this arduino stuff

[Heavy Hittah]

what exactly is it? and what does it do? im thinking its just a program that lets you control LEDs. am i right? and i read someone said something about a cloud effect. what is this madness of arduino? lol

[hillscp]

It is a programmable controller board. People use them to control lights and make robots. They are a hobby toy.

Some of those crazy Christmas light displays on YouTube are done with arduinos.

You can write programs on your pc and upload them to the board to control digital and analog outputs based on signals from inputs or timers. You can even run little LCD displays with them.

There is quite a following on the net.

You can find out more here.

http://www.arduino.cc/

Or search for arduino on YouTube to see what people are doing with them.

[csmfish]

Thats pretty cool! Especially how the board can retain the program.....I think, lol.

[HippieSmell]

hillscp explained it, and there is a commercial controller based on arduino called the Reef Angel. I've got one and it's pretty nice. There is a little work involved to get it personalized, but the developer is very helpful.