Newb Question(s)

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mark01970
 
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Newb Question(s)

Post by mark01970 »

Hello all. I am new to microcontrollers. I have three main interests with microcontrollers, and I have a couple of questions regarding each area I was hoping to find out more about before my gear arrives and I get started.

1. Robotics - What is best to use for base/structure of robot, like the frame to mount parts/pcb/motors/wheels, etc
Is it better to make your own pcb's or use a proto shield? I am concerned about running out of room on a proto shield.

2. SMD Toaster Oven - What is best temperature sensor for something like this? It looks like I will just need a temperature system and some relays to control the oven elements and thus turn an old toaster oven into an smd oven?

3. Electronic BANNED - I need to know which microcontroller I should look into when I need the smallest sizes possible but I want to have the features of small 3x7 segment LED voltage display, variable voltage output to an external source, touch switch and a battery charging circuit. I am not sure what the smallest mcu's are capable of. I have a couple of uno's on the way and a couple of 2313's on hand already, but the breadbaord dev boards I put together for them are not cooperating, or I do not have the programmer and avrstudio configured properly. :)

So I have big plans but a LOT to learn. I know a fair amount of basic electronics and I have some programming knowledge in a few different languages. I have a headstart I guess, but I know almost nothing about microcontrollers beyond the general concepts of what they are and how they work. So, any thoughts, ideas, advice, etc ? ? Any and All would be appreciated.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Newb Question(s)

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

A lot of questions!

1. This depends a lot on what type of robot you want to build and what scale. Stationary, wheeled, multi-leg? Indoor, all-terrain, flying, underwater? Check out places like Solarbotics and RobotShop for some examples of different types. Proto-shields are great for developing circuits. But if you are building a smaller robot, you may need to miniaturize things with a custom PCB once you get it working.

2. Check out the thermocouples & amplifiers here: http://www.adafruit.com/products/269 Also the power-switch tail can be useful for that application: https://www.adafruit.com/products/268

3. I haven't explored the lower limits of these myself, but maybe others will chime in with some ideas.

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