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Ask HN: Getting hands dirty with electronics for newbies

28 points by SingAlong ↗ HN
I have been wanting to get my hands dirty with some electronics hobby projects. The recent article on Arduino Laptop interested me.

I'm a web developer and have no idea of electronics. I visited Beagleboard and Arduino websites. Can't make out which board/kit is the right one for me to start with. Any board/kit that can be programmed to make some cool stuff is what I'm looking for. (to build something like the Mini Arduino Laptop which can be related to gadgets even if they are not actually the 'real' ones)

EDIT: for a student with limited budget :)

34 comments

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shutter
Wholeheartedly second this question. I've always enjoyed software, but I have an itch to play with hardware too.
SingAlong
Yeah! I've always enjoyed watching people build simple robots too. Watched a lot such videos on youtube and saw a lot of pics of articles on instructables.com. I mentioned 'saw pics' instead of saying reading articles because I dont understand what that guy is really saying... some OMAP3 some 7689 whatever. Really wanted to learn things.

I'm downloading the Intro to Robotics course video lectures from the SEE site at http://see.stanford.edu

I just took a quick look at the descriptions mentioned below the video lectures. Every lecture seems to be teaching some theory. I would enjoy the theory part. But would be more interesting to build something as I learn. Maybe be something simple like a motor programmed to move straight, backward and make turns :)

Anyway, I found this link from the youtube video I watched http://www.societyofrobots.com It's got no basics, but just enjoy the pics and videos if you don't understand(like me).

Shamiq
Got my up-vote as well. Let's see some answers!
tesseract
Some questions to consider which will narrow down the available options:

- Do you want to design and/or build circuitry, or just write code for an existing board?

- Do you want to have lots of peripherals on the board (e.g. blinkenlights, buttons, display, ethernet interface, analog/digital converters, ...) or would you rather add on what you need?

- Do you want to make purely data-processing things, or do you want to control something in the real world (like a robot)?

- Do you want to do any audio or video processing?

- Do you want an embedded processor (runs software), or do you want an FPGA (acts like reconfigurable logic hardware)?

- If you are going to be writing software, do you want to do it in assembly? C? Something higher-level than that?

- Do you plan on doing something complicated that you think will require a fast processor and/or lots of memory?

- Do you require an open-source compiler/development environment or are you OK with using the board/chip vendor's?

- Are you at all interested in working with analog electronics or do you plan to stick to digital?

Shamiq
That's an intimidating list of questions, to me at least. Maybe something that takes you through the motions first, then allows for some expandability?
tesseract
This looks interesting from the expandability front: http://ucontroller.com/ (N.B.: I have never used one)
SingAlong
Yup! that's expandable and sounded good. But LOL, that ucontroller it seems has to be programmed by Machine Language. I got a hint on their tutorials page.
SingAlong
A newbie like me would like to do some basic and interesting stuff like controlling a robot or using it in a robot and then move on to complex activities like audio processing etc. But the choice would surely be a board/kit that's 'expandable' by addons.
ph0rque
Can't do much to answer the questions, unfortunately, but if you're familiar with ruby, RAD (Ruby Arduino Development; http://rad.rubyforge.org) might be interesting for you to check out.
judegomila
Some projects to get you into electronics:

Building a 555 timer circuit.

Build some basic amplifiers.

Build some basic filters.

Building a basic AC to DC convertor.

Controlling stepper motors with your USB/parallel port.

Building an A2DC convertor.

Building a USB controller.

Connecting a Wii controller to your PC.

Build a basic robot.

Lego Mindstorms - play around with this kit.

Build CERN.

SingAlong
What's CERN? Googling CERN leads me to CERN an organisation related to nuclear stuff. European Organization for Nuclear Research
judegomila
Forget the last one. Don't try to make that project for a while - its the end boss.
bayareaguy
He could start small with something of the scale of Lawrence's first Cyclotron.
michaelneale
"the end boss"... funniest thing I have heard today. I will now on refer to the ultimate aim of a project/app as the "end boss".
dfranke
If you want a real introduction to electronics, try this:

Run 9V backwards across base and emitter on an NPN transistor while pinching it.

I still have the scar on my thumb.

potatolicious
Build a robot - not one of those snap-together kits. A kit that comes with schematics and parts that you have to solder on. Just figuring out what goes where, in what direction, etc, and studying the schematics as you go, will teach you TONS about electronics.

This applies for all "put together" electronics kits. They sell things like "build your own alarm clock" that I think will work just as well.

silencio
I was in the same position as you a while ago..some people I know were buying some Parallax products and wanted to know if I were interested in joining them to get a volume discount, so I got some of their products..I'm not sure what kind of stuff you wanted to program, but I've done some small but cool little toys and projects with their propeller and javelin microcontrollers - and they had some intro sets too I think. Lots of extras you could add on like GPS and bluetooth (for $ of course).

