[https://www.arduino.cc/ Arduino] is a wildly popular hobby computing platform.  Arduino refers to three things:
  * A friendly software development environment that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (get it [https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software here])
  * A suite of single board computers (see [https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Products here]) based on AVR and ARM processors
  * A standard stackable [http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11473 interface] that lets you plug "shields" into the single-board computers to extend their functionality with things like [http://www.gearbest.com/other-accessories/pp_218079.html motor control], [http://www.gearbest.com/development-boards/pp_136559.html Ethernet], [http://store.cutedigi.com/juniper-wifi-shield-for-arduino-based-on-gainspan-module/ WiFi], etc.

We use Arduino computers on Team 2537 because they are very inexpensive (often available for less than $4) and are perfect for robotics.  Arduino computers can easily be connected to sensors that provide information about the real world and actuators such as motors and solenoids.

Team 2537 has a set of lessons that introduce you to Arduino through hands-on projects culminating in mini-robots that you design.

* Lesson 1 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson1 Getting to Blinky]
* Lesson 2 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson2 Breadboards and Multimeters]
* Lesson 3 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson3 Touch and Feel]
* Lesson 4 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson4 Making Music]
* Lesson 5 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson5 Ultrasonic]
* Lesson 6 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson6 Move It!]
* Lesson 7 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson7 Control It]
* Lesson 8 - [wiki:ArduinoLesson8 Smorgasbord]