In my Sensor Network class, we are playing with Arduino boards and ZigBee chips to create a network of devices that communicate with each other to accomplish a common goal. We got our hardware a little while ago, and were told to test the equipment to make sure it was in working order. The demo program that comes with the Arduino board flashes the on-board light on and off in one second intervals. So, if you had a board that you can make a light flash what would you do with it? My first thought was to flash "SOS" in Morse Code, repeatedly! Cool, I worked. Now, what? Well, the Arduino connects to your computer via a USB cable that you can communicate with the board. Why not allow someone to enter any message they like and have the Arduino flash that message in Morse Code. I get a chance to make a more in-depth program, look a little deeper into the Arduino spec, and have some fun sending weird messages along the way.
I have my Arduino sample code up on my GitHub account. I'm going to be adding to it as we work on projects throughout the class, so keep checking back for updates.