

Backed by a massive online community, and with most development boards and hardware accessories available at very low prices, this platform is perhaps the best place to start in working with embedded devices. You can use the mouse to adjust the blue potentiometer at the top left of the breadboard: as you turn it, the sound will change.Launched in 2005, the Arduino open hardware and software platform has grown to be very popular among hobbyists, educators, and professionals alike, gaining momentum especially in the robotics field. The piezo sounder will emit a spluttering sound if you have a loudspeaker connected to your PC. In real life you would destroy the microcontroller like this, but in this simulation you cannot do any damage.

The main part of the circuit will withstand up to around 18 V, but not the Arduino connected over the blue wire.

A common connection to the GND pin on the Arduino is also required (black line running off to the right) as well as the (blue) connection to pin A2.You can write and execute your programs in C or C++, or simply use the Scratch visual programming language. It also also offers integration of ATmega (as used in the Arduino Uno) and ATtiny microcontrollers. There is no need to install any software and you can build your circuit exactly as if it were on a breadboard. So it is good news that a graphical interface, Tinkercad Circuits, has been developed that allows you to use it online. Unfortunately, it is not that user-friendly and it requires the circuit diagram to be expressed in its own special format. SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is the best-known software for simulating analogue and digital electrical circuits. As well as simulating circuits, it can also execute Arduino code, as we show here. Simulators are now commonly available, with the Tinkercad Circuits platform covered here accessible in your web browser. In such cases, it makes sense to use a simulator to test the idea in safety. Or, perhaps the circuit you wish to develop uses dangerously high voltages and currents. It is often the case that you don't have all the components required to build a circuit that is developing in your mind.
