Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#1

Post by searchingalways » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:29 PM UTC

I’m not a super techy person (dentist) but I like the articles and discussions here.

My son (almost 9) is showing some interest in computers and programming. He likes his computer class in school and they do some programming lite games. He also likes taking things apart to see how they work.

Are there any good arduino all-in-one kits out there I could get and play around with him so he could see the connection between software and hardware? Want to keep it mostly fun and not overbearing.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#2

Post by PaulHoule » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:33 PM UTC

When I got started with Arduino I bought a 5-volt AVR8 board

https://store.arduino.cc/products/arduino-mega-2560-rev3

a breadboard

https://abra-electronics.com/boards/breadboards-wish/wbu-204...

lots of precut wires, some resistors, LEDs and about 20 74xx series chips...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_7400-series_integrated...

I think you could do as well with

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_4000-series_integrated...

I think it's pretty fun to wire up circuits of logic chips and drive them with the Arduino.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#3

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

I'd focus on finding something extremely simple, paired with making sure he learns to solder so you don't have to buy marked up components he could have made himeself.

(I never bought into a space where it'd be safe to generate those fumes, so I stuck to... cyber stuff.)

Try finding a shop that sells them locally.

Don't buy any of it online.

Be sure to use cash or a gift card paid for in cash to frustrate the people who turned Radio Shack into what felt like the part of a casino where you can enter a raffle for a car.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#4

Post by cal85 » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

> I’m not a super techy person (dentist) but I like the articles and discussions here.

I was going to ask a bit more about this then checked your comments and found you had answered someone else on this already! [1]

Do you happen to know any other niche online forums (eg non-tech ones) that have a lot of interesting discussions? Other than HN the only things I really use are Twitter and a few subreddits.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28811924

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#5

Post by bitxbitxbitcoin » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:56 PM UTC

Some seeedstudio kits show up on eBay for the low low sometimes.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#6

Post by ThrowawayR2 » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 3:04 PM UTC

Arduino itself provides a starter kit with printed instructional material (https://store-usa.arduino.cc/collections/kits/products/ardui...) which probably would meet your needs.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#7

Post by sharemywin » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 3:04 PM UTC

If you don't mind waiting there are some really cheap kits on aliexpress.com

There are also some sensor packs that are pretty cool. I usually stick to vendors with 50+ reviews.

eBay's usually a few bucks more but US sellers are faster.

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#8

Post by prashnts » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 3:06 PM UTC

M5Stack sells some really good quality modules and I think kits as well. These work fine with Arduino, and also with their own UiFlow software.

The advantage I think with their products is that you only need to connect wires in general -- soldering and stuff is optional. They have good UI on hardware, and even include touchscreens, buttons and so on.

I think it will meet your "mostly fun" for sure!

Technically it's not Arduino in a sense that they mostly use ESP chips (not AVR), which is supported by Arduino IDE.

The homepage has good pictures if you want to get an idea: https://m5stack.com/

(Not shilling :) Just really like their products!)

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#9

Post by floitsch » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 3:10 PM UTC

I'm a fan of the MakePython ESP32 dev kit. It's reasonably priced and the ESP32 makes it possible to do nice things. https://www.makerfabs.com/makepython-esp32-starter-kit.html

I used it for our Toit tutorial: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K-TYea7jbYfj2ecMUmr0T0zd...

Re: Ask HN-Beginner Arduino Kits

#10

Post by auxym » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 3:12 PM UTC

Unless he has a specific interest/project in mind already, I'd look into something like this to start with:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/18577

It's from sparkfun so you generally get better support and docs than a random box of stuff from Aliexpress. The QWIIC ecosystem means that you can daisy chain a whole bunch of sensors easily and without soldering. It includes a small but nice selection of sensors, actuators, buttons and LEDs to play with and some suggestion projects.

Soldering and more advanced stuff can come a bit later if he gets into it. No need to discourage a kid from learning electronics because soldering is hard and you want to save 5$ by buying a bare IC instead of a breakout board (not to mention that the current shortage means that breakouts are often more easily available to hobbyists compared to bare chips).