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Arduino Programming and Hardware Fundamentals with Hackster (Udemy.com)

Learn electrical engineering basics to build circuits and program Arduino to make wearables, robots, and IoT devices

4.7
4,944 reviews

Created by: Shawn Hymel

Last updated February 2023

Our take

Based on the ratings of 4,944 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in February 2023. No course pays to be reviewed.

Shawn Hymel's beginner course, made with Hackster, spends its first three sections on two things many Arduino tutorials skip: C/C++ programming basics and a short block on electrical engineering fundamentals. Only then does it move on to LEDs, buttons, sensors, a small robot, and finally sending data over the Internet. The syllabus shows 7.5 hours across 173 lectures plus 94 articles, and almost every lecture ends with an exercise and a worked solution. The stated audience is makers and curious people with no programming or electronics background, and most reviewers confirm that is who it suits, though not everyone finds the pace gentle.

Students praise how the material is split into small chunks that fit into a spare half hour, and one credits the exercises with making it stick. One reviewer built a robot car using different sensors than the ones the instructor used and still got it working, which says something about how well the ideas are taught. The complaints cluster in two places. The IoT section near the end is repeatedly called short and thin compared to the rest. And a few total beginners found the early Tinkercad simulator walkthrough and the general pace too fast, and one 1-star review says flatly it is not for beginners.

The last update was February 2023, so it is not new, but the basics it teaches have not moved much and reviewers in 2026 are still rating it well. It covers more ground than a getting-started course and adds the electronics theory a pure programming course leaves out. If you want one course that takes you from blinking an LED to posting sensor data online, this is a solid pick. Budget more than 7.5 hours, because the exercises are where the learning happens.

Best forTotal beginners who want the electronics theory and C/C++ grounding explained, not just projects to copy.
Skip it ifYou already blink LEDs comfortably and mainly want a deep, up-to-date IoT course.

Pros

  • Starts with C/C++ and circuit theory before touching a project, so beginners aren't just copying code
  • Almost every lecture ends with an exercise and a worked solution; most sections add a project
  • Short lectures (173 in 7.5 hours) that one reviewer says fit into odd half hours
  • Online simulator option means no hardware purchase is needed to start

Cons

  • The IoT section near the end is short and reviewers call it thin and under-explained
  • Pace is brisk for absolute beginners; the Tinkercad intro drew complaints for going too fast
  • Last updated February 2023, so it is not the most current option in its category
easy to follow, and divided into nice chunks of time so it's easy to spread it out over a half hour here and there.
Carl Loeffelmann, a student

Beginner is fair: no coding or electronics needed, just basic algebra, but expect to rewatch the fast early sections.

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What you will learn

  • Master the fundamentals of Arduino programming with C/C++
  • Build functioning circuits on a breadboard
  • Control sensors, robots, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices using Arduino
  • Write programs that perform basic math, light up LEDs, and control motors
  • Design circuits and write code for your own project

Course content

11 sections · 173 lectures · 7.5 hours of video 1 quiz, 94 articles

  1. 1Introduction 9 free previews12 lectures · 33 min
  2. 2Programming Basics 4 free previews33 lectures · 1.8 hours
  3. 3Electrical Engineering Basics 4 free previews20 lectures · 1 quiz · 50 min
  4. 4Fun with LEDs 2 free previews16 lectures · 50 min
  5. 5User Input 1 free preview23 lectures · 36 min
  6. 6Feedback 1 free preview8 lectures · 16 min
  7. 7Sensors 1 free preview14 lectures · 30 min
  8. 8Robotics 1 free preview14 lectures · 30 min
  9. 9The Internet 1 free preview13 lectures · 53 min
  10. 10Internet of Things (IoT) 1 free preview16 lectures · 34 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Makers, crafters, and students who are interested in adding electronics and interactivity to their projects
  • Entrepreneurs and engineers who are looking to prototype their next hardware product more quickly
  • Anyone curious about electronics and programming
  • Children over the age of 12

