Which Starter Pack for Lessons?

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electro fan
 
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Which Starter Pack for Lessons?

Post by electro fan »

Hi, Sorry for the very basic questions, but thanks in advance for any help and guidance.

I have decided to explore the Arduino Uno system architecture as the basis for learning new hardware and software skills. I understand many of the concepts but I'm excited to learn the details in a hands-on matter.

After studying lots of possible paths forward it looks like a Uno R3 from Adafruit is going to be a great next step.

I very much like the Adafruit lessons from Lesson 0 to 17 (or however many there are).

I initally thought I'd purchase the $85.00 Adafruit ARDX - v1.3 Experimentation Kit for Arduino (Uno R3), but when I discovered the Lessons (a major bonus of buying from Adafruit) I discovered that the product photos don't seem to quite line up with what looks to be included in the $85.00 kit.

Long story short, what is the best kit to buy that will enable a new user to follow along with the Lessons without having to buy parts on a part by part basis?

(If I were Adaafruit, at the beginning of each Lesson I'd say "if you bought Kit X, you will be good thru this Lesson and thru Lesson N".)

One other question: sometimes people here refer to "tutorials" and sometimes they say "lessons", I assume these are two words for the same thing (the lesson provided by Adafruit)?

Net, Net, I'd be up for buying the starter pack or kit that would get me started with Lesson 0 and Lesson 1 and take me as far into the Lessons as possible.

Thanks!
Last edited by electro fan on Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Which Starter Pack for Lessons?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

This starter pack was designed to match our original 6-lesson tutorial series: http://www.adafruit.com/products/68
It should still get you through the first half of our new expanded series.

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electro fan
 
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Re: Which Starter Pack for Lessons?

Post by electro fan »

Re: Which Starter Pack for Lessons?
by adafruit_support » Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:33 am

This starter pack was designed to match our original 6-lesson tutorial series: http://www.adafruit.com/products/68
It should still get you through the first half of our new expanded series.

---

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply.

Not sure if "half way thru the new expanded series" means all the parts needed through about Lesson 8 or it means the starter kit would provide about half the parts needed for the 17 or so lessons (so additional parts might be needed for all or most of the lessons), but here are a few more questions/suggestions - please/thanks:

Step 1: Is there any way to get a list of the specific items (with quantities) included in the $65.00 kit (and/or the $85.00 kit)? (The photo of the kit is helpful but an actual parts list with part values (resistor sizes, etc.) and quantities would be much more helpful.)

Step 2: If there is such a list in Step 1, I (or other users) could study each of the 6 original tutorial lessons and the additional 17 or so newer lessons to determine what other parts will be needed beyond the starter kit (s).

Step 3. Assuming success with Steps 1 and 2 I could potentially publish the list here so that other users could know in advance what to purchase (from Adafruit if you sell the parts, or elsewhere if you don't) in addition to the starter kit(s) in order to be prepared to do the various lessons.

Step 4. Over time, perhaps Adafruit could adjust the starter packs to more closely align with the lessons.

Step 5. Adafruit could publish a brief "lesson documentation format" (perhaps on the Customer Projects Page) that would encourage users with new projects to list the parts and quantities required with each new project published.

Step 6. As Adafruit determines which customer projects are most likely to help customers learn valuable new skills the parts for those projects could potentially be added to the products page as standalone parts or perhaps incorporated into new starter packs.

Adafruit has done a great job of building the community and just a bit of coordination on the lessons, parts lists, and perhaps the parts ordering process could potentially further expand the abilities for: a) new users to learn, b) more experienced users to teach (thru uploading reasonably consistently formatted lessons with parts lists), and c) Adafruit to sell more parts (to help fund Adafruit's endeavors) - which would make it easier for new users to learn, and more experienced users to teach, and so on.

For now, Step 1 (a list of what is included by part type and quantity in the current starter packs) would be very helpful.

Thanks!

EF

To help other new users quickly get oriented to this set of "startup" info, I've listed the following in one place below:

Adafruit Products:
http://adafruit.com/category/17_64

Original Arduino Tutorial (on http://www.ladyada.net) - which seem to be what the starter kits were intended for:
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/index.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lesson0.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lesson1.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lesson3.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lesson4.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lesson5.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/LEDs.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/lcd.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/ethfiles.html
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/help.html
http://forums.adafruit.com/

Newer Lessons:

Preparation for Lessons:
http://learn.adafruit.com/arduino-tips- ... techniques
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-all- ... nstall-use

Lesson 0-17:
http://learn.adafruit.com/lesson-0-getting-started
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... on-1-blink
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... son-2-leds
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... 3-rgb-leds
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... eight-leds
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... al-monitor
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... tal-inputs
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... -led-fader
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... log-inputs
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... sing-light
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-ras ... per-motors
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... displays-1
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... ays-part-2
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... -dc-motors
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... rvo-motors
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... -reversing
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ardu ... per-motors
http://learn.adafruit.com/arduino-lesso ... t-detector

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Which Starter Pack for Lessons?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I haven't been through all of the Dr. Simon Monk series lessions (Lesson 0 was only posted last week). But I think there are enough parts to get you through lesson 9. Lesson 10 introduces sound and would require a Piezo buzzer which is not included in the starter kit.

The Adafruit starter pack contents are detailed in the product description: http://www.adafruit.com/products/68
It includes:
Arduino Uno w/Atmega328 - The latest and greatest Arduino revision, assembled and ready to go, including 4 rubber feet
3' USB cable - Perfect for connecting your Arduino to a computer
Protoshield Kit - One of my designs, its got everything you need to make prototype designs using an Arduino. Note that this comes unassembled
Tiny Breadboard - Fits on top of the protoshield, easy to use
9V DC regulated wall adapter - You can power your Arduino from any wall socket. This switching regulator is efficient and small and works with US (110V) and European (220V) power.
9V Battery case with switch and a 2.1mm plug- so you can power your arduino using a 9V battery. This case is much sturdier than just a battery clip and it has an on/off switch too! Note that this comes unassembled
Tutorial starter pack parts - Includes a 10K potentiometer, 1K potentiometer, 2 small pushbuttons, 5 red diffused bright LEDs, one each of red, green and blue ultra-bright LED, 5 100 ohm resistors, 5 1K resistors, 5 10K resistors, and a CdS photocell sensor.
Also includes 65 flexible breadboard wires in 8 colors, perfect for use with the solderless breadboard.
The ARDX kit description also lists the parts: http://www.adafruit.com/products/170
Includes:
Arduino Prototyping Bundle (the latest Arduino Uno '328 board, half size breadboard & acrylic holder)
65 Piece Jumper Wire Bundle
Full color printed 32 page Experimenter's Guide
13 color Breadboard Layout Sheets
USB Cable
9V battery clip
Loads of components
New! 5mm diffused tri-color (RGB) LED (x1)
New! Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) for detecting touch and squeezing. (Please note, we are currently shipping with the FSR-400 not FSR-402 since there's a 2 month backorder for the '402. The '400 works exactly the same but has a smaller 'head')
5mm Red LEDs (x10)
5mm Green LEDs (x10)
10mm Blue LED (x1)
Toy DC Motor (x1)
Mini Servo Motor (x1)
8-Bit Shift Register (74HC595) (x1)
Piezo Element (x1)
Pushbuttons (x2)
Potentiometer (10k) (x1)
Photo Resistor (x1)
Temperature Sensor (TMP36) (x1)
Relay (5v DPDT) (x1)
Transistors (P2N2222A) (x2)
Resistors (560 Ohm x25, 2.2k Ohm x3, 10k Ohm x3)
Diodes (1N4001) (x2)

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