Need ardiuino pros to help answer questions for 8th grade Science project

Community General Discussion
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  1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?
  2. What is the most complex Arduino project you’ve done?
  3. What is a future project you’d like to do? Why?
  4. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?
  5. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?
  6. What was your first project?
  7. What was your simplest project?
  8. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?
  9. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?
  10. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?

Thanks!

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What is the purpose of this survey?

What have you done with an Arduino?

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The “survey” is a requirement to interview/ask expert(s) 10 questions as part of the science project. My son’s actual project is to attempt to answer the question, “Can a light bar be created to simualat daily light quality and seasonal photo period” as part of this to program a RGB LED’s to mimic the light frequencies in the local area over a simulated year. The light will be controlled by an Arduino Uno and will change the daily light intensity and annual photoperiod.

This will be his first project with arduino

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fillngraves:
This will be his first project with arduino

You mean your first project. If it were his first project we'd be talking to him about it and not you.

The "survey" is a requirement to interview/ask expert(s)

We aren't experts. We're just hobbyists.

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(Facepalm)

He isn’t able to have his own account at this point so this is his (through my help) to facilitate him with the ability to reach out to the hobbyists/experts (experienced users) who can help him to better understand this new thing (Arduino (to him)) and properly document and fulfill the requirements of his project.

Thanks for your help.

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fillngraves:
He isn’t able to have his own account at this point

Why not? We don't enforce any age limit here. I would recommend you keep an eye on his posts. But there's absolutely no reason he can't talk to us himself. Probably learn a lot more that way than with you doing his work for him.

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Too many predatory people out there, I trust my son to be responsible but he is only 13 and I know as his father he still has a lot to learn especially when dealing with online forums and anonymized people

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fillngraves:
Too many predatory people out there, I trust my son to be responsible but he is only 13 and I know as his father he still has a lot to learn especially when dealing with online forums and anonymized people

Well keep the little chick under the wing then I guess. Still seems a sham to have mommy doing your science fair project for you. Isn't really fair to the other kids who are doing their own work. Isn't really fair to your son either as he misses out on the learning that the other kids get to do.

You could just supervise the internet activity if you're that worried but let the kid do the asking himself. Check and see if anybody said anything that might melt a snowflake first and then let him read the rest of the responses. You'll probably get a lot better responses with that than with mommy doing his homework for him. You're not going to get much love for that around here.

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  1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?
    A. None so far. There are a good selection of boards that allow me to tailor projects for specific things.

  2. What is the most complex Arduino project you've done?
    A. Probably my automated rock tumbler unless you count taking the core out of Quartz rocks and filling them with RGB led's, Or it could be the home made CNC laser engraver made from salvaged printers and drawer runners.

  3. What is a future project you'd like to do? Why?
    A. Currently not sure but I do have a heating control project that has only been half completed and I would like to finish it. It will allow me to divert some heating when the Garage gets cold (seperate from the house)

  4. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?
    A. Has to be my CNC machines as they are starting to earn thier keep.

  5. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?
    A. Had sniffed around a lot at at PIC devices but wasnt so impressed and had my eye on Arduino some time later. Picked an official kit up and BOOM my past interest in electronics was re-kindled on the spot.

  6. What was your first project?
    A. Probably the ones from the great book that comes with the official kit.

  7. What was your simplest project?
    A. For some odd reason I dont seem to do "simple" and tend to find projects that will help around the house in one way or another. I might not be the best to answer that question.

  8. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?
    A. Yes in both spheres. A counter for a bar cutter that cuts up to 8 bars in a single cut as the operators were fiddling the numbers for bonus rates. Later expanded to cover other machines and keep better track of production. On a more "at home" level I have various sensors around the house and Garage to monitor temperatures to ThingSpeak so we can keep an eye on things when we are away from home during the winter.

  9. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?
    A. Too close to Q9 so see answer for that.

  10. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?
    A. An ideal way to get into both basic electronics and programming. Once the basics are under your belt then you are limited by only your imagination and drive.

I promised I would offer you my honesty and would hope others do the same without being too pedantic.

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  1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?
    D/A output, speed.
  2. What is the most complex Arduino project you've done?
    PID control.
  3. What is a future project you'd like to do? Why?
    Another Neopixel project. Colour displays are always fun.
  4. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?
    Infinity mirror.
  5. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?
    Internet.
  6. What was your first project?
    Clock using LCD display.
  7. What was your simplest project?
    LED candle display.
  8. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?
    No.
  9. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?
    Electronics is electronics.
  10. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?
    Helps teach them logic, design, patience (well you need patience), software, math and much more.
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  1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?
    A: Well, it eats way too much of my time, so sleep is limited by Arduino. Other than that, the 8 bit simplicity is just about right for my way of thinking.

  2. What is the most complex Arduino project you've done?
    A: Perhaps that would be my WWVB automatic clock for distributed clocks. But this comes close to my CO2 based people counter.

  3. What is a future project you'd like to do? Why?
    A: I want to make a mannequin head that nods when it hears my boss talking. I have the head nodding, but anyone can trigger it.

  4. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?
    A: I love my I Ching in a tin. Carry it everywhere with me. On the other hand, I really like my hardware random number generator.

  5. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?
    A: I had to develop an Intro to Engineering course, and the chosen instructor wanted to have an Arduino module. Of course, I had to learn about it to put it together, and I haven't looked back since.

  6. What was your first project?
    A: Blink, of course. Then BwoD. This culminated in a cylon display device with speed and style controls.

  7. What was your simplest project?
    A: All of my projects are simple, except when I'm figuring out how to do them. My Geiger Counter is extremely simple (one digit precision.)

