by Library News
Arduinos Available In Fablab
Arduinos available in FabLab
The UTA FabLab offers patrons tools to bring an idea into reality. Now the FabLab is offering open source computers and electronics which allow patrons to interact with the digital world.
The Arduino board is a controller used to teach basic programming and computer circuitry. It will not run the Windows operating system, but it does allow the user to control devices that plug into the board. It has a small amount of flash memory so users can program it to repeat a set of tasks, and it will continue to do that task as long as it has power. One example that UTA FabLab Technician Fraser Jones demonstrated was a robotic arm attached to an Arduino that can aim a camera or laser pointer. He also showed a sensor chip plugged into an Arduino with an accelerometer and gyroscope to determine the chip’s directional orientation.
The Arduino runs on open-source software licenses which publish all their technical details under Creative Commons licenses. This allows for “the democratization of knowledge,” Jones said, “making it teachable to non-computer scientists. We believe that these skills can add life and a lot of value to the things we make.”
The FabLab is equipped with over 40 Arduino boards and an electronics bay that contains all the necessary tools to get the lab’s users started with computer programming and circuitry.
If you would like to learn more about Arduino or try one out for yourself, visit the UTA FabLab at Central Library.
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