Arduino - SMI

Arduino
Arduino is an open source electronics platform consisting of a single-board microcontroller and programming environment.
It is intended to be easy for anyone (artists, hobbyists, students, etc.) to design and build interactive gadgets [1].
Microcontroller - a simple computer (processor, memory, input/output) on a single chip [2]. Their size, cost, and robustness
make them ubiquitous in modern electronics, and can be found in nearly every modern electrical device, from
telephones, TV remotes, microwaves and washing machines, to cars and security systems [3]. While a typical home
in a developed country is likely to have only four computers, it will have around three dozen microcontrollers [4].
History
While teaching a physical computing class at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in 2005, Massimo Banzi’s students were
unwilling to spend the 76 euros for the BASIC Stamp microcontrollers commonly used in such applications. Banzi and his
collegues looked for alternatives, finally settling on the wiring platform developed by one of Banzi’s students. In his own
words:
“…we started to figure out how could we make the whole platform even simpler, even cheaper, even easier to
use. And then we started to essentially reimplement the whole thing as an open source project.” [5]
Once they had a prototype, a student wrote the software that would allow wiring programs to run on the new platform. Upon
seeing the project, visiting professor Casey Reas suggested that there might be wider applications than just design schools
for the new product. The prototype was redesigned for mass production and a test run of 200 boards was made. Orders
began coming in from other design schools and the students looking for Arduinos, and the Arduino project was born.
Design Goals
• Work with a Mac (as most design students use one) [1]
• USB connectivity (MacBooks don’t have serial ports)
• Look nice
• Cheap (about 20 euros, the cost of going out for pizza)
• More powerful than a BASIC stamp
• Something you could build/fix yourself
• Simple and easy to use by someone without formal electronics training
Business Model
Since the entire project is open source, anyone can build and sell Arduino-compatible devices. So in this sense, the Arduino
project relies heavily on its branding for it’s financial success [6]. Other projects manufacture compatible and cheaper
boards, however people are loyal to the Arduino branded boards because they associate quality and a certain image to the
final product [7].
By the Numbers
Year Units Sold
2005 200
2006 10 000
2010 120 000
2011 300 000
Competitors
Before Arduino, the largest players in the design/hobbyist market segment were the PIC microcontroller family (made by
Microchip) and the BASIC Stamp (made by Parallax). Since the introduction of the Arduino, other large companies have
tried to enter the hobbyist market, including Texas Instruments [8], and even Microsoft [9]. However, the open-sourced tools
of the Arduino and the size of its community [10] are large barriers for new platforms to overcome.

Google trends data comparing Arduino with its biggest competitors:
Community
As the project is aimed at students and hobbyists who may not have any formal electronics background, there are many
excellent guides online covering everything from making a light blink to creating a laser harp. The official forum [11] has
almost 60 000 registered users, and along with helping users with their projects, is extremely active in developing new
libraries to extend the functionality of the Arduino [12]. The open-source share and share alike sentiment is very strong, and
the vast majority of users freely publish the code to their projects.
Further Information
arduino.cc/playground/Projects/ArduinoUsers
arduinothedocumentary.org
aliciagibb.com/thesis
wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing
blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/02/why-the-arduino-won-and-why-its-here-to-stay.html
References
[1] L. Laporte and R. Schwartz, “Floss weekly 61.” http://twit.tv/show/floss-weekly/61, November 27,
2011.
[2] S. F. Barrett and D. J. Pack, “Microcontrollers,” in Handbook of Networked and Embedded Control Systems (D. Hristu-
Varsakelis, W. S. Levine, and W. S. Levine, eds.), Control Engineering, pp. 295–297, Birkhäuser Boston, 2005.
[3] G. S. Gupta, S. C. Mukhopadhyay, G. S. Gupta, and S. C. Mukhopadhyay, “Operational amplifier and analog signal processing
circuits: A revision,” in Embedded Microcontroller Interfacing, vol. 65 of Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering,
p. V, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2010.
[4] Wikipedia, “Microcontroller.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller#Volumes,
November 27, 2011.
[5] R. Calvo and R. Alaejos, “Arduino the documentary.” http://vimeo.com/18539129, November 27, 2011.
[6] A. Spadoni, “Interview with massimo banzi, co-founder of arduino.” http://www.open-electronics.org/
interview-with-massimo-banzi-co-founder-of-arduino/, November 27, 2011.
[7] “Arduino - business model.” http://p2pfoundation.net/Arduino_-_Business_Model, November
27, 2011.
[8] M. Szczys, “Ti makes a big bid for the hobby market.” http://hackaday.com/2011/08/03/
microsofts-attempt-at-an-arduino-killer-feels-like-a-gimmick/, November 27, 2011.
[9] M. Szczys, “Microsoft’s attempt at an arduino killer — feels like a gimmick.” http://hackaday.com/2011/08/
03/microsofts-attempt-at-an-arduino-killer-feels-like-a-gimmick/, November 27,
2011.
[10] Ian, “Editorial: Our friend microchip and open source.” http://dangerousprototypes.com/2011/08/
30/editorial-our-friend-microchip-and-open-source/, November 27, 2011.
[11] “Arduino forum.” http://arduino.cc/forum/, November 27, 2011.
[12] “The world famous index of arduino & freeduino knowledge.” http://www.freeduino.org/, November 27,
2011.