Arduino IDE vs Arduino Control Center
These two software not comparable at all.
Arduino IDE is developed for programming Arduino hardware, based mainly on Atmel microcontroller.
Arduino Control Center firmware(compiled code) is developed in Arduino IDE with Arduino libraries for Arduino hardware - Arduino Nano, Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega and clones based on ATmega2560 and 328P Atmel microcontrollers.
Starting from v4.0.0, Arduino Control Center support based on ESP8266 chip family with built in WiFi support. Only tested boards will be added in the software.
Starting from v5.0.0, Arduino Control Center support based on ESP32 chip family with built in WiFi support. Only tested boards will be added in the software.
Arduino Control Center wouldn't exists without Arduino hardware, yet in can be used in any projects based on these microcontrollers, as long as attached hardware is supported by Arduino Control Center.
List with supported hardware is here.
Arduino IDE (integrated development environment)
- Arduino IDE is classic C++ programming environment with lack of many features included in advanced programming environments for Atmel microcontrollers like Atmel Studio.
But this is not a bad thing, just opposite. Entire Arduino project, both hardware and software is designed for beginners, although is used by many professional microcontroller programmers for prototyping and testing designs.
How to start programming with Arduino IDE, you can read manuals all over the Internet, written by Arduino team of many programmers and Arduino geeks.
Common thing for all programming beginners is that, after excitement when first program example is successfully compiled and uploaded into Arduino board, start thinking wider and want more sophisticated programs in order to control Arduino from smart phone or desktop applications.
This, of course, is not trivial thing and you have to be more familiar with C++ programming in order to adjust examples and libraries for your needs, or write code from scratch, which is even more difficult.
Designing and writing code in order to visualize these processes in programming languages is a huge task plus.
Arduino Control Center
- Arduino Control Center (ACC) is a mix of programming and data visualisation software, focused to control sensors and devices attached to relay boards, store and visualize measurement data, easily change relay logic without need to compile - upload program to Arduino board after each logic or sensor change, set alarm thresholds and inform users about these states over e-mail, SMS or audio notifications..
ACC is stand-alone application, which mean that everything is packed into single folder, including non-installable SQLite database, Web server - for interacting with web browser, Arduino listener server(UDP protocol) - for communication with Arduino devices over network.
What is Arduino Control Center and for what it can be used for?
Arduino Control Center is perfect solution for integrated system with one or many Arduino boards, with attached temperature, humidity, distance, gas, light and other type of sensors, relay boards, buttons and switches for Outputs and Inputs.
Relays and attached devices can be triggered form desktop or web application. Web page will be automatically generated as soon as you start web server according to added inputs and outputs for all assigned Arduino boards.
You can create rules and scheduling timers for triggering relays and attached devices - heaters, light, pumps and motors.
You can setup alarms and notifications for each input or output, receive SMS and Email notifications if Arduino board is not accessible or sensor or relay is in alarm state, either over USB or network connection.
All that, and many more options are packed into single folder, portable with integrated database and web server.
You don't need cloud solutions. Your home - office PC or laptop will be cloud for your Internet of Things with Arduino Control Center.