Arduino Kit for testing/training

Hi-just bought a kit, delivery in February. I have a decent amount of computer/CNC/CAM experience but none with the Arduino. Is it worth buying one of the “Arduino training kits” off Ebay? I was thinking of pre-building a control panel/box with all of the electronics and thought some “hands on” with the Arduino might be fun.

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The board that comes with the Maslow kit is this one. They offer quite a few starter kits too. Most Arduino training kits add a protoboard and various components - see if you can find one that doesn’t include the Arduino Uno, use the Mega2560 as that’s what is needed to compile the MAslow firmware.

@dsherburn

I would wait to make a control box until you have used it.

I’m still trying to figure out where things go logically. Adding the Z axis changed things for me. And I still have more to go. My ah ha was when I started to mount the Arduino - there was / isn’t a clear direction on that. Do you have a 3D printer? Where are you located?

Thank you

BTW - I would suggest having a spare Aurdino around for troubleshooting and testing. A spare shield is handy too. I keep extra parts around in general. I don’t want to wait on shipping when something breaks.

Thank you

I started with a kit and the Uno. As an Industrial Electronic, things started boring with making a LED turn on and off. Controlling a Motor with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) was more interesting. This little kit projects get you into writing code for the Arduino or how to modify existing. I only went through less then half of the examples in the kit, before ordering temperature, humidity, PH and other sensors I needed, downloaded the libraries and started to put a project together with copy/paste/adjust. I would suggest to put your own kit together, depending what your interests are. From flight control, over robotics, to greenhouse/aquarium automation, there is plenty out there to create a custom tailored kit.

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That probably makes sense. My background is in factory automation so I’ll look to put together components. I’m a homebrewer so maybe some basic process control including PID and pump control.

Thanks for the input!

dan

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If I would put a kit together for me, it would include a sensor shield for easy testing, something like:
http://yourduino.com/sunshop//index.php?l=product_detail&p=195
and a Proto Shield for quick prototyping, something like:
https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-mega-proto-shield-rev3-pcb
A ‘protoboard’ like this: protoboard would also be in the kit, as well as plenty of male/female wires in different length and colours.

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Bee-I’m in Michigan, but heading to Florida for a few months. My kit should arrive in February so I was looking for things I could “pre-build” (like a control panel.) You’re correct; I should probably wait. I have been reading the sled threads re: the ring vs. pantograph. Very impressed with the amount of effort you folks have been contributing! I don’t have a printer and like the idea of spares. I’m researching frame designs as well. My head is spinning…

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Hi…as per my knowledge most Arduino training kits add a protoboard and various components - see if you can find one that doesn’t include the Arduino Uno, use the Mega2560 as that’s what is needed to compile the MAslow firmware.

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