Page 103 - 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

82 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

Figure 8-2 An Arduino board

or programmed by the computer and then The software for programming your Arduino is
disconnected and allowed to work independently. easy to use and also freely available for Windows,
At this point, the Evil Genius might be Mac, and LINUX computers, at no cost.
wondering which top secret government Although Arduino is an open-source design for
organization they need to break into in order to a microcontroller interface board, it is actually
acquire an Arduino. more than that since it encompasses the software
Alas, no evil deeds are necessary to acquire one development tools you need to program an
of these devices. The Evil Genius need go no Arduino board, as well as the board itself. There is
further than their favorite online auction site or a large community of construction, programming,
search engine. Since the Arduino is an open-source electronics, and even art enthusiasts willing to
hardware design, anyone is free to take the designs share their expertise and experience on the
and create his own clones of the Arduino and sell Internet.
them—thus, the market for the boards is In this book, we use the Arduino Duemilanove,
competitive. An official Arduino costs about sometimes called Arduino 2009; however, the
US$30 and a clone often less than US$20. recently released Arduino Uno will also work just
fine.
The name Arduino is reserved by the original
makers of the Arduino. Clone Arduino designs When making a project with an Arduino, you
often have the letters “duino” on the end of their need to download programs onto the board using a
name—for example, Freeduino or DFRduino. USB lead between your computer and the Arduino.