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Building an Arduino-based laser game, Part 1: Arduino basics

Jump-start your electronics projects with the open source hardware and software platform Arduino

Duane O'Brien, PHP developer, Freelance

Duane O'Brien has been a technological Swiss army knife since the Oregon Trail was text only. His favorite color is sushi. He has never been to the moon.

Summary: Arduino is an inexpensive, easy-to-use electronics platform. The entire platform, both the hardware and the software, is completely open source, and the language is loosely based on C/C++. Arduino was built for makers, tinkerers, and artists who want to take the plunge into creating interactive physical objects. This three-part series starts with basic Arduino hardware and uses it to create an interactive laser game called "'Duino tag," where players can play tag using devices built nearly from scratch. Here in Part 1 of this "Building an Arduino-based laser game" series, we craft basic experiments that prepare us for and are a part of 'Duino tag.

View more content in this series

Date: 22 Dec 2008
Level: Intermediate
PDF: A4 and Letter (183 KB | 23 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity: 35400 views
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Resources

Learn

Visit the official site for Arduino.
Read the Introduction to Arduino.
Check out the Installation and set up guides for Arduino.
Be sure to read the Arudino Language Reference.
Freeduino is a free-form version of Arduino, not developed under a centralized design process.
"Build It. Share It. Profit. Can Open Source Hardware Work?" is a Wired magazine introduction to Arduino and profile of the developers behind it.
Learn more about infrared radiation (IR).
Read an An analytical study of IR signals used by a Sony remote control .
Read infrared radiation explained.
Get all kinds of info about LED.
To listen to interesting interviews and discussions for software developers, check out developerWorks podcasts.
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Check out upcoming conferences, trade shows, webcasts, and other Events around the world that are of interest to IBM open source developers.
Visit the developerWorks Open source zone for extensive how-to information, tools, and project updates to help you develop with open source technologies and use them with IBM's products.
Watch and learn about IBM and open source technologies and product functions with the no-cost developerWorks On demand demos.

Get products and technologies

Download Arduino software.
Find out where to Buy an Arduino Board.
Digi-Key.com offers a variety of electronic components at reasonable prices.
Mouser Electronics is another good source of electronic components.
The selection at All Electronics Corp. is a little more narrow than Digi-Key or Mouser, but still very good.
Maker Shed offers a great Arduino starter kit.
Innovate your next open source development project with IBM trial software, available for download or on DVD.
Download IBM product evaluation versions, and get your hands on application development tools and middleware products from DB2®, Lotus®, Rational®, Tivoli®, and WebSphere®.