Arduino!

I’d like to send out a special thanks to the folks over at arduino.cc for all their hard work. I recently bought a Duemilanove board, and after tinkering with it for a while I decided on a project. The goal was to fill a paper star lantern with LEDs, and use an Arduino board to make the LEDs pulsate gently. Well, I’ve just finished my first “Starduino,” and I will post a project writeup here soon for those interested.

The Arduino made my prototyping experience enjoyable and relatively painless. I actually bought some Really Bare Bones Boards over at moderndevice and embedded one in the star, and used my trusty Duemilanove to flash the chip with firmware. This way, I only needed one USB-capable device. (Though the RBBB has serial capabilities, I’m waiting for my FTDI USB-to-Serial converter to arrive in the mail…)

Aside from its robust capabilities and its wonderful build quality, my favorite thing about my new Arduino friend is the spirit of openness and creative freedom that tags along somewhere in the little bubble-wrap packaging. This is ideology potentially more important than the board itself. The folks at Arduino have labored on their creation for countless hours, and have given their intellectual brainchild to the world. And, thanks to them, now I can begin to do the same. I am inspired by team Arduino’s work, and so I begin my own journey into open, collaborative creativity.

Thanks, Arduino!

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