Need Suggestion Common Parts for Arduino Projects

Hi,

I'm quite new with Arduino and now I plan to build a small parts inventory of most commonly used components (resistors, diodes, transistor etc) in novice to medium level Arduino Projects

and here is my (incomplete) list: http://goo.gl/Pz3op

any inputs or other suggestion?

TIA,

other suggestion?

Can I assume you already own a digital multimeter? If not, that should be the first item on your list.

Lefty

0.1 uF capacitors

@retrolefty: owned already along with, heat gun and regulated 0-12V DC powersupply :slight_smile:

@Coding Badly: thanks, will put it on my shopping list ...

A bunch of different coloured LEDs

DIL sockets if you're not breadboarding...

A motor Driver Ic and a Couple of motors ? :wink:

Retrolefty,

How much do you need to use your multimeter for? What do you check?

Chuck

I would skip the 74LS47 and go with shift registers that can drive LEDs directly, like TI's tpic6b595 open drain shift register. Can drive columns of LEDs if needed, or single segments of 7-segment displays. The 74LS47 offers no storage capability, so you have to put the data into something for it to decode anyway. Why not go direct? Then you also have the capability to do more than just 0-9 and odd shapes it uses for ABCDEF - you can define your own A, b, c, d, E, F and L, P, r, h, g, J, etc.
I've also been using a good old octal latch like the 74F374 as shift register, display flickers a little while loading, but it suffices for my needs.
Did you hve shift-in registers listed too?
I would get extra on the LED current limit resistors too.
Pushbutton switches. 3x4, 4x4 Keypad. (can get a 4x5 for $1 from http://www.surplussales.com in Nebraska!)
Depending on how big your project gets, wirewrapping could be considered vs point to point soldering too. wirewrap sockets are nice to build with.
http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=SIP20L
Some generic diodes like 1N4007.
If you are driving lots of digits, then some multiplex control chips from MAXIM are also nice, like the MAX7221 to control 8 digits via SPI interface.
I wouldn't worry too much about general parts - get parts for a specific project, but get a few extra each time.
I would also recommend an oscilloscope, such as the $89 kit from www.dpscope.com, or download a soundcard scope like Virtual Analyzer. Good for checking out things like PWM, often times a multimeter just can't show you what's really going on.
And a couple of boxes to mount things in. I have been using Really Useful Boxes (found at Staples, Office Max, online). Pretty low cost, easy to drill for mounting connectors & stuff.
Also a couple pieces of "island of holes" PCB like velleman ECS1/2 for building up on after getting things working on solderless breadboard.

I'd also change the number of 2n2222 and 2n3906 transistors you have listed; right now you have 5 each - instead, get an even number of each, because if you want to make h-bridges, it takes 2 of each (then again, if you were making small push-pull audio amplifiers, it would take one of each).

/maybe I just like even numbers :-?

How much do you need to use your multimeter for? What do you check?

I use a meter constantly when I'm dealing with external components I'm wiring to an Arduino:

I measure resistors to make sure they are the value I think they are.

I check diodes and transistors to see if you aren't damaged before I try and use them, and that I'm correct in identifying device terminals.

I measure current actually being drawn by loads like relay coils, solenoids, motors, leds, etc, etc.

I measure voltage being supplied to the arduino board.

I read the actual voltage value of digital input and output pins.

The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that a digital multimeter is a basic requirement for anyone that is wiring stuff to an Arduino. It's as much an educational tool as it is a tool to help limit damage and help troubleshoot circuits that aren't operating as intended. If you aren't using a multimeter then you are working in the blind.

Lefty

Thanks for your inputs guys, capacitors, diodes, transistor amount, motor controller transistor, LEDs and I still prefer to keep 74LS47,74LS48 along with 595s and 164s shift registers, for very beginner user purposes.

Still out from my list keypads, LCDs, motors, relays ...

Here is the update http://goo.gl/Pz3op

More inputs still welcome, I believe the list is still grow and hope this will give a good clue for Arduino and Electronics hobbyst beginners, what they should prepare to start playing around with Arduino.

I tried to look at your list and got this error from google :frowning:

We're sorry.

The publishing options given are not valid. Please check the options and try again.

Find out more at the Google Docs Help Center.

Ooops, sorry... link fixed, http://goo.gl/Qfdh7

This is a very cool list as I am looking at buying a blanket set of parts as selected from a online shop. I shall wait a while longer then use the list.

