The Making of Arduino

I've had a lot of fun with Arduino. It packs a nice combination of power, I/O and handy features (battery or USB connection, ICSP, ...) and there's a good community around it. And the GUI and runtime is perfectly workable.

I used an Arduino Duemilanove on my high-altitude balloon flight. It was the main flight computer and transmitted telemetry throughout: http://blog.jgc.org/2011/02/gaga-1-working-flight-computer.h... In my recent GE Color Effects hack I used an Arduino Pro creating a serial protocol via bit banging I/O ports: http://blog.jgc.org/2011/11/turning-ge-color-effects-g-35-ch... In my 'games console in a can' I also used an Arduino Pro generating a PAL or NTSC video signal in software: http://blog.jgc.org/2011/05/playing-pong-on-pair-of-candy-ca...

Currently, I'm working on an alarm clock that uses an Arduino Pro.

If you get a chance to do a workshop with Massimo, go for it! The guy is an absolute legend and you'll come away from the workshop brimming with ideas for hacking projects.

I love Arduino. I picked up a Starter Kit over the summer and it's just so easy to get things going. So far I've built a current sensor ( http://trafficlightads.net/2011/09/06/an-arduino-current-sen... ) and a photo booth that integrates an Arduino, my Canon 20d, a Linux PC and a Staples Easy Button.

Discussed previously: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3160180