  8. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?
    A: The aforementioned Engineering course.

  9. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?
    A: Sure, but I'm not sure what this means. My programming skills have grown since starting with Arduino, plus I've "met" all the great people here.

  10. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?
    A: They provide a fun activity that won't have negative consequences.

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  1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?

I don't particularly get "limited" by Arduino, because I go into a project understanding the limitations that exist.

  1. What is the most complex Arduino project you've done?

A graphics and device library for some 24x16 LED matrix. Mostly I'm interested in "low level" things that tend to be "obscure" rather than complex. The 2nd most well-know project is probably "OptiLoader" - a sketch that allows an Arduino to burn a new bootloader into other Arduinos.

  1. What is a future project you'd like to do? Why?

I want to create a new Arduino Core for one of the 5V ARM chips like SAMC2x or Kinetis-E.

  1. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?

Dunno. Like I said, they tend not to be stand-alone "projects."

  1. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?

About 2007? I don't recall "where" - I've been interested in microcontrollers for a long time, and read several forums where it might have come up.

  1. What was your first project?

Don't remember.

  1. What was your simplest project?

I made an Attiny85 project that drives a single neopixel - a sort of programmable "any color you like" LED for costuming and such. It uses Adafruit's neopixel library, so there isn't much of any new code to it.

  1. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?

To play with.

  1. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?

I've done a fair amount of hardware design of arduino-like boards ("Freeduino", an updated "Wiring") that were motivated by Arduino involvement...

  1. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?

I think... The computing power that most people have access to today (laptops, cell phones, etc) are very "task oriented" toward applications (communications, video, writing, entertainment) that have nothing to do with technical "computing." And yet, tiny computers without those features make up the majority of computing devices in the world today. A device like Arduino is a smaller "entry point" for understanding computing. And we do need enough people that understand it to create tomorrow's devices.

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Not a pro.

1. What are some things that you are limited by with Arduino?

A. Relative noob so haven't hit limits yet. Right now my knowledge is my limitation.

2. What is the most complex Arduino project you’ve done?

A. Automatic case ejector for my reloading press.

3. What is a future project you’d like to do? Why?

A. IR remote. Just because.

4. What is your favorite project you have made with Arduino?

A. See #2.

5. Where and how did you learn about Arduino?

A. Don't rightly remember.

6. What was your first project?

A. I started with the book that comes with the starter kit.

7. What was your simplest project?

A. I dunno, one of the early kit projects.

8. Have you used Arduino professionally/personally and if so for what?

A. See #2.

9. How have you used Arduino knowledge in other projects or fields not typically associated with Arduino?

A. n/a

10. How do you think Arduinos could benefit the average teenager or younger person?

A. Some complex concepts of programming, and thinking, can be implemented on Arduino using the C++ language. This takes effort and attention to detail - the compiler doesn't care what you meant . Seeing an LED blink is a small thing but, there is a sense of accomplishment in knowing *why *it's blinking and knowing how to make it do something else if you've a mind to. For those so inclined.

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Thank you for the input.... this will keep him busy during Thanksgiving break getting everything more in order and organized and now he’ll have somewhere he can expect to get helpful responses when he hits programming roadblocks.... as for Delta_G’s concern.... this is literally the only help I’ve given him to post his questions to the forum.... I’m clueless when it comes to Arduino... Ask me how to run a business or anything about real estate, or run my snap maker 3D printer/engraver... I’m your man, but other than buying several Arduinos for an automation group building machines, that’s all I know.

Thanks again!

Additional responses are also welcome

15

As a slight "aside" to this many of us are not "pros" as such.
Majority of us come from many walks of life and just use these things as a means to an end or enjoyment.

My trade is Millwright with crossover tickets in I.T. so not really anything in the Arduino field.
You have access to multiple nationalities and skill sets in the forums which is one of the many reasons it works so well.

16

Here is some homework for your son (you too).

Have fun.

Arduino links of interest.

How to use this forum:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=149014.0

Listing of downloadable 'Arduino PDFs' :
Either Google >>>- - - - > arduino filetype: pdf
Or
https://www.google.ca/search?q=arduino+filetype%3A+pdf&rlz=1C9BKJA_enCA739CA739&oq=arduino+filetype%3A+pdf&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65.1385j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Listing of downloadable 'C++ PDFs' :
Either Google >>>- - - - > C++ filetype: pdf
Or
https://www.google.ca/search?q=c%2B%2B+filetype%3A+pdf&rlz=1C9BKJA_enCA739CA739&oq=c%2B%2B+filetype%3A+pdf&aqs=chrome..69i57.22790j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Arduino cheat sheet:

Troubleshooting common errors:

Watch these:
Arduino programming syntax:

Arduino arithmetic operators:

Arduino control flow:

Arduino data types:

Some things to read

https://learn.adafruit.com/category/learn-arduino

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-read-a-schematic

Language Reference:

Foundations:

How and Why to avoid delay():
http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/AvoidDelay

Demonstration code for several things at the same time.
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=223286.0

Useful links:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=384198.0

Arduino programming traps, tips and style guide:

Jeremy Blume:

Arduino products:

Motors/MOSFETs

Switches:

Share tips you have come across, 500+ posts:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=445951.0

Images from above:
https://www.google.com/search?q=“Share+tips+you+have”+larryD+site:https://forum.arduino.cc&prmd=nmvi&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJw-zu68ncAhXPGTQIHWCDCNwQ_AUIFCgE&biw=1024&bih=653

Debug discussion:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=215334.msg1575801#msg1575801

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