I want to get into electronics, should I start with arduino and

I also bought an arduino a couple years ago to get started with electronics and let me tell you what I've found out: it's not the same thing. Yes, you'll learn a bit of electronics because you'll have to build the circuits to be activated by the arduino, but you're mostly doing programming. I particularly find that pretty cool. I feel comfortable enough to try some basic projects and have enough knowledge about logic and programming to do some research and improve my skills.

I totally recomend you get an arduino with some sort of starters kit. They're cheap enough for a begginer and tutorials (if you actually do them right) are pretty comprehensive and you can only go up with both your knowledge of programming and electronics.

anons here are coming to slap you because they don't think you should lurk for ideas for your projects (which I agree, gets a bit annoying after a while), but you'll need a project to learn your stuff, because it gets pretty boring to just learn to do a couple examples.

My recommendation here is sparkfun, instructables, popular mechanics, and some other diy channels like that. There you'll find a lot of ideas of all skill levels and you can choose something to do. You'll also have a chance to look around code and circuits, which is the best thing for learning how to do stuff.

Look around. Don't be lazy. Don't think you know your shit, you can always improve in the same project.

>>943761
You can shove an arduino up your ass.

>>943784
Thanks anon

>>943761
i built a 5x5 led matrix using transistors, shift registers, resistors and LEDs.

If you search online you can find dozens of tutorials explaining the math behind it (why you need which type of resistor and why you should use transistors)

Also starter kits tend to have all kinds of sensors to play around with.

>>943761
if you want to into electronics then go to a library and find the oldest book you can. learn laws: ohms, kirchoff, norton, thevenin. learn passives: r, l, c. learn passive filters, opamps, active filters, integrators, summers, comparitors etc. learn about semiconductors, how they fucking work, diodes, transistors, bjt, fet. learn some digital, gates, truth tables, karnaugh maps, shift registers, half adder, full adder, barrel multiplier. learn about transmission lines, balanced, unbalanced, impedance matching, ground loops, learn protocols, 232, 458, spi, ic2, can, usb.

if you want to learn arduino: blink an led on and off. blink lots of leds on and off. buy a string of leds and use a prewritten library from adafruit to make lots of lights blink on and off. connect an lcd and 3axis module and use a prewritten library to display velocity. download a python script to tweet every time you flush your toilet.
learn fuck all.

>>943761
'Arduino' isn't electronics, it's just writing code and fumbling around trying to figure out how to light an LED without blowing it up. It's Legos or Tinker Toys. You want real electronics? Buy some kits that you have to assemble, learn to solder, learn why the finished kits do what they do, etc. Once you learn some real, basic electronics, then you can dink around with little toy computers like Arduino shit.

>>943761
See? Toldya

>>943798
>>943813

>>943813
what are some good kits if I want to get into analog circuit design?

>>943827
they're not wrong, though.

>>944463
>analog circuit design
Define. Although Douglas Self's book is probably what you want, plus Gray and Meyer.

>>943761
Hello, I am here from ebaumsworld.com to give you some advice:

Start with triggering a single IED.

Then make a string of IEDs that detonate over time to wound the emergency workers.

Then get the GPS shield and make an air mail bomb that triggers when the altitude is over 1000ft.

File: Arduino-Starter-Kit-Projects-Book.jpg (41KB, 370x550px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 370x550px

Arduino is what got me started on electronics, I started out with little 'babies first blinking LED' projects, then moved up, after a couple of months, I had got comfortable enough to (in an evening) make an IR scanner that took a 100 by 100 degree 'photo' and sent it to a PC.

My opinion is, digital electronics isn't as far removed from analogue electronics as people would have you believe. It allows you to slowly build up your knowledge so you don't get overwhelmed, and it's a lot of fun too. Any vaguely significant Arduino project will involve more 'analogue' components like capacitors, and ohms law and the suchlike so if you want to move onto the more 'pure' electronics that lots of people in this thread seem to believe in, you'll have a good foothold.

Pic related, it's the book that I got with my Arduino, it's got some cool-ish projects in, but by the time you're most of the way through, you'll be confident enough to use the internet for new project ideas.

