Introducing Arduino UNO

Meet your microcontroller!

arduino board with parts labelled

Arduino UNO is an easy to use prototyping board based on open-source hardware and software. It can be programmed using Arduino’s basic language to create interactive physical computing projects.

“Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute as an easy tool for fast prototyping, aimed at students without a background in electronics and programming. “ – Learn more from the Arduino Guide

For examples and inspiration check out the Project Hub.

Breadboard

That white thing attached to your UNO? Its a solderless breadboard!

Solderless breadboard with parts labelled

Breadboard make it easy to create circuits without soldering any wires together. The connection is made by inserting wire into the tiny holes:

Inputs & Outputs

Arduino is designed to make interactive projects. This means it uses sensors to get input from the world, and responds by controlling actuators / outputs. Uno does not have any built in sensors or actuators, you connect them to the boards pins.

Example sensors:

Example outputs:

Next step: make Uno Blink!