Getting Started with the Arduino Gemma

Overview

Like the LilyPad Arduino boards, the Arduino Gemma is designed to be sewn into clothing and other fabric with conductive thread. The Arduino Gemma can be powered either from the USB connection or a 3.7V Li-Ion battery. The board runs at 3.3V; applying more voltage (e.g. 5V) to its pins may damage it.

The Arduino Gemma is programmed using the Arduino Software (IDE), our Integrated Development Environment common to all our boards. For more information on how to get started with the Arduino Software visit the Getting Started page.

Use your Arduino Gemma on the Arduino Desktop IDE

If you want to program your Arduino Gemma you need to install the Arduino Desktop IDE. This board does not work on Arduino Web Editor.

Open your first sketch

Open the LED blink example sketch: File > Examples >01.Basics > Blink.

Select your board type

Select Arduino Gemma from Tools > Board

Upload the program

Select Arduino Gemma from Tools > Programmer. Plug in the Gemma, make sure you see the red LED lit. Press the reset button on the Gemma - verify you see the red LED pulse. This means it is ready to receive data. Click on File > Upload Using Programmer above within 10 seconds. When the upload is finished, the built-in LED will flash every other second.

Learn more on the Desktop IDE

See this tutorial for a generic guide on the Arduino IDE with a few more infos on the Preferences, the Board Manager, and the Library Manager.

Tutorials

Now that you have set up and programmed your Arduino Gemma board, you may find inspiration in our Project Hub tutorial platform.

Please Read...

Like the LilyPad Arduino boards, the Arduino Gemma is designed to be sewn into clothing and other fabric with conductive thread. The Arduino Gemma can be powered either from the USB connection or a 3.7V Li-Ion battery. The board runs at 3.3V; applying more voltage (e.g. 5V) to its pins may damage it.

Arduino Gemma uses only a single microcontroller (the Atmel ATtiny85) to run your sketches, but it cannot communicate over USB with the computer. This means that you only need a USB cable to program the Arduino Gemma, but you cannot use the Serial Monitor. This is the reason why you don't have to select a Serial port from the Serial port menu.

Serial Debug with Arduino Gemma

The Arduino Gemma doesn't allow you to use the serial monitor on the Arduino IDE, but Software Serial can be used. To see the serial output on a serial monitor you can use the Arduino USB2Serial

Additional Resources

• Arduino Gemma product page: details about the board's hardware and software

The text of the Arduino getting started guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Code samples in the guide are released into the public domain.