Are you interested in building an interactive toy, automated artwork, or robot and have no idea where to start? Or do you want to control a holiday light display? Are you new to microcontrollers or electronics in general? These projects are made from smaller, simpler pieces like those presented here. Your imagination is the only limit once you have gained experience with your Arduino, sensors, and motors. Designed for students, artists, and other nonengineers, the Arduino provides an inexpensive, beginner-friendly microcontroller platform. This book will help you translate your idea into a successful project using the Arduino for control. Written especially for new users, ARDUINO FOR TEENS shows you how to put this capable little microcontroller to work! This book will open up the world of automation to you in new and exciting ways as you explore the Arduino's capabilities. Step-by-step, you'll be guided through: understanding your new Arduino and its capabilities, converting your idea into an achievable Arduino project, connecting your Arduino to the outside world using example circuits, using the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to write and download programs, writing software to control your project using example programs, debugging your project and making it work, and selecting your next (or first) project.