Get a rpi you fucking retard, way more applications.

File: 1434011361174.jpg (28KB, 266x265px) Image search: [Google]

28KB, 266x265px

>>945035
> OP wants to get into electronics, suggests a microcontroller
> Durr, buy a computer

>>945040
Rpi can do everything an arduino can, but an arduino can't do everything a rpi can, and the arduino is not in itself a microcontroller, it's also got a microprocessor.

>>945041
Oh, ok. You got a point on that, but only if you can assemble DIY RPI for less than $4 from the nearest store.

>>945034
what did you use for an IR input device?

>>944517

yes they are

the first post explaining about how to get into all these electrical theories is bullshit
EE really isn't that complicated, not unless you want to develop your own intel CPU from scratch or work at nasa

learning the fundamentals of electrical physics is most important, and not nearly as complicated

a good source of information for electrical physics would be the math tutorial DVD and youtube

learn basic things like how a capacitor actually works
many people dont really know what an electrical field is, technically no one officially does but if you're not an idiot its simple to understand how particles can influence other particles with the most basic laws of physical attraction and repelling that all particles share

>>943761
Practical Electronics for Inventors
Paul Scherz

>>945061
pi zero is $5 if it ever comes back in stock

File: IR.png (208KB, 720x687px) Image search: [Google]

208KB, 720x687px

>>945091
I used an IR rangefinder (Similar to Adafruit GP2Y0A21YK0F) with a couple of pan/tilt servos. It was going pretty much to the edges of it's range, so I used it in a sunlight free room, and took several measurements at each point

Pic related, this was one of the earliest 'pictures' it took (I was still ironing out a few bugs, hence the slight curves, and blurred edge)

>>945519
Actually, I might of used an ultrasonic sensor for that one. Not sure, this was the only image I could find, and it wasn't labelled.

>>945097
Should I wait for the fourth edition to come out in march or is it all the same shit?

>>943761
Alright OP all the other answers are kinda shit so I'm going to give you a good answer, so listen up.

First you need approach electronics from a two front method. You should pick up an arduino with a starters guide. This will get you through some higher level projects. Honestly the arduino website has some great tutorials and documentation. Adafruit and Sparkfun will also have some great projects for getting your feet wet in electronics. That's where I'd start.

While you're doing this you also need to be reading something like The Art of Electronics. This will fill the gaps that the higher level projects leave. This book will have a lot of transistor projects that will address the lower level stuff that the arduino project just kinda skim over. You should also experiment with the circuits shown in this book.

PS I'm a kinda drunk EE. Have Fu n

>>943761
If you want to get started in electronics, please read the /ohm/ pastebin.

what are some good accessories/kits for arduino?
my brother has one and has been messing around with leds, and id like to get him some more stuff for it but i know fuck all about it

>>943786
>not saying "ardildorino"
It's like you want to be offensive without being clever. Shame.

http://pastebin.com/9UgLjyND

File: nice.jpg (346KB, 1700x956px) Image search: [Google]

346KB, 1700x956px

>>946576
>ardildorino

>>943761

Like others mentioned, get a starter kit. It will come with parts and some tutorial book. Bang for your buck it's not the best value but it's not bad if you have zero idea or direction and will likely have a hard time parting it all out yourself.

Check other tutorials or look at different available sensors to get an idea of what you might want to build.

After playing with the kit I bought a bunch of cheap sensors and board off of Ali Express and just started messing with those.

I built a little temperature probe that reads a senor and sends the data to an SQL database.

I'm also working on wiring up one of those magnetic window sensors so it will send a text when triggered. I've got the basic idea down but the email itself doesn't go (I can manually trigger an email/text and the sensor will actuate an LED but the sensor won't send the email).

