Anyone got a starter kit they have used and liked, not music related per se

Locrian99

Locrian99

Well-known member
Hey looking for STEM projects to do with my son, was thinking this arduino would be cool. As well I’d learn too. Anyone bought one the many starter kits and liked it? Or a suggestion for getting started.
 
I'm a strong Arduino advocate, that thing rocks. Very easy point of entry into embedded systems and provides a great balance between simplicity and capability. The interface is easy enough to use that you can learn to write a simple program in under an hour, and in college I wrote a real-time operating system that ran on an Arduino*.

If I'm trying a new microcontroller and I can't use the Arduino IDE, that's a dealbreaker for me.

*it was hard and I did not enjoy it
 
The adafruit stuff is really good. I built one of their kits and it was very fun and easy to program. Their stuff can use the Arduino IDE but they also have a Python version which is even easier to use (but performance is not as good of course).
 
Alternatively, check out some of the Pi Pico stuff. Plenty of starter kits similar to Arduino, and even in the same price range. However, these guys work with MicroPython/CircuitPython all the way to C/C++ and some assembly. That way you can start easy and get as complex as you'd like.

The pico boards themselves seem to be more affordable than Arduinos in general.

Edit: They are also supported by the Arduino IDE
 
Nobody doesn’t like flashing lights!

The other thing that would probably appeal to kids, and give them good visual feedback, is anything where you’re turning electricity into movement.
Any kind of projects with servo motors, actuators, and such like.

Then you can work your way up to building full-on Replicants ;)
 
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