As I mentioned on my previous post, I got an Arduino kit to start experimenting with the platform and eventually interconnect it with the Snap Circuits so that my grandkids and I can have fun building some cool projects. The kit includes an Arduino Mega2560 board and a bunch of components that can be used to build a variety of projects.

It is pretty easy to get started with the Arduino platform. You install the Arduino IDE, plug in the board to your computer using the USB cable, and boom! you are up and running in minutes. I am using the new version 2 of the IDE, and so far it has been very stable.

And now for something completely different and out of the blue.

I couple of months ago, I started playing Snap Circuits with my 6-year old grandson. These things are truly a terrific way for children to learn and get their hands into some electronic circuitry. Then I decided to start augmenting their capabilities by getting an Arduino board and some sensors, so that we could further enhance our projects – my plan is to gently introduce him to the concepts as we exhaust what is possible to do with just the Snap Circuits kits alone.

As I started playing with the Arduino board, I went into the rabbit hole of using a Real Time Operating System (RTOS) to program the microcontroller. And then poof, it was like traveling back in time to 1979 when I was working on my electronic engineering thesis project…