SBCs

Arduino from the Command Line: Break Free from the GUI with Git and Vim!

Love Arduino but hate the GUI? Try arduino-cli. In this article, I explore a new tool released by the Arduino team that can free you from the existing Java-based Arduino graphical user interface. This allows developers to use their preferred tools and workflow. And perhaps more important, it'll enable easier and deeper innovation into the Arduino toolchain itself.

The Single-Board Computers Issue

When I was a child in the 1980s, I had a computer—a very 1980s computer. It had a hefty, rectangular, grey case made of some sort of industrial sheet metal. Two plain (but rather large), square buttons adorned the front, begging to be pressed: "Reset" and "Turbo". On the right side of the case, far in the back (nearly out of reach), sat an almost comically large, red power switch. It was the kind of lever that would look right at home in an action movie—used to cut the electricity to all of New York City.

Indie Makers Using Single-Board Computers

Possibly the most amazing thing, to me, about single board computers (SBCs) is that they allow small teams of people (and even lone individuals) to create new gadgets using not much more than SBCs and 3D printers. That opportunity for makers and small companies is absolutely astounding. Two such projects have really caught my attention lately: the Noodle Pi and the TinyPi.