What is Arduino? Arduino Uses: The Ultimate Guide for Parents

What is Arduino? In simple English, Arduino is an electronic board that is slightly larger than a credit card. It can be connected to a circuit board along with sensors, motors, or other small devices and programmed to detect or control them. Currently, it is one of the most popular systems for creating robots and smart home projects. Arduino is a great platform for kids learning to code because it’s easy to use, offers a rare opportunity to let code interact with the physical world, and is versatile enough for a variety of fun projects. Let’s explore what Arduino is, how it is used, and how it helps improve children’s critical thinking skills while empowering them to create simple electronic systems for alarms, home sensors, motor control, and more.

Why use Arduino?

Before we get to the “what,” it’s important to discuss the “why” for you and your children. We are surrounded by electronics – smartphones, computers, TVs, robots and more. Although many students have learned to write code, few have had the opportunity to build physical systems. Arduino plays an important role in coding that interacts with the physical world.

What is Arduino?

Now, onto the “what.” Arduino is an easy to use Single Board Microcontroller. What does it actually mean? A Single Board Microcontroller is a small device similar to a computer but a simplified version that will run programs.

Microcontrollers can be found in car engines, medical equipment, remote controls, office equipment, household appliances, power tools, and even small toys. Arduino allows anyone, including your kids, to become familiar with the basics of electrical engineering and design, while building electronic projects limited only by their imagination.

After an initial introduction of some new keywords and skills, Arduino is an easy tool to use for beginners. But it’s still flexible enough for advanced users. And there are variations on Arduino boards to allow for levels of experience.

The Arduino Uno is the most popular in use, especially for beginners who are just starting to build projects. Arduino is a cool tool for learning new things, and discovering new interests. If you can imagine it, you can build it. It becomes as simple as plugging it in, programming it, and having fun.

We happen to teach the Circuit Wizards: Arduino for Kids class at Create & Learn, and our students never cease to amaze us with their ideas and creations. The class uses an Arduino simulator and does not require a physical device. However, if you want, Arduino can be purchased online. The same code will work on the device without any changes.

Why learn Arduino for kids?

Arduino is widely used in the real world

At the heart of the Arduino Uno Board is a small chip called the ATmega32. Now you may be saying to yourself that you’ve never heard of it. But the truth is this: it is one of the most widely used chips in the world due to its form factor. The ATmega32, and similar chips, can be found everywhere in cars like BMWs or in gaming technology like Microsoft Xbox hand controllers. They are everywhere. Explore more uses for Arduino here.

Arduino improves coding and electronics skills

Arduino programming for kids is a great tool for learning coding and electronics because it easily connects with other open source hardware and components. You can program Arduino in various ways. Early in Arduino development, students learn Arduino C, a written programming language that is sometimes difficult to learn. Nowadays there are many options to use, such as Tinkercad block coding.

Here are some cool student projects made with Arduino.

Arduino is affordable

Arduino and all the different components in the world are very affordable. This is due to the rise of Arduino and its massive community of makers. Production has been able to meet huge needs.

The low cost of learning with Arduino has allowed Arduino to become a standard teaching tool for designing with electronics throughout the world. The community of users who teach, learn, and play with Arduino is very friendly and supportive. The resources for learning Arduino are almost endless.

Every day you can search “Arduino projects” on the internet and get a list of interesting new projects. Materials and details of each project are shared so anyone can try them out.

The Arduino community is sometimes referred to as the “Maker” or “DIY” (Do-It-Yourself) community. The amount of support and resources they contribute to help others learn and explore is one of the biggest reasons to learn and use Arduino, and your child will benefit from this network of innovators and learners. Check out this list of open source project guides from the Arduino community.

What is Arduino used for?

Electronics as a field of study

Electronics is the result of combining and creating projects using components such as resistors, motors and sensors. Every day you come across hundreds if not thousands of devices that use electronics to function. It is also called as Electrical Engineering and has become an important pillar in today’s society. An electrical engineer is a person who studies, plans, and designs things that use electricity.

Learn components with Arduino

Students can learn how to build circuits, use resistors, and be introduced to Ohm’s law while creating a series of cool projects and experiments. They can also code Arduinos to start building smart devices that can sense their environment and respond to it.

Here is a list of commonly used sensors and components that you and your child likely interact with in everyday life that are consistent with learning how to make projects with Arduino.

1. Ultrasonic Sensor Use sonar to determine distance
2. Infrared Obstacle Sensor detect objects near the sensor
3. Temperature Sensor detect ambient temperature

Commonly used output components

1. Servo Motor small wheeled motorbike
2. LCD screen screen allows you to display text
3. Motor Electric motor

Arduino – A foundation for Robotics

Arduino is a great foundation for robotics. It can connect and work with almost any device or component out there. From motors to motion sensors to VEX VR robotics, this is a great way for students to learn and understand and learn about input and output and how computers, robots and mechanical devices can interact with you and the world around them.

A perfect example of Arduino being used when building advanced robots is the openDog project by James Bruton. He combined electrical and mechanical engineering to create amazing robots, and he documented his discoveries and what he learned while working on his projects.

Explore projects with Arduino for kids

Are you wondering what your child can make with Arduino? They can build something as simple as automatic lighting to a fully functional home automation system. The level of simplicity or complexity of your projects with Arduino is up to you or your child. It helps if students start small, so they can quickly learn and improve. These projects will not last long on a small scale. Here are some fun Arduino projects for kids to get your imagination going.

So get started with Arduino and join us in our Make & Learn Arduino class for kids, where students will build more advanced circuits for smart devices, code breakers, and games using Arduino. They will also learn more advanced electronics concepts such as digital versus analog, as well as controlling servos and sensors.

Your child will also sharpen their coding skills and even utilize a little text-based coding to prepare for advanced coding classes. Next, learn more about choosing the right coding class for your students.

Written by Jared Collacchi, Instructor at Create & Learn