My budget this winter is ~$150-$200 USD, and I've decided to delve into robotics; now I just need to figure out what to get.
I have an mbed, which is a very nice ARM microcontroller with a lot of features. The problem is that I'm pretty limited elsewhere. I haven't bought any other components yet, so there's not much I can do.
My plan is to get some servos for tinkering, and I'd like to mess around with LCD displays. I'm also considering getting a breakout board for one of the many DS touch screens I have lying around; my point here is to have fun and produce cool stuff.
I'd also like to mess around with bluetooth, and perhaps even connecting to bluetooth with a phone. (I've done some Anrdoid programming)
What should I get? What would be a good idea for a beginner? Should I get another microcontroller, like an Arduino? My goal is to experiment with different ideas and have fun creating peculiar things. I don't have a lot of basic components like resistors, and frankly I don't have much of anything at all, like header pins or anything. I do own a solderless breadboard and a PING sensor, as well as some wire and alligator clips. I have a lotof random electronics lying around, and I've done things like cut apart USB cables/extension cords and wired them up to my mbed for testing things. I've created a bot that plugs into my computer, acts like a keyboard, then types a phrase when I wave my hand in front of it. Alas, that's about the extent of what I can so with the hardware I have. Do you have any recommendations?