Arduino is an electronics platform which is used for electronic projects. Arduino gets the input from the field sensors and switches and modifies the output based on a pre-written program in its memory. Arduino is the name of the company which owns the brand, the logo and the graphics design.
Arduino helps people with little programming skills to design robots, controllers, lighting and even art. First developed in 2005 in Italy, Arduino has become immensely popular with hundreds of thousand Arduino boards being sold worldwide.
The arduino software can be downloaded for free at www.arduino.cc
Arduino boards
Arduino boards are predesigned boards with specific features, communication protocols and inputs/outputs. There are USB based Board as well as boards with wireless nodes. The Arduino board can be connected to the PC and programmed. The inputs and outputs are connected to the board. The program can be changed from the PC.
Arduino projects and devices can also be interfaced with the PC so that the parameters which are measured can be viewed from the computer.
The Arduino programming software is Java based.