Thinking about starting with Arduino? Read!

4

Category : Arduino, Electronics

Hi

I just want to write a few words for those new to Arduinos, or those looking for tutorials, guides etc. If you haven’t got a Arduino board yet, you can get one from several places, I’ll list some of my favorite shops. And of course you also need the Arduino Software!

Sparkfun
Seeedstduio
Adafruit

Or, Modified Electronics for the great Pico! (not recommended for beginners, you’ll be better of with a normal board).

What you are looking for is the Arduino Duemilanove, the USB board. Which will suit most your needs. It’s very easy to use, and wires can be plugged right into it. Later on you might want a Boarduino or maybe a Pico as mentioned above, they are great for using in combination with breadboards! Alternatively you can get the Starter kit, almost all shops got these. Sparkfun got a nice kit, which is worth a look.

If you should want more I/Os, or just more space for code the Arduino Mega is a great choice! Or the Sanguino!

Parts!

You will always need parts, resistors, leds, breadboards, wires etc. I’ll list up a few shops that I use the most.

Futurlec

Lots of cheap basic parts! recommend the resistor packs, and they also got cheap breadboards. And all of the shops mentioned above stock parts too. For jumper-wires I recommend these at seeedstudio. Futurlec also got some nice jumper-kits. For extra small breadboards these at Seeedstudio are very nice!

Pololu

Great site for robotics, motors, gearboxes etc. They also got a nice tracked chassis. They got a lot great products, sensors, motor controllers, etc.

Tutorials/Guides/etc

1. The basic guide, from sparkfun. You should start with this!

2. The Complete Beginners Guide to The Arduino

3. Adafruit’s Arduino Tutorials

4. Arduino.cc`s Tutorials

5. Arduino.cc Reference! Not tutorials, but handy!

Also the Libaries page at Arduino.cc is great! I’m sure you’ll find something to use in several projects!

Well, thats all I’ll write for now. I’m sure I left out alot, and will update this post when I find something new to add 🙂

PS. If you got any questions etc, please take it in my forums post here.