The Arduino is an ATMEL Mega168 base microcontroller board. See the ROBOMO wiki entry here for additional info.

The Arduino can be connected to your computer in three ways:

• 9 pin serial port. Many newer PC's and laptops do not have a serial port, however a good name brand USB to serial converter will work. We have confirmed sucess with Keyspan brand adaptors. The advantage to using a 9 pin serial Arduino is cost...$17 for serial as opposed to $34 for USB.
• USB. All PC's and laptops come with USB ports. A USB Arduino has the advantage of being able to be powered through the USB port with no external "power brick" required. This makes it easy to program up your Arduino while sitting in your favorite easy chair, and then move it to battery power once you install the Arduino in your robot.
• Bluetooth. Requires no physical connection from the PC to the Arduino. Programmed with a Bluetooth low powered radio. Bluetooth Arduinos also have the ability to receive commands from Bluetooth devices such as your cell phone. Bluetooth Arduinos are the most expensive version at $150.

Download and install the Arduino software.

• Download and install the Arduino software. The Arduino software is available for Linux, MacOS X, and Windows.
• Linux downloads are available here. If you use Ubuntu, specific instructions are here.
• MacOS X downloads are available here.
• Windows downloads are available here.
• Install the software like you normally would. Once installed, make sure it starts without any errors.

Connect the Arduino to your PC. For the purposes of this example, we will be connecting the 9 pin serial Arduino to our PC. (connecting the USB Arduino is much simpler...just plug and play!)

• Start by connecting the Arduino's 9 pin serial cable from your PC to the Arduino. Screw down the connectors for a nice tight fit.
• Plug the "power brick" into the wall, and then into the power connection on the Arduino. All Arduino's have a power LED, so it should be on now. Note: once the Arduino is powered up any programmed stored in it's memory will begin to run. There is no "go" switch. Ensure that any motors are either physically disconnected or in a safe condition should they turn on unexpectedly.
• Run the Arduino software that you installed earlier.
• When the Arduino sotware starts it should detect the Arduino board and select the correct port (serial, USB, etc.)

You are now ready to begin loading programs into the Arduino. Maybe give some of the more basic example programs a try. Look in the examples section in the menu and try out the blinking LED program. Remember, the Arduino environment does everything...you write and edit your program, compile it, and upload it to the Arduino all within the Arduino environment. Nice and easy! Join the Arduino forum for a wealth of further information. The Arduino people are friendly and extremely helpful.