Real time digital audio processing using Arduino

In the search for low-cost, highly available devices for real time audio processing for scientific or artistic purposes, the Arduino platform comes in as a handy alternative for a chordless, versatile audio processor. Despite the fact that Arduinos are generally used for controlling and interfacing with other devices, its built-in ADC/DAC allows for capturing and emitting raw audio signals with very specific constraints. In this work we dive into the microcontroller’s structure to understand what can be done and what are the limits of the platform when working with real time digital signal processing. We evaluate the behaviour of some common DSP algorithms and expose limitations and possibilities of using the platform in this context.