Ann:$25 PCB to help novices/protect Arduino. Schools. Parents?

THANK YOU for feedback above!

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Forgive me, if I am just saying the same things again. I'm trying not to, or at least to say them differently. I don't mean to repeat myself, but "what are you trying to achieve" seems to come up a lot.

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Let me start with what isn't, I would quess, exactly what people were asking, but it is, I hope, relevant, and as other things I'd tried to explain didn't get across, maybe this didn't, either.

*** I'm trying to find people who try to help novices get started, people who would be interested in trying something I've made, see if it does what I hope it does.

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Turning to what I think was meant by the "What are you trying to do. (And to answer the "What are the two design goals?" question....

*** What I hope NoviceGuard does:

** 1) Make using an Arduino easier for a beginner

** 2) Protect the Arduino from some of the mistakes beginners make which damage Arduinos.

(And both of those without much expense, so people aren't excluded simply because of costs. (About $25 on top of an Arduino Pro and the stuff you'd always need to use one of them.))

-- Why I think NoviceGuard Makes Using Easier...

The beginner has NO "hooking up" to do for a long time. There is LOTS you can do with "just"... a NoviceGuard, an Arduino Pro Mini, a programming cable, and a "big" PC (Windows or Mac or Linux.)

The "second stage" beginner can do lots more, just by plugging in inexpensive "daughter boards".

-- Why I think NoviceGuard protects the Arduino...

The novice isn't connecting things... with the danger of MIS-connecting things.

The novice has enough useful inputs and outputs to learn a lot, without the responsibility of knowing all that a more advanced user needs to know to keep the Arduino "alive".

Caveat: The product is not "idiot (or malefactor) proof". There is a small "rule" that should be easy enough to explain and obey that users must be made aware of. (Explained elsewhere)

-- Why I like my answer over some others that are out there...

i) It is the cheapest I've seen that saves users having to do breadboard hookups. $5 saved for a home user isn't a big deal. $5 per station in an educational setting is a bigger consideration.

ii) It doesn't entirely "tie down" what you can do with the Arduino. There are more robust protective schemes available... but for the extra protection, extra restictions have to be accepted.

iii) It provides a multi-stage learning environment. Users can start very limited, but very safe, and with "stuff" entirely taken care of. From there, they can do more, and more... when they are ready for more and more "things" to contend with in order to open those new possibilities. Ultimately, they can discard the NoviceGuard entirely, use a "naked" Arduino Pro Mini and 100% of what an Arduino Pro Mini can do. With 0% of the help and protection NoviceGuard provides during different stages of the learner's progress. But using NoviceGuard does not, ultimately, impose any limits.

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Ah well. To every question there is a simple answer. And it is wrong.

Hope the above was helpful, not just me "going on" again.

Will try to address some of the other helpful points in a separate reply another time.

TK

I might have missed the answer to the question I posed.

NoviceGuard is supposed to get rid of two of the biggest probems of starting kids on Arduinos!

Your statement has me curious ... what do you see as the two biggest problems.?

TK

I might have missed the answer to the question I posed.

NoviceGuard is supposed to get rid of two of the biggest probems of starting kids on Arduinos!

Your statement has me curious ... what do you see as the two biggest problems.?

(Argh! Sorry... tried to "attach" this as answer to an earlier post, the one from mcb1, earlier in the thread, where he starts "I might have missed your answer...")

Maybe my "answer" missed your question! What do I see as the two biggest problems of getting kids (or others not already persuaded) excited about electronics, programming, being creative with Arduinos? (Or similar, but I find Arduinos particularly suitable):

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1) The bottom of the learning curve can be steep. Getting started is usually especially difficult because, without NoviceGuard, there are several things to get on top of AT ONCE-

i) The very idea of "a program". Difficult not least because you can't see it, can't see it "upload" (Whatever THAT might be!) Can't see the bits moving, as you can, say, in an old fashioned gear-driven clock.

ii) The highly restricted language. The need to say things RIGHT. Yuh kno.

iii) The procedure for moving program from big PC, where at least it is "there" on the screen, into the Arduino. And what goes on in Arduino when it "boots".

iv) The principles of electronics... current/voltage/resistance, what the different "bits" do, physical and conceptual "bits"

v) The practical issues of hooking things up... resistor to a pin (which pin?, etc) of Arduino, other end to LED (reliably!), which end of LED? Other end of LED to "ground". What is ground? Where is ground?

With NoviceGuard, at the beginning, you still have to get to grips with i-iii... but you are spared iv and v until later.

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2) Many people would like to let beginners "play" with some Arduinos don't dare because they haven't the money or inclination to expose the Arduinos to the possiblity (likelihood!?) of damage.