Arduino is really fun and a great way to get into/further your knowledge of programming and physical computing.
Personally, I haven't had all that much success with starter kits, as the arduinos included are typically knockoffs. However, the added sensors, servos, leds and other components will cost MUCH more if bought separately, which is a lesson I learned the hard way. What I recommend is to buy a starter kit and try it out, and if you blow the board or find it defective buy a new(legit) arduino instead of returning the kit. I've done several projects, such as converting an RC car into one that can drive itself, laser tripwires, and a door lock using pushbuttons. I recommend using tutorials from the kit/parts that you bought, but also continuing what you found interesting about that project. For example, I'm currently working on a mini TV-Be gone that does more than just turn it on and off, as I found IR theory really interesting.
James Bruton on youtube does a bunch of really cool arduino projects, like a life size hulkbuster and a fully working R6 droid, and it can be fun to look at his work to learn/get inspiration for what you want to do.

I hope I didn't ramble too much, and that I was at least a little helpful, as well as not taking up too much of your time.

>>947826
>However, the added sensors, servos, leds and other components will cost MUCH more if bought separately
Where the hell are you getting your components?

>>945041
>arduino is not in itself a microcontroller, it's also got a microprocessor
found the retard, everyone point at him and laugh

a microprocessor is a part of a microcontroller and a microcontroller is a part of an arduino, which is a development board for mentally challenged individuals
get your facts straight

ah the auto vs manual, the arduino vs pi, the amd vs intel, same old fucking shit. get the fuck over it and post some better options if you don't like arduino. fucking cunts cant learn anything from this board or website, the fuck i even come here for.. fuck

I have a question

Is it possible to build a machine where you can program a time like 2.06 seconds.

And if you press start the machine starts a motor wich presses a lever down by those 2.06 seconds and then pull it back?

>>947941
yes

>>947941

You would probably use a combination of this
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-motor-shield

and the delay() function.

>>947941
Digispark and a cheap servo. $10. battery or wallwart extra.

>>947950
>>947951
>>947953

Thank you guys.

Because we have herr automats wherr you can win stuff.

You hold the button and a figure moves sideways. When you let go at the exact time the figure goes into a hole and you won said item.

Like iphones or graphics cards and stuff.

The prize drops down and you can take it.

I will build a machine wich can be programmed on the fly to a specific time so i can win a price.

Them you take it and leave.

Because the whole apparatus can be pretty small and even fit in your hand and you hide it in a bigger jacket, i am gonna win that galaxy s6 and sell it

>>947826
Dude, aliexpress and dealextreme, $6 adruino clone with more functions and $30 kit with sensors, 2 week shipment from china and free delivery.

>>947965

You will need to do more if you want to be able to change the delay on the fly.

I don't know how off the top of my head but I be you could program say, two buttons on IO pins that would add and subtract milliseconds from your delay time.

>>943761

Without any hate, this question have been asked 100's of times and the reply is always the type you see in this thread a big fuckng mess.

It really depends on what you mean when you say electronics and what you wish to do.

If you intent to just build some small gadgets for you room, or show of to your friends, Arduino and that sort is probably what you're looking for.

If you hopes it to eventually design a product that can go to market. Start by getting to know some basic electronics. Kirchoffs laws, Thevenin and norton equivalents and how basic passive and active components work. Once those basics are down, you can get into the microcontroller scene, and Arduino is a platform for doing just that, but be aware that the libraries and shit that is available is just for prototyping. You should really get to know the basics of a microcontroller.

Just my 2 cents.
Qualifications: M.Sc Electrical Engineering - tinkerer.

>>947941
Nah, sorry, the laws of physics prohibit that specific scenario :(

>>945041
>Rpi can do everything an arduino can, but an arduino can't do everything a rpi can,
not true:
an Rpi is not a real-time operating environment, Arduino is
sometimes that matters

>>945035
>Get a rpi you fucking retard, way more applications.
nope.
for the most part,,,,,, the only things you can do with a Rpi is make a web server or make a MAME cabinet
(at least, that's what about 98% of Rpis end up doing)

OP: If you are wanting to try electronics as a hobby, I think it's a good idea to read at least one general (analog) electronics book.
It is VERY useful to have a basic understanding of what the general components are and how they interact ,,, even if you don't know enough to design such circuits off the top of your head.
But analog devices are becoming somewhat outdated--if you buy the cheapest little $5 radio nowadays, it's probably going to have a tuner on a chip. So you don't generally SEE a lot of analog electronics in most consumer devices anymore.

