What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online.

What is STEMTera™ Breadboard?

The STEMTera™ Breadboard is a smart electronic breadboard with an Arduino UNO R3 compatible built inside. This 2 in 1 breadboard is specifically designed to solve common issues when using Arduino with a separate breadboard especially in the lab or classroom.

The STEMTera™ Breadboard is capable of taking inputs, for example the push of a button, and translate that information to trigger different types of outputs, for example turn on a light or motor. With these capabilities, the STEMTera™ Breadboard can be used to build interactive physical systems by the use of software and hardware that can sense and response to physical world.

Making mechanical LEGO® projects with the STEMTera™ Breadboard is easy because the bottom cover of the STEMTera™ Breadboard is LEGO® compatible.

Hardware

The STEMTera™ Breadboard has 14 digital input/output pins (6 of which can be PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a USB connection, a power jack, and a reset button. These input/output pins are just like human fingers. With a properly written software plus hardware, they can be used to touch, sense and feel the physical environment.

Just like an Arduino UNO, the STEMTera™ Breadboard has two micro-controllers soldered on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The ATMEL’s ATmega32U2 and the ATmega328P. The ATmega32U2 serves as the bridge for USB communication between the computer and the ATmega328P.

The STEMTera™ Breadboard also exposed all the ATmega32U2’s pins on the breadboard’s tie points, thus providing 21 extra digital input/output pins that has the native capability to communicate with the computer via the USB port (advance topic).