What you need before you start

  • Be able to use a computer (Windows and Mac covered in the course, Arduino will also work on Linux)
  • Be able to solve simple algebra problems (e.g. find x in 2x+4 = 10)
  • If you wish to use the online Arduino simulator, no additional hardware is needed
  • For hands-on, an Arduino and supporting electronics are required (covered in Lecture 5)

How it compares

Against the other 295 rated Udemy courses in Arduino on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.7 out of 5higher than 90% of them
  • Reviews4,944#7 of 296 by number of reviews
  • Length7.5 hourslonger than 63% of them
  • Last updatedFebruary 2023earlier than 56% of them

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Quality Score

Content Quality
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Video Quality
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Overall Score : 94 / 100

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Course Description

Learn the Arduino platform and programming language to create robots, interactive art displays, electronic toys, home automation tools, and much more. This course was created in collaboration with Hackster.

Master the skills needed to bring your projects to life through electronics.

  • Learn to program in Arduino (C/C++)
  • Build electronics that sense and react to the environment
  • Remotely log data to an Internet of Things (IoT) platform
  • Use the Internet to control your Arduino from anywhere in the world

A versatile tool for prototyping, playing, and making

Arduino is both a hardware platform and programming language. By learning how to build circuits and code, you can add a new level of interactivity to your projects, prototype potential products, and gain new skills (while hopefully having fun).

The Arduino programming language is based on a combination of C and C++. With an understanding of these coding fundamentals, you will be able to more easily learn new languages, such as Java, Python, JavaScript, C#, and Swift, which are in high demand in the job market.

Course Overview

The first version of Arduino was released in 2003 and has exploded in popularity among makers, hobbyists, and tinkerers, who build everything from animatronic sculptures to interactive wearables. Professional engineers and entrepreneurs sometimes start with an Arduino to create a prototype before developing a finished product. The iconic blue board has even found its way into classrooms, where educators use it to teach programming, electronics, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.

I designed this course with the absolute beginner in mind: if you do not have any experience with programming or electronics, that’s OK! The first few sections walk you through the basics behind programming in C/C++ as part of the Arduino framework as well as how to build simple circuits that flash lights and spin motors. Following that, we continue our adventure into making noise, sensing the environment, and building a robot. Finally, we dive into the world of IoT, where we learn how to pass messages over the Internet, which allows us to do things like turn on a light with our smartphone!

Each video lecture is designed to give you one building block of knowledge. Almost every lecture is followed by a hands-on exercise where I ask you to expand on that building block or combine several previous blocks. I provide solutions to each exercise to help you learn. Additionally, most of the sections contain a project that challenges you to synthesize many of the concepts found in that section and from previous sections.

Upon completing this course, you will have the skills and knowledge needed to create fun and useful Arduino projects.
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 7.5h

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Instructor Details

Shawn Hymel

Shawn is an Electrical Engineer working for SparkFun Electronics making the next generation of open source tools. He is currently a member of the Marketing and Communications (MarComm) team to showcase new products, build interesting projects, and create online videos that teach people about electronics.

Growing up with LEGO®, 300-in-1 electronic kits, and a general interest in math and science, studying engineering was an obvious choice. Shawn received a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer Engineering from Rose-Hulman and a Master of Science (MS) in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Upon joining the SparkFun Engineering team in 2013, Shawn helped developed several products, including the CC3000 Shield, the APDS-9960 Gesture Sensor, and the mbed Starter Kit. After a couple of years, he switched teams to MarComm to become a Creative Engineer and can be found making videos and projects for SparkFun’s site and YouTube channel.

Shawn is an advocate for enriching current education through STEM, both inside and outside the classroom, and he believes that the best marketing comes from teaching. He can be found giving talks, running workshops, and swing dancing in his free time.

