A Look at Arduino’s Origins: the First Prototype

Tomorrow is Arduino Day, a worldwide celebration of the microcontroller and projects made with it. Originally envisioned for students and artists to quickly prototype electronics projects, you can now find Arduino powering everything from window dressings on high streets to more successfully funded Kickstarter projects than one can recall from memory.

But this versatile platform had humble beginnings, as seen in these images of the first Arduino. This prototype screams, “If you require a solution, make it.” Who knows what it could lead to. For further reading IEEE has a great article from 2011 on the origins of and obstacles the Arduino team had to overcome in order to get Arduino established.

Now ten years young, join us here at MAKE online or join an event organized in your community and celebrate worldwide Arduino Day tomorrow.