Understanding how/why Arduino works?

Question

Hi, I am really interested in learning electronics (which I know virtually nothing about). I saw some videos about Arduino and RPi, and think they're really cool.

But I have one problem with these products. They're already made for you, and you simply use them. I can see how the Arduino can be useful for electronics projects, but it doesn't really tell me how/why the Arduino does what it does.

I would like to know how to create my own circuit, from scratch, that can do what the Arduino/RPi does. Is this possible, or too difficult?

I really want to have a low-level understanding of electronics. I don't know where to start, or what resources would be helpful.

EDIT: Like, for example, I would like to be able to get into the mindset of the people who made the Arduino/RPi, and understand how they made them and everything they knew about the various components (chips on the circuit, pins, capacitors, etc.)

Thanks in advance,

Alex.

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Alex,

Begin with simple projects and go around the math for the time being. There are enough prepared electronic projects so you will find that only simple math is necessary for most projects. As you get better and want to do fancier things you can learn more math. You can read the books and learn from the tutorials and just skip over the parts that get too heavy with math.

John