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Reviews

4.7

4,944 ratings on Udemy

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By Freddy Vega on 4/12/2025

I'm a 40 years old and was a beginner when started this course three years ago, It took me a while to finish it, cause well, was doing it as a hobby, I was able to build my first robot car with Shawn explanations and I used in some cases, different sensors than those specified, getting same results. Thank you Shawn for getting together this material, it has helped me to develop creativity in ways never thought possible.

By B S Gupta on 10/22/2020

Amazing course, amazing teacher. Though i have been using Arduino for quite sometimes, i did not know many things covered so nicely by Shawn. His style and presentation is superb, the way problems are presented to try first and see solution when stuck up, makes learning a fun . I will try to practice and put more effort on IOT part using the information provided in this course as i am bit new to it .Finally i would like to say that i loved this course.

By Martino Corbellini Bressan on 2/16/2020

Great course! I'm a total beginner and now I'm feeling ready to start my first project. Doing this course I got an overall explanation of what an ARDUINO can do; there is a lot of material and I loved the exercises across the various sections. Now that I'm at the end of the course I'm feeling so happy with what I've learned :)

By Nitish Cheriyan on 2/2/2020

I'd watched Shawn on YouTube. He stands out among the various Electronics Tutorials youtubers. He carries this tradition to Udemy. Shawn is very articulate and knowledgeable. It is normally hard to find someone with both qualities. I learned a lot for a tiny fraction of the price I would have spent for a college course. I wish all my college professors 20 years ago would have been clones of Shawn!

By Liz Galvin Furey on 9/1/2019

I enjoyed the course so far while sean clearly knows the material well he isnt the best teacher and the course can somtimes leave me rather confused and irritated but if anyone wants to learn the material i do recomend

By Michael Marian on 1/12/2019

Extremely well designed coarse! Step by step with lots of good details lots of teaching the why behind each concept. Like building blocks. It's full of info and to the point no fluff! The exercise challenges are great and getting to copy the code to tinkercad is simple and free and easy to do. I feel a strong grasp of the info fast thanks to the course. My only fear now is the self aware world conquering robots straight out of Terminator that I'm going to accidentally create! .... Im sorry in advance..

By Semere Beyene Teame on 11/22/2018

I didn't have any experience with arduino before. I mean I hadn't seen even it. I only had its name from previous instructors during my BSc degree study. I of course had a great experience in programming and the electrical circuit analysis. All in all, this course provides what goes in the real world in a highly organized manner. In fact, it also speaks that the instructor is well experienced in the field.

By Chris Holliman on 10/9/2018

I'm a total beginner at the arduino, programming, and electronics. This course does a good job of taking you from zero to being fairly adept with the arduino. That said, you will have to make an effort, do the work, and re-watch and review a lot of the material. This course presents content at a fast clip, so you'll need to pause and rewind a good bit. Still, I would definitely recommend this course to any Arduino beginner.

By Ahmed Alhallag on 9/10/2017

so far he is so clear about the way he explain things,but still for someone who hasnt understood/tried programming some concepts might be confusing. -- I'll add another review so I wouldnt sound so mean,Shawn did a great job at combining every field a communication/information engineer would likely go through in his studies atleast in university.Sir you made a great job :D

By Gérard Douyere on 8/24/2017

Rythme un peu rapide mais, pour l'instant, contenu clairement expliqué. A voir pour la suite... Comment updated after half of the course done : Avec le temps on s'habitue assez facilement à l'accent (très faible) et l'élocution du prof. La possibilité des "retour en arrière" rend le cours agréable à suivre. Un avis : donner au DEBUT du cours, la liste des I.C utiles de sorte à faire un achat groupé en une seule fois qui seront dispo au bon moment. Je ne change dons pas la note.

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Arduino Programming and Hardware Fundamentals with Hackster
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  • Video Duration: icon 7.5h
  • Price: $99.99
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon February 2023
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
  • Lectures:173 in 11 sections
  • Practice:1 quiz
  • Students:24,200
  • Subtitles:7 languages
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