Looking to break into arduino on a budget

Community General Discussions
1

Hi friends! I have almost always used picaxe, but Im looking to expand a little. Im looking for an Arduino set-up thats low cost, and can allow me to essentially make the SHR in Arduino. Please help me out with any suggestions, thanks guys! 

 

PS: Id like a package thats mostly all in one.... So I dont have to buy the board and a million shields to make it work. 

2

What about…

YourDuino would be great for you!

YourDuinoRobo1 with lot’s of stuff and everything you need!
http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=244 

 

3

You could

build a breadboard arduino, stick a motor driver on the same breadboard, and work from there. Probably can’t get much cheaper than that. I would say the only thing to consider is, buy the AVR chip already bootloaded with either the arduino bootloader or the optiboot bootloader.

As to cost, if you buy everything on eBay, you will get away at $10 maybe $15.

You might want to consider male header pins and female to female jumper wires.

4

Micro Magician

The Micro Magician board has everything you need for 35 bucks. Incredibly awesome board.

I have them Rocket Brand Studios

Robot shop has them too.

5

The Romeo board from DFrobot

The Romeo board from DFrobot is a great All-In-One robot contoller. Lot of usefull stuff on it:

  • L298 2A dual motor driver
  • 6 key inputs (using only a single analog input)
  • 3 pin headers for each IO with seperate GND and VCC pin. Easy connect for servos and sensors
  • seperate servo and motor power terminals
  • APC220 connector for Bluetooth and RF modules

I used older versions of this board for my MASHR and Lancelot robots.

 
6

thanks guys!

I went to radio shack for something unrelated and they had a mega deal on the MAKE: getting started in Arrduino. So i picked one up. I think it will be good to start with the blink sketch and such. Thanks for all the input, I’ll be hitting up those websites when I start looking for shields and such.

7

Plan to assemble. You will anyhow.

Doug, I’d say: Plan to assemble. You will anyhow.

So I’d say if you buy the following you are happy. (Check for alternatives if you are on Ebay)

 

From Adafruit

1 x Arduino Budget Pack

From Ebay

1 x Arduino Proto Shield

1 x Motor Driver Shield

1 x Male-Male Cables (take as much as you need)

1 x Female-Female Cables (or a mixed package like this)

1 x Sharp IR Sensor (look for multi-packs)

2 x Motor 143:1 

1 x Battery Pack for 6 AA Batteries

 

8

…and the Arduino Cookbook

…and don’t forget: This book is your best friend (besides us here at LMR)