Omniversity of Manchester

The Arduino boards have become the de facto choice for physical computing projects and, with the addition of an Ethernet shield, make an excellent platform on which to explore the Internet of Things.

Want your letterbox to email you whenever the postman has been? Need a clock to show you where your loved ones are? Or a glowing multi-coloured ambient orb to show your energy usage? This course will get you started on the road to realising your own Internet-connected projects.

Bubblino blowing tweet triggered bubbles

Real World Examples

Beside the Bubblino, check out this clock that tracks your loved ones.

What you need to be familiar with

You’ll need to know how to use your computer, edit files, and save them.

A familiarity with Arduino is also essential – we won't be covering the Arduino basics. If you haven't worked with Arduino before then you should take the Beginners guide to Arduino and Physical Computing course first.

Software and costs

The fee of the course is £132, and includes an Ethernet shield, selection of components, wires and cables.

All software is freely available and copies will be distributed with the course materials on the day.
We will be using the Arduino IDE, version 0021, which can be downloaded from http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software for all platforms.

Equipment you’ll need

You will need to bring a computer, ideally a laptop, with a recent version of Linux, Windows or OSX installed. You will need a USB interface on this computer. You’ll also need to bring an Arduino with you - either an Uno or a Duemilanove.

Suggested preparatory work

• Install the Arduino IDE
• Make sure the application starts and runs properly on your computer - on some Linux distributions, you need to install extra software.

About the tutor

The course is lead by Adrian McEwen, creator of the http://bubblino.com/ family.

To prepare for the course..

Sign up - Arduino and Ethernet: Building the Internet of Things