Also known as: Arduino LLC, Arduino SA
Arduino is an open-source hardware company that makes the Arduino microcontroller boards and the accompanying development environment.1
Overview
Arduino began around 2005 at a design school in Ivrea, Italy, from a project led by Massimo Banzi and collaborators who wanted an easy, cheap way for artists and students to build interactive electronics. The result paired a simple microcontroller board with a friendly programming environment, and released both the board designs and software as open source.2
That openness let others freely study, copy, and extend the platform, fueling a huge maker ecosystem of compatible boards, shields, and tutorials. The company designs and sells official boards and maintains the Arduino IDE and libraries.
Why it matters
Arduino made microcontroller programming approachable for people without an electronics background, and its boards are a common starting point for sensors, automation, and small embedded projects. In an SDR context, an Arduino is a natural choice for the simple control glue around a receiver — switching an antenna relay, reading a sensor, or driving status LEDs.