Another example of beginners doing interesting things with an Arduino is interfacing an electronic gyroscope and measuring the results. Michael (VK5ZEA) did just that with a MuRata Gyrostar that was removed from an old satellite phone. You can see his explanation in this detailed video:
... and follow along with the sketch that Michael posted on the Arduino forum.
In his video you can see that our Freetronics Eleven has been used - the Arduino Uno-compatible with onboard prototyping area and easy to view LEDs: