Arduino Basics

Arduino is an "open source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board". It is also a "development environment for writing software for the board" (Source: Arduino.cc ). The first Arduino was born in 2005 in the classrooms of Interactive Design Institute in Ivrea, Italy. A nice presentation which shows a timeline of "how Arduino came to be" can be found here .   Arduino has been a very successful concept and creation. Ten years on, it has become one of, if not, the most popular prototyping and development platforms in the world. It has found it's way into the hearts of many makers, artists, programmers, developers and inventors. It has been used for millions of projects: from automatic garage door openers and tea makers to flamethrowers, robots, lighting displays and sound production. In fact, I cannot think of anything that the Arduino hasn't been used for.   But as you are pretty well...