This is a cool idea...thanks for sharing senopati :slight_smile:

YES ! as a beginner myself, I study all day long, and then, when I
think I know the Ebers-Moll transistor model and I need one
with characteristic xyz, it all boils down to
"What is the right choice for this ?".
and the answer is "99% of all cases just use the bog-standard BC547"
(or 2n2222, or whatever)

I would very much like a list of "normal", a bit up-to-date, and above all obtainable suggestions, for
transistors, power transistors, jfet, enhancement fet, power mosfet,
signal diode, protection diode, audio range op-amp, high freq op-amp,
comparator, and maybe a few often occurring digital chips...

maybe you can put your list in the playground, and we can all enhance it.

Thx !

Well, obtainable varies country by country.
In the US, almost anything is obtainable, either as new, or from surplus shops.
For example, I got some nice 20 button calculator keypads from Surplus Sales of Nebraska, had not seen anything that else where, just standard 12/16 button velleman keypads.
www.mpja.com has lots of nice surplus stuff, got really bright (3,000mcd, 5,000mcd, 10,000mcd!) LEDs for like 18cents each, shipped next day, no waiting for shipment from China. Also 90dB 2" speakers for $1.49!
If you're just breadboarding stuff, the list of needed stuff is different than if you're actually assembling something, in which case a hoard of #4 nuts, bolts, plastic spacers/standoffs, headers and things to plug into them all come in handy. I stocked up on pololu crimp connector housings and terminated male-male, female-female, and male-female wires so I could have some options for assembling projects.

fair enough, but to the newbie the question still remains :

which datasheets should I know by heart (except the AVR ones) ?

2n2222 ? bc547 ? ...

a sort of "determination table" to pinpoint a component for a general use would be very handy.
maybe I will start one myself on the playground.

Unless you're designing the same function over & over, why would you know any part by heart? There's too many of them these days. It is easy to look stuff up online. I put everything I do on a schematic (expresspcb.com has a very quick to learn & easy to use schematic capture tool, easy to create a new symbol or modify an existing one) and check the wiring against that as I build it up, either on a breadboard (for testing or wirewrapping (using sockets soldered on perfboard generally, for more permanent creations. Occasionally I'll do an actual PCB if I plan to make more than one).
How else can you record it, share it with others, ask for help?
In just a couple of minutes, you can insert a couple of symbols, connect some pins, save it & post it to web via flickr or similar, and the world can give you some suggestions. How often do you see "my circuit doesn't work" followed by "post a drawing if what you have" from one of us?
And none of that fritzing nonsense - symbols with pin names so we can easily see that you have a NPN transistor being used to try and incorrectly switch the voltage source on/off vs the ground side for example.
Once you start using the proper tools, the design/debug gets a lot easier. Then the parts don't matter so much - you can make the same circuit lots of ways.
For example, suppose you need a shift out register, but don't have one, and further that you want to drive 4 LEDs in a string from 12V?
You can fake a shift register multiple ways - use an octal latch or octal register chip, like a 74xx373 or 74xx374, or some if its variants - xx573, xxxx574 (go to www.ti.com and do a search for octal latch). Just wire output 0 back to input 1, 1 to 2, etc,
Then driving the LEDs you can use separate NPN, or N-Channel transistors. Or you can use a couple of 7406 (which is only a hex part unfortunately) which can take 30V outputs. Or a ULN2803, an octal version that can sink an impressive 500mA!
Best bet altogether is the TPIC6B595, which combine the shift-out register and the high current driver
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tpic6b595.pdf

So how you get to a final solution kinda depends on what you have on hand, and what you are able to get your hands on via online ordering, or sampling (TI just sent me 5 samples of tpic6b595 that I will try out in place of 74F374s/7406s I have wired up now), or scrounging out of dead electronics. For example, I have an epson inkjet printer with some nice motors, we are disassembling it while we come up with an idea of what to with it (ditched our forever drying up inkjet printers & got an HP CP1215 color laserjet instead - printing is now sweet!) - wife is thinking persistence of vision thing, I am thinking stepper motor? not so sure! But there also power supply usable parts - actually a whole power supply board that can be removed as one little module - nice! Will have to power it up & put meter on the output, see what is available )

Not much help I know when just starting out. Come up with a project idea, put it on paper, at least as a block diagram, submit it with questions "what would be a good part choice for this use in this application". Then when you start obtaining parts for a project, get a few extra, start building up a collection that you'll have for future projects.

Updated some parts, now I'm considering to put common stepper motor driver such as ULN2003 or L293 is that make sense?