I've really wanted to check out the Arduino boards, but no time, so I couldn't give you any sort of comparison I'm afraid. Might as well take this opportunity to purchase one while I still remember, too ;)

SingAlong
Can you please list the Parallax products and a few projects that you started with? Anything related to robots (to keep myself interested as I'm fascinated with robots). Would like to start with simple robots that can move :)
silencio
Hmm, it's been a while, and I only have a dismantled bot right now sitting on my desk as a paperweight..

I'm not sure I actually did anything with the propeller chips, but at Defcon last month I saw a project by Kingpin that interested me (it's NSFW but the website is at http://www.bsodomizer.com/ , having to do with displaying a BSOD/goatse via a hardware-based vga passthrough device) that I might use it for as a joke on friends.

The javelin and basic stamp ones I used with the board of education (that's what they called it I think?), the BoE bot kit. Mostly messed around with that and one of the bluetooth accessories to navigate around (it's probably a lot simpler than you're thinking it is). At some point I had the brilliant idea that I could use my then-Pocket PC to control it, but that didn't go anywhere. I wonder if my now-iPhone could handle that..

Depending on your wants, I'm not entirely convinced parallax products would be right for you. The arduino boards look cheaper and I bet they're a lot simpler to program. I about wanted to rip my hair out dealing with the BASIC stamp from parallax since I couldn't stand the language.

edit: I might note my friends and family were way more impressed with the tank treads I got (a lot more stable than the wheels) than the bluetooth. still they thought it was cute I mounted a small iSight and a long firewire cable to watch them in another room. iSight wasn't sending video to the bot itself, not enough bandwidth. Although I do think parallax sells cameras that could.

SingAlong
www.iphonehacks.com/2008/06/lego-nxt-robot.html That link which I once read(although I don't own an iphone) tells how to control a Lego Mindstorms with iPhone.

I checked the Mindstorms website too and was confused what to start with. It mentions all about Indiana Jones and Batman and Bionicle but nothing about what should be bought to build these stuff.

Anyway, since you mentioned the Arduino boards (which also is the apple of my eye since you mentioned it is cheaper), I chose a seller from Austrialia, that is close to my country (all other retailers have websites in Japanese or languages that seem like Japanese to me). Here's the link to the retailer's Arduino products page.

http://www.littlebirdelectronics.com/collections/arduino/

Can you help me choose the components I can start with? I saw something called "Bare-Bones Arduino Kit". Seems like I have to choose that. Or any other components?

The one in my region is Flexi(India) http://www.techsouls.com/projects/flexi/

They have been listed on the Arduino site as an Arduino compatible or Arduino similar hardware. Would better if I can choose hardware here.

"...used to display a fake BSOD..." That BSODomizer cracks really me up!

Sounds funny but a really cool weekend project I can try out soon. And how's that BSOD pronounced? B-S-O-D or Bsod?

silencio
Oh yeah, how could I forget lego?! What you want would probably be on http://mindstorms.lego.com/Products/Default.aspx

Regarding the Arduino boards, I have no idea. I've never really looked into them much. Others on HN might be better-versed on what to recommend based on what you're wanting to do. One of the stores near me (unfortunately in the US) has a starter kit at http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MSAK which I've bookmarked for later. You might also want to go look on forums and stuff to find out more info, I was searching around to see what was making the bare bones board different, and there were a bunch of sites talking about it, and I found a bunch of projects on instructables too, if you need ideas: http://www.instructables.com/tag/keyword:arduino/

I love the BSODomizer idea. I cracked up during the presentation multiple times: kingpin was showing video of using it on a coworker who thought it was a real one. And I've always pronounced BSOD as "bee-sod", but I don't know. I wish someone made a pronunciation dictionary of tech terms, I hear crazy variations in the pronunciations of so many...BSOD, sudo, linux and what have you.

speek
I generally use legos to teach robotics to my students, the NXTs are cool but try to find the old-school ones with the yellow brick. Those are much more awesome.
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blackguardx
Are you interested in analog or digital electronics? I started out with Atmel micrcontrollers in 10th grade and then my curiosity bloomed. Try to learn the basics of analog electronics. Everything stems from there.

I once got a fortune cookie that said "Digital components are made from analog parts." How true.

Tichy
I would also like to learn electronics. You might also enjoy checking Adafruit industries: http://www.adafruit.com/

She has a lot of fun DIY electronics kits. I figured I'd use them to learn soldering and stuff, so I ordered some.

Also I still dream of one day creating a sleek case for Minti MP3 with 3d printing and beat the iPod with open source hardware.

fozy
Add my vote to the Arduino. I picked one up a while ago, in the same situation as you. There are lots of DIY projects that integrate the Arduino. Make magazine (makezine.com) for instance has quite a few projects that are not too complicated.