You'll never, of course, entirely control the vandal element. But with NoviceGuard, it is harder to damage something accidentally, and it provides a more clear line between what's allowed and what's deliberate vandalism.

Even if you use cheap clones, fried pins are a major problem for beginners. An advanced users will KNOW their code and electronics are "good", and thus any problem MUST be a fried pin. (Or they can whip up a little test program/ circuit to check a suspected bad pin.) Novices should not have to cope with "Is it my (novice's) code? My circuit? A faulty pin?". With NoviceGuard, there is a LOT of programming you can do without ever having to worry beyond "Is it my pin?".

So! "The two big barriers" more clear now?

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"Off topic", sort of, skip the rest if you are sated...

NoviceGuard isn't just for baby steps. Yes... there are marvelous things you can do when you have skills and permissions to risk the hardware beyond using the Arduino through a NoviceGuard, but... and this is typical of why I find programming exciting, and wish more people were past that tedious little bump at the bottom of the learning curve....

The longer I think about NoviceGuard, the more programming I see you can do with it. The other evening's random thoughts:

1) A pair of Arduinos "talking" to each other in Morse code. This would require a simple "daughter board", and one instance of each for each of the Arduinos. (The idea is old... see Arduino Playground. But it is "do-able" with NoviceGuard-protected Arduinos.)

2) An authentication "dongle" for a challenge-response access control system. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge%E2%80%93response_authentication, the "Alice"/"Bob" scenario. If you think NoviceGuard can only do trivial things, reflect on the fact that this form of challenge response had not found its way into Wikipedia until I put it there just now, in case you weren't familiar with it. (And no, Virginia, it wasn';t not there because it is trivial, not widely used! If you see "https" on a url, indicating your connection to the server is less insecure than a mere "http" exchange, you are using this form of challenge-response, for example.)

There's also the question of programming "an answer" and programming a GOOD answer. You don't need complex electronics to show learners the difference between code that "works" (but is a dog's dinner) to WELL WRITTEN code that does "the same thing".

TK

Thanks for clarifying the question.

While the concept of programs and unseen things is scary to us older generation, those born with a tablet/electronic device in their hands is probably not so scary.

I have found that once they have the concept, they just do it and don't give it a second thought.

But you are right that there is a certain amount to learn regardless of what version/flavour of Arduino you use.

As someone else eliquently put " I don't want to rain on your parade" but there seems to be two different concepts in play here.

1.      Hardware that makes it easy/safe to use.

2.      Decent examples for pupils to follow/try in order to expand their exposure and knowledge.

Your hardware and the Brick/Grove style parts rectify the first problem.

The costs vary depending on the source, and I agree that every dollar saved is a bonus.

I wanted to use the brick style for our lessons but the cost was too high until I discovered the source I linked to earlier.

As a comparison I purchased 10 of these kits at USD$22.90 each plus freight

This version also uses a DIL 328 chip, so any pin frying can be easily rectified.

     1x Iteaduino UNO - blue , $11.50

     1x Electronic brick - Buzzer  , $0.60

     2x Electronic brick - Lighting Emitting Diode/Green  , $0.55 ea

     1x Electronic brick - 5V Relay  , $1.00

     2x Electronic Brick - Big Button  , $0.60 ea

     1x Electronic brick - Electronic Brick - DS18B20 1 - Wire Digital Thermometer Module  , $1.20

     1x Electronic brick - Light sensor brick  , $0.80

     5x 3 Pin Dual-female to Grove 4 pin Converter Cable - 20cm  , $0.80 ea

     1x USB Type A to Type Mini.( IM120530007 ) , $0.80

     1x Electronic brick - Rotary Potentiometer ( IM120710014 )  , $0.70

Total USD $22.90

I added I2C 16x2 LCD displays for $6.45 each from another supplier. (Terry King is now offering them at $5.50)

This brought the total to USD $29.35 plus freight for what is a pretty comprehensive brick style kit.!!

Decent examples

While 'spoon feeding' students with ... follow this, do that ... is a great way to get them started, it can lead to simply ticking the box to complete the tasks and not understanding the concepts.

We've seen many questions posed here on the forum where the OP has not even bothered using a search engine to find the answer, and sadly they seem to originate from certain institutes, which should be encouraging self learning.

In the class we run, we make the pupils do some research first to get them used to searching for answers, we discuss the answers to help everyone understand why they need to find the resources, and it gives us an idea of the pupils understanding of Arduino.

We use the built-in examples (because they are there when you download the IDE) to start them off, then encourage them to tinker with the example to generate some lateral thinking.

We then add some twists and lastly give them links to find more tutorials, etc.

As I point out we not always going to be there to answer your question , but the www thingy is.

So would I spend

$25 on a pcb to help novices/protect arduino

The answer is YES but not your pcb ... sorry.

Mark