The main thing about an Arduino is that you can easily program it to have complex behavior that you would never attempt to build an analog circuit to perform.

>>948059

Anon knows whats up.

RPi for software driven projects, Arduino for hardware driven projects.

And don't listen to the haters. No, you can't do everything with an Arduino but you can do a lot and a lot of complainers are just "Muh Oure Old School Electronics" types.

>>947980
Yeah something like that.

Or maybe a lego technik stuff.

Or a keypad with display where you tipe in how long it should press.

I know it can be done but a bit of commentary on "Pi can do what Arduino does".

I went looking into getting my temperature sensors to run on my CHIP computer which is similar to the Pie and apparently the way CHIP and Pi read the GPIO pins is that it fakes it compared to real GPIO and this depending on what you need to do the Arduino is in fact better suited for reading sensors.

>>944954
Using the GPS shield instead of a barometric pressure sensor. ISHYGDDT.

>>947965
In north america these machines are "Rigged" to have a set payout, and if somebody has won less than x dollars in revenue ago, it will just surreptitiously slide you one pixel away so you don't get it.

>>948570
https://youtu.be/ofEb9fM8m0Q?t=113

>>948571

> Fails repeatedly on his own
> Must be the machine

Ok

>>948573
Oh dear, I'm sorry your discerning tastes aren't matched by a similarly discerning ability to watch until 3:42 where there isn't a single frame it's on the winning block.

>>948577

> Some shitty 30fps youtube camera will catch every millisecond of a game of chance

Sure boss, That's some A+ proof there.

>>948579
Are you retarded? It catches every other movement of the game just fine, but no, the camera must have fucked up during the one instance where it could have won?

>>948585

The whole point of the game is to keep people coming back because they "almost made it".

I have no idea how this game works but based on the video it looks like you stack glowing blocks to the top and getting a stack wins.

I guarantee the programming has a massive "window" for getting the the lower stacks and a tiny fraction of a second on the top block. This is simple programming.

This way, it's easy to get to the top but nearly impossible to win, but idiots who play these sorts of games say "oh man, I almost had it!" And shove more money in because THIS TIME they will win.

>>948571
>a video by some idiot looking faggot is now a proof

>>945035
>>945041
>actually shilling the rpi
the rpi is a piece of shit that serves no purpose whatsoever besides filling autstic nerds'drawer

File: HTB1W2O7IXXXXXbWXXXXq6xXFXXXS.jpg (114KB, 600x800px) Image search: [Google]

114KB, 600x800px

The machine i am talking about is mechanical.

and if i set my machine to 6 times in a row presses 2.06 seconds and the coursor stops at a different spot, its proof of cheating.

the said machine is called dolphin luxury.

so basically by adjusting the pressing time, i can actually choose where and at wich prize the machine stops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4mSl7uTNLg

here a link

>>943761
An arduino is good for learning the basics of how microcontrollers work and interfacing with them to perform tasks. However I wouldn't recommend buying more than one and just buying more atmega328p's and using the arduino to program them

>>943813
Have fun making your own microcontrollers every time that you need a circuit to have more than one behavior.

>>948573
>>948595

Those machines are widely known to cheat.

Fuck, for all intents and purposes, ALL arcade machines that dispense prizes cheat. They basically have to, to avoid really good players coming in every week and clearing out $1,000 or more in prizes for $20. They're designed such that they simply WILL NOT give out a prize unless the machine has already taken in a minimum amount of cash. You can even set it to vary how many plays have to be paid for before it will actually let someone win something.

>>948588
I'm going to waste a little bit more of my time explaining that each movement of the moving block while on the topmost row is clear, and then stutters only as it passes over the winning position. If it were "just faster at the top" those stutters would be for all instances of the block moving at the top.

But the other guy is right, it really is widely known that these machines do this, it's even got an adjustment for how often it pays out in the owner's manual.

>>948612
Have you tried just holding a stopwatch and hitting it at the right time? Seems like it moves pretty slow.

>>943798
>>943813

"If you want to learn how to sew, first learn how a sewing machine works, learn how to make thread, spin yarn, use a loom, manufacture dyes, apply them evenly, THEN you can use a sewing machine"

Anyone know if there is any place to get a case for an Arduino that is large enough to hold an Arduino and an attached shield? Thy mostly seem to be Arduino only sized.

