Need an Arduino? Let me hook you up!
In normal times, you could walk in the Sandbox, we explain to you how the lending process works and eventually you leave with an Arduino kit (or many other things we have available on loan…). While our loans are not currently available, fret not, we’ve got you! Have you been wanting to try a arduino for a bit but don’t want to spend the money, or even worse, afraid you’ll damage it?
I present to you the virtual Arduino!
For the lucky ones with VR headsets, there’s actually a VR Arduino lab but this is beyond this article.
I present a well known platform at the Sandbox, TinkerCad! Available at: http://www.tinkercad.com
We usually use it as an introduction to 3D modelling as it’s easy-to-use, browser based and comes with light tutorials to get you started. You may not be aware but it also has ‘virtual arduino’ option in the Circuits option, right under 3D Designs. It provides you a virtual board and many components you can hook up with wires as if you would a real one. You can even program your arduino in it to see how it’ll work.
It’s a great way to learn or even quickly prototype something!
Here’s a direct link to their tutorials for circuits where they’ll walk you through it: