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The Ultimate Project Kit?

dougw

The question is what constitutes an ideal project kit?

Of course it is going to be impossible to come up with a universal set of building blocks that covers every application, but given a fairly generic set of basic building blocks, what would be the most common solution that you would propose - to fit more applications than other solutions?

Assume a generic project would include a microcontroller, a sensor, an actuator, a user interface, and a power supply.

What else? Would you include signal conditioning circuits or amplifiers? Would you include audio components? Would you include LEDs?

To get the ball rolling, I would suggest 2 scenarios - a high end kit and a lower end kit.

For the high end kit I would go with an Arduino Giga with its touch LCD, a ToF Laser Ranging Sensor, a servo motor, and a USB C power module. The Giga could use a small powered speaker as a nice option.

For the lower kit I would go with an Arduino Nano R4 and a 1" OLED display instead of the Giga but keep the ToF sensor, servo and USB C power.

I expect others will prefer a Raspberry Pi to a Giga, but we will find out in the comments.

Leave a comment to elaborate on your thinking.

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  • Can you elaborate upon what the ultimate project kit is being aimed at ?

    I think one of the primary factors will be if it needs to be networked or not. Another will be on power consumption.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    One target could be as a starting point for design challenge kits. The sponsoring manufacturer could simply modify a known ideal kit by substituting the components they want included in the kit for the corresponding "ideal" kit components. There would naturally be situations where none of the ideal kit is used, but when it doesn't matter or when sponsors want to go with popular parts, it is good to know what is preferred.

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  • in reply to beacon_dave

    One target could be as a starting point for design challenge kits. The sponsoring manufacturer could simply modify a known ideal kit by substituting the components they want included in the kit for the corresponding "ideal" kit components. There would naturally be situations where none of the ideal kit is used, but when it doesn't matter or when sponsors want to go with popular parts, it is good to know what is preferred.

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  • in reply to dougw

    Perhaps specifying Arduino Giga/Nano is being too specific then ? I would imagine that if you are working toward a design project deadline then you will want to avoid spending too much time getting up to speed with an unfamiliar core processing device with all its quirks and spend more time getting up to speed with the sponsor's components and datasheets.

    One area which may need to be considered is if the project needs a single controller or multiple controllers and the processing / peripheral requirements for each.

    If it is to be a mobile device, then power consumption and size could be a consideration along with any requirement for wireless communications. If the application needs a GUI / HMI then that is a consideration, as well as if it needs to communicate with an on-line resource.

    Sensors and actuators will be required for a lot of projects but perhaps highly dependent upon the actual project being undertaken. Also perhaps need to consider the different interfaces sensors and actuators use these days.