Nikian-a:
... I was looking at LilyPad Vibe Board (http://lilypadarduino.org/?p=514) do I need any specific components to connect this with, an arduino UNO for example? What sort of things is the UNO for - ie what would be the best board for all the above components?
Thanks
I think you are falling a common trap, trying to anticipate the future without the benefit of a crystal ball. The UNO is a basic workhorse, with a replaceable chip just in case! Blank chips are a small fraction of the UNO cost. But as you move up the product line, you typically get more SRAM and more I/O capability. Your "middle of the road" Arduino is probably the Mega2560, with lots of I/O and 8K of SRAM. It does not have a replaceable microcontroller... if you fry it, you might as well bury it.
I would strongly recommend the UNO in any event... it is a good prototyping platform for most small/medium projects. It is a workhorse. It is easily home built into a simple protoboard so that the UNO is not bound to a project. It is the physical BIG brother of those little Mini clones from China for $3. The UNO will accept a daughter card (called a shield) and many shields are available.
When you are working with an UNO, you have a standard frame of reference. You have a common way of communication for a problem to the forum. There are zillions of UNO's out here and the chance of finding something weird that has not been seen before is small.
As your project evolves, you can think about whether you need to buy a project Arduino. Maybe the UNO will suffice, maybe not, but they are relatively inexpensive as compared to college tuition or even a round of beers at the pub.
As you work through your project ideas, begin a spreadsheet. Identify the component, sensor, output device on the spreadsheet along with the power requirements and the protocol used... serial, SPI, I2C, direct port, buffered port, etc. Also list any required libraries that are common... LCD, SoftwareSerial, etc. By keeping track of physical requirements and the software needed, it is easier to identify the proper (final) board.
Ray