Design tool · 2016
Heteroduino
Bridge Between Arduino and Grasshopper
Arduino is a microcontroller platform for building responsive physical systems. It receives information from sensors and sends commands to lights, motors, pumps, switches, and other actuators. Its accessible hardware and software ecosystem makes it a valuable tool for artists, architects, and designers working with interactive environments.
Heteroduino is a Grasshopper plug-in that connects Arduino boards, sensors, and actuators to parametric design workflows. It was created to make physical computing more accessible to architects and designers.
The initial Heteroduino code was developed during the 2014 “OK Arduino” workshop. The plug-in was formally released in 2015 for Tech Studio at Pars University and was used extensively during the IAAC Summer School 2016 in Tehran.
The first release supports Arduino Uno and is compatible with both “Firefly Firmata” and “Heteroduino Firmata.” Use Heteroduino Firmata to activate ultrasonic sensors or stepper motors.
The second release improves serial-port communication and introduces dedicated components for Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega, with automatic board detection. Each Mega board supports up to eight stepper motors, eight sonar sensors, and 16 analog sensors. Multiple Arduino boards can operate concurrently.
Contributors#
The first release was developed by Amin Bahrami, Hoda Farzaneh, Sonay Servatkhah, and Niloufar Najafi. Ali and Samira Ghasemi contributed to debugging the next version as workshop teaching assistants.
