Open Source Arduino

Arduino

I am a big fan of gadgets and this one really got my eye. Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. It comes with Schematic, manual and mounting diagrams. Just about everything you need to modify it to your liking.

Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).

The boards can be built by hand or purchased preassembled; the software can be downloaded for free. The hardware reference designs (CAD files) are available under an open-source license, you are free to adapt them to your needs.

Knowing that there are open source software and programs, I always wondered if there were any open source hardware and here it is. I think, this is a beginning of something. Watch out IBM and Microsoft! :)