Bringing Electrical Engineering to the Masses
Following my 2010 Ignite Ithaca Talk, I was approached by element14 electronics; they were looking to contract enthusiastic engineers to generate an all-new community around electrical engineering and design. I was already planning on launching a new web series for budding electronics enthusiasts, so this was the perfect opportunity to get it rolling. Having had extensive experience with the Arduino, and other atmega development environments, I decided to base my series around the much-beloved Arduino, a perfect platform for starting to learn about microcontrollers, programming, and basic EE concepts.
The tutorial series ended up being extremely popular, and I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails from people who really appreciate the videos. The videos range in complexity from easy to very advanced, and in duration from 6 minutes to 40 minutes. I upload complete source code and schematics for all my tutorials. I post new tutorials as often as I can; you can view them in my blog category, or you can sit in your chair for the next 5 hours and watch them all in a row using this convenient youtube playlist:
People Love these Tutorials…
Following are just a few excerpts from people who have contacted me because they have learned so much from my tutorial series. I love that I’m able to get more and more people interested in electronic design. Note: I have omitted some information to maintain the privacy of the people I’ve quoted and corrected grammar to increase readability.
- I’m an Electrical Engineering Undergraduate at [university] in the United Kingdom. I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the information and help you provide through your website and youtube videos. I’m currently going through the Arduino series and seriously love them. The way you you pick up on and explain the detail of every part of the design is perfect – you have a natural talent for teaching and speaking! I really feel inspired by the work that you do and find it utterly outstanding how advanced your knowledge is in electronics given your age. […] The cool stuff you do has made me realize again just why I love electronics and why I’m going to stick with it! So I really have to thank you for that. I’m going to play around with some micro-controllers and get some cool projects going! ~Jamie
- I found your website through an element14 link and just wanted to let you know that your tutorials for the Arduino are outstanding; you’re a great teacher, making it both fun and interesting for people. Keep up the great work! ~Tony
- I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for putting in the time with the Arduino videos; I am learning a lot – actually, everything I know is because of your videos… You are really going to be a great asset to the planet. ~Jovan
- Absolutely amazing. I watched through all of your tutorials and was impressed by the clarity of the explanations on how the circuits worked. That is very hard to find in tutorials, and you did a stunning job. It was a perfect gateway for a programmer like me who wants to get into hardware. ~Youtuber
- Jeremy, I’m a 58 year old hobbyist, mostly antique radio. I have been enjoying your Arduino tutorials, up to #7 so far. ~Steven
- I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that I found your videos about Arduino and electrical engineering. These are the most high quality and informative videos on this topic I have ever encountered. I especially like how you merge theoretical EE stuff and the physical world together in a fun and educational way. So, thank you very much for these; I really appreciate your work and depth of knowledge and experience. ~Anvar
- I just came across a couple of your videos on YouTube about using the Arduino. I am a principal electrical engineer recently retired from [large avionics company] in [location of company]. Your videos are very good and an excellent resource for my new interest in microcontrollers. ~Jim
- I’ve been building and using computers as well as doing web development for over 15 years. […] I’ve watched all of your tutorials a minimum of 3 times and have referenced them many times more. I wouldn’t be using this technology if it weren’t for your excellent teaching and video editing skills. ~Rich
Supporting Documentation, Schematics, and Code for all Arduino Tutorials
All of the projects I demonstrate in my Arduino tutorials are comprised of entirely open source hardware and software. The Arduino tutorial category on my blog is the best place to get content for each tutorial, but you can also download all the materials at once from my github repository. All Arduino tutorial supporting materials are distributed under the GNU General Public (Open-Source) License. Please Attribute and Share-Alike.
Selected News & Support from the Blogosphere!
- 01/06/2011 – “New Arduino Tutorial Series from Jeremy Blum” on the Adafruit Industries Blog
- 02/28/2011 – “Element14 Adds New Open-Source Arduino Whiz Jeremy Blum to its ‘Ask an Expert’ Engineering Panel” ~ element14 Press Release
- 03/08/2011 – “Beginner Concepts in Electronics and Arduino” on the Hack-a-Day Blog
- 03/09/2011 – “Must-See Beginner Tutorials for Arduino” on the Arduino Blog
- This google search will turn up many, many examples of people utilizing my code and linking to my tutorial series
- I have worked with Amperka.ru to have many of my tutorial series professionally dubbed in Russian
- 07/17/2012 – Winner of the “Articulate Ventures Simplicity Award” for my ability to educate people with my concise Arduino lessons
Useful Links
- My Arduino Tutorial Series Blog Category
- Arduino Tutorial Series Playlist on youtube.com
- Arduino Community on element14.com