Formal Training of University Students with the Application of the Arduino Platform for Engineering Problem Solving

The aim of the work is to consider the formal training of university students using the Arduino platform for engineering problem solving. The other purpose of the work is the research is to use interactive technologies and to improve the practical experience of students in the process of educational internship at the end of the 2
^nd
year of study of a higher educational institution, to deepen their scientific and practical skills through the use of the Arduino platforms. The article considers the issue of improvement of students’ practical experience in the course of educational internship using the Arduino microcontroller for engineering problems solving. The proposed method to conduct the educational internship is an element of interactive learning techniques that will allow students to deepen their knowledge, acquire and consolidate their practical experience, and to turn the student into an active participant in the learning process, showing their initiative and revealing creative and intellectual potential. The computerized soil irrigation system developed by students during their internship will allow to analyze the quality of plants growth and prevent their disease. The article compares the operation of a YL69 sensor and a capacitive humidity sensor. The created automated system can be expanded both systematically (for any agrarian enterprises) and functionally (to increase the number of sensors for the development by students in the process of internship), as well as to use this technology for other specialized tasks. Development of any automated systems based on microcontrollers is of a huge potential for IT professionals. All this will provide a great deal of practical experience for future IT professionals who will do real practical work, as well as improve the quality and yield of cultivating different crops which will bring significant profit.