tougher to find, so I’ve compiled them (also largely for my own quick reference).
How to start: order one Uno “Starter Kit“, because it comes with necessary accessories that would be tedious to order individually. Also add a few genuine Arduino boards or knock-offs which are available for ~$15 each locally (or on AliExpress at ~$1 each). The philosophy of ordering extra parts is always good in this realm- it’s easy to damage something and the cost of extras is so low.
The Arduino Uno is the most popular and widely supported model because it was the first of its kind, and it’s still “good enough” for so many applications. It is a single board computer (SBC) which can be easily programmed to measure inputs, do math/logic, and send outputs to the world.
Programming is done through a USB cable from any PC/laptop, using the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) program. Download the IDE here. Once opened, it looks like this:
Programming is done in a language similar to C++, but no experience is required: most projects are google + copy + paste, with no actual coding.C
The code is divided into 2 main sections.
“Setup” contains things that will run once, when you first press the run button.
“Loop” runs over and over, forever.