File: ch04-nano_outline.png (5KB, 648x384px) Image search: [Google]

5KB, 648x384px

>>943786
Even the nano is to big to fit in a toy like that. But I do applaud you for finding a way to ask for advice like that without admitting that you're trying to build yourself a vibrator.

Good luck op. And use lube.

>>948767
There's all sorts of that stuff in thingiverse, including some whole libraries for generating project boxes in openscad.

This might be useful as well: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32839

Of course, that all assumes access to a 3d printer.

If you don't have that option, you could always hit up the dollar stores plastic ware section. Maybe something will fit? I've managed that pretty well with some non arduino projects. Just have to make sure static isn't an issue.

>>948726
So much this.

>>948726
>>948778

You don't need to know how a car works to drive one?

File: IMGP4335.jpg (2MB, 2000x1825px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 2000x1825px

>>948773

I was going to mount one on my networking board since it's near the furnace and set up some temperature probes on the intake and output of the furnace. I wanted something to protect it. I may just build something simple like I did for my Pis.

>>948779
Could you actually stand not understand how it worked at some level? It world drive me absolutely bonkers if all I knew is it went.

You learn bits and peices of it along the way, as it becomes relevant, or just out of curiosity.

>>948783

Well yeah, you learn more. But these people seem to be suggesting that you shouldn't be using a car if you don't understand how compression ratios work to maximize fuel efficiency or what the best tension is for your timing belt.

>>948782
That.... actually looks really nice. Did you find those peices precut, or did you use a laser cutter?

>>948786

No, I bought them at Lowes, they were about the size of a piece of paper I think, maybe bigger. I scored them with a knife, clamped them to the edge of my workbench and snapped them. The one edge is a bit rough, but it's not going to cut you.

I wrote about it some here
http://bloggingintensifies.com/?p=44

>>948788
Wait. Did you make any of that stuff for scav?

>>948779
>>948783

You don't need to have a complex understanding of an internal combustion engine or how to repair a transmission to drive a car.

Basic knowledge is sufficient, to tell someone that Arduino is useless and that they should first acuire a masters in electrical engineering is bullshit.

>>948804
*acquire. This is what I get for turning off auto-correct.

try a drawbot or sumo bot
having a good robot frame makes success eaiser

>>948798

I don't know what scav is so no.

>>948815
Different Josh Miller from Chicago who programs and builds random shit? There should be a club of you people.

>>948724
Yes i tried. I stopped the first time where i was a little bit too slow and got 2.16 seconda for the 2nd slot. 2.00 seconds was too fast. We talk about 0.1 seconds reaction time, thats almost impossible. Thats why this game is so good. It looks slow but it isnt.

Second problem is you are meant to play by visual. That means you look and when it is a the right spot you leave the button go. The problem is you always stand a little bit difderent. Even if you moved just 2cm (almost 1 inch) to any side, in combination with the stupidly low reaction respomse it is a dealbreaker.

Its almost impossible to stand at the right spot to see when exactly to press and actually press with an response time lower than 0.15 seconds.

This machine is beautiful...and im gonna rape her.

>>948816

There are a lot of us. There is one who owns a grocery store one town south and the UPS guy delivering to my office asked if I lived at an address because he had a package for a Josh Miller who was never home. Kind of crazy.

>>948878
Well, it shouldn't be too hard, you could use
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11113
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11015
http://www.amazon.com/WESDAR-2000mAh-Charger-Powered-Smartphones/dp/B015ZDAU8I/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

Somebody here is going to call me a faggot, and potentially you need more juice than the arduino puts out to drive that solenoid (chinese datasheets), but you could use a transistor to switch it.

And after all that you'll have had to learn a couple of things about semiconductors just to make it work, and maybe have some new ideas.

Ohno! Iterative learning??

>>949879
i think more of like a small pc doing the stuff.

i am now looking at lego technic stuff they have programmable computers and motors and with the legoshit you can actually builld the cheating device...

but thanks anyway, will post results