One for the techies

There has been a buzz it seems as of late..I spend hours a day looking through hacked gadgets on the net..keeping up with the latest on goings of the world..
I have alway's been interested in projects utilizing the PIC as it seems that u can almost do anything with it provided u can manipulate the source code accordingly.. it has however caught my attention that a new micro controller is being widely used other that the PIC or the ATMEL.
Arduino based project have been popping up like mushrooms lately, all project looking very complicated if we were to implement on the standard PIC..
curious, why is Arduino getting so popular?
a quick search on Google brought me to its website..here
a read thru and a look at the sample source code, and it was clear why its a popular platform for hobbyist/techo-geeks alike..it's basically can best be described by its simplicity.
its based on open source software and has shown some of the simplest set of codes for doing quite a taxing task..i think some of its most interesting feature is its ability to read analog inputs on the go, without having to program any ADC or DAC coding first..which is a pain if u dont know what u're doing....with that said, a myriad of analog input can easily be converted to its digital equivalent on the fly. it also helps that there are already sample coding on its website on interfacing with complex sensors like accelerometers.

although it may not be as widely accepted as the PIC (widely used by University students for projects), its slowly gaining grounds..

With a thorough website to start learning, its only a matter of time before it catches on here locally. Not sure where i can get my hands on a development board though. I'm hoping i can score some free samples..like i did with Texas Instruments..;p

so, ok ure thinking, why am i so hyped?..take a look on what it can do




via hackaday.com

For hobbyist like myself, don't go drooling all over the place now..