I'm new to this community and new to Arduino. I am an Electronics Engineer.
One of the first decisions I have to make is which Arduino board to start with. I was wondering about the Intel Galileo Gen 2. Would this be a good choice? Any other information for an Arduino newbie would also be helpful. I keep freshwater tropical fish, so use of the Arduino to monitor and control my tank water parameters, e.g. pH, would be useful. Also, dawn/dusk ramping of my LED lighting.
Welcome, i think you should get Arduinos for your needs. Every Arduino boards have unique features, And every one of them good for getting work done. For example you wont need extra process power to run Fish Tank project, also UNO is good to have, later it will become handy like flashing Arduino Pro Mini or even bare Atmel Chips. Possibilities are limitless, since you are new to Arduinos you are going to learn what you can do with them, don't forget to get a Breadboard, jumper cables, Power Supply, Resistors, Transistors, leds, you can get them as kit. Good luck and have fun.
As someone new to the Arduino I suspect you are very likely to occasionally need a helping hand. I believe you are much more likely to get that helping hand here.
If you do decide to purchase an Arduino, please don't buy a counterfeit one.
I was wondering about the Intel Galileo Gen 2. Would this be a good choice?
That is a no also from me as well.
While the processor is fast the I/O is painfully slow. Just toggling an output will only go at 800Hz, on the first version of the board it would only go at 200Hz. While on a simple 16MHz arduino this is about 90KHz.
The Intel designers just don't get real time.
I am slightly puzzled where people are picking up on Intel Galileo. Obviously Intel have a big marketing machine and can push sales down lots of existing channels, unlike Arduino which has much different community.
Where Intel's marketing side are succeeding, I agree the engineering side is lacking. The Galileo Gen2 not much better than it's predecessor. The Galileo is not cheap either.
For your application, an AVR Arduino would be fine.
I am slightly puzzled where people are picking up on Intel Galileo
You answered your own question:-
I agree the engineering side is lacking.
So some one produces a crap design are we all supposed to say "well that's OK because you are Intel" or are you going to say " you are Intel you should know better"
I think we are talking cross purposes. I didn't mean "why are people picking on Intel" - they seem to be fair game!
What I meant was, there have been several newbies with Galileos, asking how to use them. I am just wondering where and why they got them - giveaways, universities, RS/Farnell, sales reps at work?
Because I think if you went to any Arduino-friendly hobby store/maker type place, people probably wouldn't come out with a Galileo.
Microsoft will be giving away Gen 2 Galileos running Windows, not sure if there is any Arduino involved, but I guess there will be the inevitable questions.
Clearly, the Intel Galileo is not the right choice. Instead, it looks as though I should opt for the AVR Arduino. I will check it out and be back soon!
AVR is a processor family built by Atmel. Arduino currently uses Atmel processors from two families (AVR and SAM) for their boards.
AVR processors are 8 bit. Arduino configures them to run at 8 MHz or 16 MHz. They are capable of running at a range of voltages (2.8 V to 5.0 V for 8 MHz; ~4.0 V to 5.0V for 16 MHz) and a range of clock speeds (zero to 20 MHz). They are a workhorse when it comes to embedded processors (your car very likely has handful; your microwave oven may include one; your air conditioner / heater may include one).
SAM processors are 32 bit (like your PC). They are much faster and have much more memory but they have weaker I/O pins and are more complicated.
I'm a big fan of the Teensy boards so I'm also going to mention them... PJRC Store - SAM processor PJRC Store - SAM processor Teensy® 2.0 - AVR processor Teensy®++ 2.0 - AVR processor
A Teensy 3.1 in purple (I believe the price is a bit lower)...
Looks like a good starting point would be the Arduino Uno. I would be very happy to pay more for one of the other boards. As part of my tropical freshwater setup, it would be good to use an Arduino board to monitor the water pH using a pH electrode. Would I be able to do this with the Uno?
The Arduino Uno is a good starting point. Most of the publications, help, and community is about the Uno, or boards that are very similar to Uno. Certain other boards have specific advantages for some class of application, but they are not (IMO) where you should start.
Well that's decided it - Arduino Uno will be my starting point. Thanks for all the advice!
Would anyone care to point me at some of the Arduino basics reading material whilst I place my order and wait for the Uno to arrive? There seems to be a lot of Arduino suppliers in the UK. Any recommendations?