SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nominet Trust, one of the UK's leading funders of social technology ventures, recently kicked off an initiative to find and recognize the most inspiring applications of digital technology for social good. Unsurprisingly, the Atmel-powered Arduino made the 100 item list, with Charles Leadbeater, a Nominet Trust board member and NT100 project lead, describing Arduino as "LEGO for electronics."

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The core to an Arduino is a simple, ultra-low-cost circuit board, based on an open-source design, armed with an Atmel microprocessor which can be programmed with simple, open-source software tools by the user. Anyone should be able to turn an Arduino into a simple electronic device such as a light switch and sensor! Arduino was started by a group at the Interaction Design Institute at Ivrea in Italy as a way to get people making their own electronics hardware, just as simple software tools like Scratch, a project born at the MIT Media Lab and another entrant on the Nominet Trust 100 list, are helping children to learn to code.

For more information: Driving social change with Atmel and Arduino

SOURCE Atmel Corporation

RELATED LINKShttp://www.atmel.comhttp://www.nominettrust.org.ukhttp://www.arduino.cchttp://www.socialtech.org.uk