Getting started

Get help, and assist others in with open source kits and running a business! Do not ask for legal advice or for consulting services in this forum, only general biz questions!

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Get help, and assist others in with open source kits and running a business! Do not ask for legal advice or for consulting services in this forum, only general biz questions!
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knodi
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:21 am

Getting started

Post by knodi »

I have a non-arduino question. What's the best way to get started learning the kind of electronics info that is used to DESIGN these kits? I want to one day be an inventor like Lady Ada.

What specific resources do you recommend for a web developer with a CS degree who never progressed beyond "here's what a logic gate is and how you chain them together", but who wants to be able to invent something as complex as, say, an "Ice Tube Clock" or a "Game of Life" (products links on the left)?

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Getting started

Post by adafruit »

start by building other projects, then modify them and finally start designing your own

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mctaylor
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:49 am

Re: Getting started

Post by mctaylor »

I guess you can break the answer into two parts.

1) How do I learn electronics?

You can browse Lessons in Electronic Circuits / All About Circuits for the basics, like Ohm's Law.

From there you can build other people's kits, and designs (from say a blog entry with a schematic and any firmware source code), and take the time to understand what each part does, and how the parts combine into sub-circuits or building blocks that are finally combined into the overall project.

2) How do I learn embedded or microcontroller programming?

Having a Computer Science degree, I assume you are use to programming a general purpose computer (or micro-computer to be quaint), so all you have to do is learn about the differences between typically systems and embedded design.

The first of which that a microcontroller can be seen as a microprocessor (i.e. a CPU) with its support components or subsystems integrated, such as RAM, (EE)PROM, and I/O interfaces (such Pulse-Width-Modulation PWM output, or Analog-to-Digital converter, ADC, etc.) all in a single IC package. Some microcontrollers don't even need an external clock source (such as a quartz crystal, crystal oscillator, or ceramic resonator).

The second is learning about interfacing digital (logical) systems with the real world (analog more or less). ADC, DAC, switch debouncing, UART, rotary encoders, etc.

Some dead-tree (books) that might be useful references;
  • TTL Cookbook by Don Lancaster
  • Designing Embedded Hardware by Catsoulis
  • Embedded Systems Design by Berger
  • C Programming for Microcontrollers by SmileyMicros
  • An Embedded Software Primer by Simon
And experiment. Get a microcontroller, any of them thousands of different ones, and learn how to interface it to the real world. Robotics can be a good "topic" for someone looking to learn. Just ignore the physically (mechanical) side as much as possible or you'll get distracted. :)

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Franklin97355
 
Posts: 23911
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm

Re: Getting started

Post by Franklin97355 »

There is information here but it is directed toward Parallax products. They walk you through the basics.
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/477/Default.aspx

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chuckm
 
Posts: 159
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:31 am

Re: Getting started

Post by chuckm »

1) Buy and read the first few chapters of The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill. Seriously, you should do that first.

2) Start building kits, then start modifying kits, then start making up your own kits. A number of bits of research have shown a remarkable correlation between spending 10,000 hrs doing something and "expertness". There aren't any short cuts unfortunately. But its fun the whole time so that's a bonus!

--Chuck

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