Arduino for beginner

[Guest]

Hi,

I'm interested in playing around with an Arduino just out of interest. I have no particular project in mind at the moment. I'm a retired computer programmer and I wondered where to start.

Looking at the ARduino website they offer something called a Genuino Starter kit for outside the US. But I also see that RS and Farnell offer Arduino devices in various forms which they call Arduino rather than Genuino.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

It's just a way of differentiating between various legal entities e.g. Europe & USA etc. and the cheaper Chinese copies, see https://www.arduino.cc/ the official site.

 

BTW, I've used both genuine and knock of versions (usually found on ebay) and to be honest, I've found no differences..

[r3i]

4 hours ago, woodblock said:

Hi,

I'm interested in playing around with an Arduino just out of interest. I have no particular project in mind at the moment. I'm a retired computer programmer and I wondered where to start.

Looking at the ARduino website they offer something called a Genuino Starter kit for outside the US. But I also see that RS and Farnell offer Arduino devices in various forms which they call Arduino rather than Genuino.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

I'm also in a similar situation (though unfortunately not retired).  I recently got a kit of parts from Amazon (one of the Kuman kits but there are others too), which contained an Uno clone and a whole bunch of bits and bobs to enable you to experiment with the device.  Not sure if it would be cheaper or not to buy the parts separately (from somewhere like Maplin, RS, BitsBox etc.) but getting a kit was more convenient.  These kits however generally do not contain any documentation (apart from a parts list) so I also got hold of a couple of books:

• Programming Arduino Getting Started with Sketches - This focuses on the software side and explains the essentials of developing applications (aka sketches) in C.  As you're a programmer, you'll probably rattle through the book in no time as it's a thin tome but it is a useful primer.
• Arduino Workshop - This book covers both application development and example circuits, which give a flavour of the typical components that can be used with the device.  I'm finding this book to be very useful as my electronics knowledge is very limited.

Like yourself, I have no specific application in mind but just fancied finding out about how these things worked, after reading a few threads about them on this site.

[Gina]

I have the "Arduino Cookbook" by Michael Margolis which I can recommend

[r3i]

2 hours ago, Gina said:

I have the "Arduino Cookbook" by Michael Margolis which I can recommend

I saw that book on Amazon too and it looks like a good one.

[Guest]

Thanks everyone,

I'll give it a go.

Cheers

Steve

 

[roblegion]

I bought a basic starter kit from Moore_Estates on ebay, can't fault them, the service or the price (arrived within 2 days)

Beware of stock listed as UK as I originally ordered a comprehensive starter kit from one of these "UK" companies, when I queried why it hadn't arrived after 2 weeks I was told that the shipping company in CHINA had lost it. I did get a refund.

[MarkyD]

The Uno is probably the best to start on.  Loads of shields if you want to use them.  The code is also directly portable to some other Arduinos - The Nano for one which is ideal for a final project due to it's size (and cost) after building and testing it on the breadboard with the Uno.

 

I'm just re-programming my Dew Controller/Power pack project to use a 4D Systems uLCD as the display - based on R Browns controller and programming

 

--

Mark