Intro to Experimental Electronics
Sections
- Microcontrollers vs. Microprocessors
- Arduino
- Raspberry Pi
- Examples
- Some Electronics Concepts
- Software to learn and other resources
Microcontrollers vs. Microprocessors
An example of a Microcontroller is an Arduino; an example of a Microprocessor is a Raspberry Pi.
Video (AddOhms): youtube.com/watch?v=7vhvnaWUZjE
Arduino
Arduino is a prototyping platform and an education platform for electronics.
There are a number of related platforms that might be of interest - Flora/Gemma, BBC MicroBit and LittleBits. There are also very popular boards like the Wemos d1 Minis that use the ESP8266 (Espruino) Wi-Fi chip.
And while the Arduino name is protected, the hardware design is open source. It is possible to buy unofficial versions of the popular Arduino boards from other suppliers that match the same form-factor and similar capabilities.
Raspberry Pi
SmartCitizenKit
Makey-Makey
Watch-Out! DIY Synthesiser
Knitting machines
Subdermal Implants with DSruptive
Some Electronics Concepts
For the equipment we're going to be using in the next section. there is a minor risk of electrical shock and a risk of burn from soldering iron.
The max. supply voltage of an Uno is 40 mA, and the voltages are between 3.3v and 12v. USB devices all have thermal fuses, and everything we are using today is fused and grounded.
More caution is needed with Alternating Current, domestic voltages, and with components such as Relays, Transformers.
- Power off at the mains.
- Use a phase tester.
- If in doubt, don’t.
Software to learn and other resources
Fritzing
EasyEDA
TinkerCAD (used to be called...)
Circuit Wizard