Your first Arduino project: blink, beep, build

An Arduino is a small computer you program to control lights, sounds, motors and sensors. Here's how to go from an unopened box to your first program in about twenty minutes.

You'll need

• An Arduino board and its USB cable.

• A computer with the free Arduino IDE from arduino.cc.

• For the second step, a buzzer and two jumper wires.

Step 1: make it blink

The board has a light built in on pin 13. Connect the board, choose it under Tools → Board, then upload this:

void setup() {
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);
  delay(500);
}

Step 2: make it beep

Wire the buzzer's + leg to pin 8 and the other to GND, and add this to loop():

tone(8, 880, 200);

Step 3: make it yours

Change the numbers. Make it blink faster, beep lower, or play a pattern. Every change you upload is a decision a machine now follows. Next, add a button and you've built an alarm.

The full getting-started guide for our Arduino Starter Kit is in the Fix-it Corner.