Book a course

Due to popular demand, we can only hold a space on a course for one week. If you have not paid or requested an invoice in that period, we will release your spot.
Please email us if you need to get in touch.

Beginners guide to Arduino and Physical Computing

Start Date: March 12, 2011

End Date: March 12, 2011

‘Physical Computing’ and Arduino devices have made physical interaction affordable and available to non-experts. Whether creating interactive installations, information systems, prototyping products, or making new interfaces, there is a whole world of DIY electronics, interaction design and rapid prototyping available through this platform.

Real World Examples

But what can you do with an Arduino? Here are some of our favourite projects using the Arduino
Joe Saavedra's SOBEaR, the responsible robot bartender,
Sosolimited's HBO Snow Window,
& last but not least the MadLab/HACman collaboration : Project-A-Sketch

What you need to be familiar with

You’ll need to know how to use your computer, edit files, and save them.
Some programming background is useful, but not essential; if you’ve ever written Javascript, Pascal, C, C++, Java or Actionscript, you’ll find the Arduino programming language very familiar. If you’ve written Macros in Excel or any desktop software, you’ll find this will help you understand what’s happening.

Software and costs

The fee of the course is £120. Included in this price is a hot buffet lunch, with vegetarian options (please notify us if you have other dietary requirements)

You will also receive an Arduino Uno, breadboard, holder, USB cable and parts bundle. Each parts bundle contains jumper wires, 2 pushbuttons, 2 potentiometers, resistors, 10 LEDs, and a photoresistor.

Additionally, you will receive an electronic copy of the teaching materials, software, and programmes we write on a USB stick.

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.
We will also be using the Processing IDE, version 1.2.1, which can be downloaded from http://processing.org/download/ 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.