Experienced Programmer - How to Start with Arduino

Community General Discussion
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OK I have been writing code since 1971 - in many languages. I want to start a project that involves 4-5 arduinos (with ethernet connections) communicating instructions between them to control stepper motors and lights.

Got any suggestions for a non-beginner book or tutorial???

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Lots of code here for steppers and comms. Everthing is C++ with extensions for Arduino. Build the piece part projects and then combine as needed. The examples in the IDE all work. Read the docs here, as required, along with your favorite C++ book. Doesn't take long and EVERY aspect from the PCB art, to full schematics, to debugged and tested C++ libraries for damn near anything you wanna connect, to fully tested and debugged projects with BOM's and CAD for 3D printed parts. Look around in the projects area. There are also detailed tutorials on fab.

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If you did not program stepper motors or light strips then you still are a beginner in a new environment. Get the required hardware (motor driver module...) with data sheet and Arduino library and run the sample code(s) supplied with the library. Also learn using the AccelStepper library (recommended).

I assume that you know how to program microprocessors without an OS. Are you also experienced with FreeRTOS as used on the bigger (wireless...) controller boards?

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I started computer programming about 1966 on a Monrobot MK ? All machine language and punched paper tape. Next 30+years programming and management and data communications. When I wanted to learn about the Arduino, I bought a starting kit on Ebay and the lessons that went step-by-step with the components. Most of the programs had errors that I had to debug. A few even admitted they would not work. What a mess, but I did learn a lot and with the IDE examples became quite proficient.

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Hello dpressm

Take a view here to get familar with he Arduino coding biotop.

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Why not WiFi? The ESP boards (the Wemos D1 Mini is my go-to board) have WiFi built in and wok with the Arduino IDE. There are libraries available that give you two-way communications over WiFi. Most ESP boards are capable of most of what the Arduino family can do. Best of all the Wemos D1 Mini are $5 each.

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If you're serious, check out the platformio ide.... it will work on the Arduino and a many other controllers/computers...

Good luck

:smiley_cat:

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Sounds like your biggest problems are going to be

  1. Dealing with the "Arduino's" small size (even trivial ethernet communications is likely to use up nearly half of program space in a Uno, and lights/motors might not be any better.) (fortunately there are "Arduinos" with bigger processors)
  2. Dealing with the lack of an operating system that would make "concurrency" easier. Motor control and lights are both potentially timing-critical functions, and getting them to not interfere with each other (and not be interfered with by the network communications) may be a challenge.
  3. Understanding the tradeoffs between coding stuff on the Arduino itself, vs investing in "smarter" peripherals.

But ... just jump in. Get a basic Arduino and attack one of the aspects of your project. It sounds big enough overall than spending $50 to gain some hands-on experience is going to be worth it, even if you have to throw away those components as you add more stuff and need larger CPUs/etc.

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