I have spent some (very) limited time the last month or so, refreshing my understanding of electronics, particularly ICs (integrated circuits). This, like most things, is handy back pocket information for me in my day job although not particularly relevant.

With numerous flashing LED projects under my belt it’s getting time to move on to something a little more advanced. I would like to build a programmable board of some kind and have it execute some slightly more complicated logic than is feasible with hard-wired ICs.

After a quick Google I came across many options in this regard, some requiring more in-depth knowledge than others (e.g. the PICAXE).

The Arduino board, [LINK] looks like a pretty attractive and inexpensive option. This thing is pretty flexible for my needs, comes with a free C-like compiler and is relatively small. There aren’t many parts for me to fry with my weak soldering skills and the whole thing is backed by a pretty active community.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it…