I am planning to create and sell Arduino starter kits which are orientated towards not only 'small' projects but also a big one. As a practical example, my first starter kit would allow the creator to - in the end - build a drone with all the knowledge from previous smaller projects. In this way, the creator would not only gain knowledge and experience from smaller projects, but would also learn to integrate this knowledge and experience to create a final product.
The creator would learn about electronics, software but also mechanics (and a bit of control engineering), how they relate to each other and what to look out for. It's essentially a small mechatronics project.
I find the exisiting starter kits quite dull, hence my idea to create and sell starter kits with the above description. The kit would include a PCB version of the Arduino Nano (so not an original Arduino Nano, but rather an own redesign in PCB form). This PCB version would be identical to the Arduino Nano in terms of performance and capabilities. This PCB version - and all other components in this kit - can easily be reused for other projects.
Now my question to the Arduino community is whether you would be interested in buying such a kit. It would sell around 100 - 150 Euros. Let me know your honest opinions!
there are lots of companies in this business just type "Arduino Robot Kit" in Amazon to get a feel for it.
I prefer building my own, so would not buy it for myself.
I did buy a few kits over the years for nephews or friends kids to get them interested in STEM with various success level and now I find that actually getting them a kit which can be used for tons of different projects works better than one toy to build and forget.
I see typical starter kits as a blessing for teachers who are designated as the Arduino guy despite having no Arduino experience. a little something for everybody, a foundation for single purpose projects. design, build, test and forget. Legos with wires
as a retired electronics tech I come from a whole 'nother place with a different plan. my projects get GPS, RTC, an SD card module and a YX5300 sound card as a starting point. If I could find a CAD program that made sense, I would make a card that takes in VCC and GND, has a 470 uf and a .01 uf cap across those, has 4 each 10K pull up and pull down resistors, and a row of VCC and GND connections so the user does not have the aggravation of finding a way to power all the modules. add 6 or 8 rows of 6 connections for other sensors, and a row dedicated to I2C.
I knock out half a dozen of these with point to point wiring and a soldering iron on a rainy day, but I can see how a new guy could take a whole lot longer.
not so much a starter kit, unless you include the GPS and SD module and RTC and YX-5300, in which case I would put mounting holes and Dupont headers and make it a plug and play minus the aggravation of integration and mounting solution
add a barrel jack for a 12 VDC to VCC, a different barrel jack for 5 VDC >> 3.3 VDC so people don't rely on the onboard regulator
add two serial pairs, so the user can use equal length wires from the microcontroller to what I call the connection proliferation board. then they can run equal length wires from the serial ports on the connection proliferation board, and the VCC / Ground bus, to the GRS and YX5300
the objective is to have things that an experienced user would know to have on hand available and wired up, so the beginner can concentrate on coding and testing and not have to wait on yet another shipment of 100 each of something he needs one of to arrive on a literal slow boat from China.
Thanks for you honest opinion. My kit would include many different projects (such as with other starter kits), but would also include one 'big' project, where the knowledge and experience from those previous smaller projects are necessary in some form. This motivates the creator/student to automatically apply his/her experience and knowledge in a 'big' project - something that is missing with other original Arduino starter kits. So, it would not just be one big project so to say.
This kit would also focus more on the mechanical side of things, i.e. bearings, washers, nuts & bolts, gears, etc. They would learn about these components and their use case. This kit also focuses on control engineering aspects, which I have to admit is going to be very simple for at least high school students.
This kit could also be made for university level students, where the focus would be to focus on teaching the relevant (bachelor) undergraduate course topics.
I get the availability of the many Arduino Robot Kits on Amazon, however these are all clones of Arduinos and do not include high-quality components (which you would find in an original Arduino kit). My kit would then focus more on including the quality of components found in original Arduino kits.
Is the above information by any means changing your viewpoint on the matter?
Yes! So my idea would exactly be to integrate the knowledge and experience from an experienced Arduino user being myself in these kits, such that students/creators are given a structured approach in following the 'best' learning strategies, i.e. concentrating on coding/testing/iterating as you mentioned.
I don't think you will get a useful reply here, you just have to make some and see if they sell. Most of the people who might reply are probably not your target audience. I've been messing with electrical things since, at the age of about 5, I made, with a lot of help from my dad (or maybe he made it ), a lighthouse with a cardboard tube, a torch bulb and a battery. So your kit is of no interest. I think most of the people replying will have their own stories of how they learnt about electrical things and programming, all leading to the same conclusion.
You just have to make stuff and put it out there. This guy:
Started by building a Z80 based computer for himself. As PCBs generally come in quantities of more than 1 he had left over boards, which he shared with friends. Before long he had people asking him to make more of them, now he has a business. You just have to try and see what happens, no one can tell you in advance what will sell and what will not.
Not really and as @PerryBebbington said, I'm not the target audience.
What I've seen over the years interacting with teens with a desire of learning is that when presented with a complete cool thing to build, that becomes the main focus of their attention. They want to get there as fast as possible as this feels this is the reward. Then they play a bit with it and toss it in a drawer and forget about it.
That can be one goal, a fun thing to build, a project for a rainy afternoon but then the price tag has to be way lower.
As I said, I found that a set of components and let the teens become creative with the possibilities and get some excitement from how cool they can make something, add stuff etc is actually more rewarding and sticky over the longer term as it's open ended and you can't get it wrong as there is no planned result.
Given the number of companies offering robot kits, there is likely a market for those... So don't let me or a handful of old timers here stop your dream initiative - get out there and try it out... (put your business plan together though as it takes financial commitment to launch something for the end customer market, there are regulations to follow, warranty/support to offer, margin for the distributors, etc...)
unless you offer something unique for the price I don't see why anyone would want another unknown basic kit, overpriced at that. Not being negative here, just realistic.
), a lighthouse with a cardboard tube, a torch bulb and a battery. So your kit is of no interest. I think most of the people replying will have their own stories of how they learnt about electrical things and programming, all leading to the same conclusion.