Back to School Wishlist - featuring Arduino and Raspberry Pi!

I'm partial to keeping Nanos on hand for projects. The Unos are too big and I dont like the header sockets because the wires pop out too easy, but I guess that keeps cost down. For beginner projects and gadgets , Arduinos still have plenty of speed and memory. 

My first Arduino project was measuring the characteristics of an RC circuit to determine the time constant at the start of my second year of my physics degree. Now a year on, I’ve done many small Arduino projects with my biggest being a magnetic field scanner to produce a plot of any magnetic field. I am also working on other Arduino projects which are still in progress.

One thing I would say is missing is some 28BYJ-48 stepper motors and their ULN2003 drivers as these are easy to put together and are very useful!

Plot from RC circuit

Version one of magnetic field scanner

Version 2 of magnetic field scanner

It's a tribute to the Uno that the term Arduino has become somewhat synonymous with it.  I would agree that the Uno doesn't make a lot of sense as a starter board anymore because there are many boards at that price point with more memory, faster processor speed, and smaller form factor.  And with the focus on IoT, I would also pick a board with a radio (WiFi/BLE).  I will admit that I do keep a couple of Unos handy for legacy 5V applications and use it with an ESP-01 (ESP8266).  There are many more capable Arduinos now (even with RP2040s).  I would also consider ESP32s as starter MCU boards.

robogary  I LOVE the analogy.  I DO depend on the mature ecosystem of the Arduino (stealing an oft used ST phrase) to get my tasks done.  Most of what I do is more PLC-ish than computer-ish and the Arduino suits that application well.  I expect the Arduino to be in my toolbox for quite a while.

The Arduino thinks like I do.   Lather. Rinse. Repeat.     That's funny given that I'm bald.

Hehe I expect Fortran is still taught in some universities. It was taught to Chem-Eng students for ages, not sure why.

I can see the writing on the wall for things to get much better with Python within say a couple of years or so (it still won't replace C on microcontrollers for real products of course, because Python doesn't have precise control for hardware, nor does it have the speed today, but for learning and experiments it could still become very attractive, and that's a space Arduino has occupied for a long time). The Arduino libraries for sure are reliable from what I can tell.

Today MicroPython is still missing many basic features (I can't even flush the UART with MicroPython, that capability is non-existent, I discovered today).
On the other hand, it's great being able to test things as I code immediately; I feel for prototyping and general experimentation, that's really attractive.

Sorry, it was a provocative comment, the Arduino has done a lot! : )

And it's been available when there was absolutely nothing like it.

That's a great point - I didn't realize Pico supports Arduino libraries too! 

Pico has its own problems of course, like poor ADC. But I I definitely don't miss the gapped pin header on the Uno, so there's ups and downs with both!

I'll stir the pot with you on python and Arduino C. 

In support of the Arduino, the libraries and examples in the IDE are robust. I seem to have a talent to break the libraries doing wacky stuff but the support resources are plentiful. 

Pi Pico with python has some applications that are just so easy & magical with all the python libraries. Python seems to handle text, ML, and embedded IC networks well. It has a negative side that some IO intensive applications don't suit it well. There are so many libraries and users need to be experienced in each library to leverage, the analog interface doesnt lend itself to building systems easily. 

I'd never toss away any tool in my toolbox unless it was broken. I threw away Fortran and Cobol. Thonny python and python 3 dont have robust built in IDE examples to get students going on an idea that inspires them.  Students can surf, but its luck if they get some example that works perfect first time. 

Be mindful, if Arduino gets buried, it will rise from the grave like a zombie and hunt down those who buried it  :-)   

Think Donkey from Shrek:  You cut me deep, shabaz !  Real deep.  

While playing with the thermistors of Experimenting With Thermistors, I have rediscovered my love of Arduino.  While I'm using the Raspberry Pi Pico as my remote nodes, I'm back into the Arduino IDE and loving it.  My base node started as an Uno and will soon be a Mega.  I need more memory.

Quite seriously though, I think your recommendation to move to the Pico is brilliant.  The price point alone is enough incentive.  You can treat it like an Arduino or you can use C, Python or MicroPython.  The flexibility is great.  At $4 a pop, you can start with four for the price of a single, knock-off Arduino Uno.  How can you lose?

That's a nice large breadboard : ) 

I'm going to be controversial now.. If I had the choice, I personally would think the time for Arduino has gone, for any schoolkid or student. There's much nicer choices now with the Pi Pico - the choice of Python, which is more useful for a wide range of tasks beyond electronics work, and the Pico SDK for students who wish to learn C programming (the Pico SDK is very mature), and there's the Raspberry Pi for learning Linux and C/C++, Python, JavaScript or any language they desire.

When I had to pick a coding book for young kids, I chose a Python book that they could type on their home computer; I didn't choose C. I know Arduino is much loved, but what benefit is there any more, when the Pi Pico has excellent C libraries anyway, and also supports Python? There are lots of Pico boards/shields now, so it's not as if we still need to stick with old-school 5V Arduino shields.

The kit is pretty complete. I didnt notice any of the IR sensors used for line following., and a couple standard size continuous servos would be handy.