RoadTest: Arduino Esplora
Author: mpsufi
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Independent Products
Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True
What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: Oh c'mon, there is no comparison. Esplora is like 5+ in 1. So I have no comparison for Esplora as such. When you ask for the Controller features, its Leonardo (you already know it, lol)...
What were the biggest problems encountered?: There was no problem anywhere. But I felt there could have been more space for interfacing other IO devices. Even about 8 IO pins would have done great. However, the Serial n SPI interface is there... So it was okay for me
Detailed Review:
Was Waiting very eagerly for Esplora after I was announced that I'm getting one. I was in my Lab the day I got it. For the first week, I was totally into it. The looks, features, inbuilt sensors, LED, Slider etc etc was just soooo lovely for me.
Tried a lot of various different things with it. Once after exploring its power, I was like thinking of more than 5-6 idea for what to build with this and ended up building 2 things.
I have always had the bad habit of finding support for most of the things in Internet. But unfortunately, with Esplora I had to develop my own stuff.
The first one, as I had already mentioned regarding the Eye controlled wheel chair, I couldnt take it forward since I wasnt able to bring any image processing through arduino. But when I spoke to doctors and paralyzed patients over here, I found even a joystick control serves an extent of purpose well. With few added features like wheelchair following the caretaker etc I was able to use accelerometer, slider for controlling speed of wheelchair, joystick for motion. Overall, I'm still working with it because I'm working towards a commercially viable product. For other interfaces, I had to use a Serial to Paralled converter as my project involved lot of stuff. For Image processing I'm again looking over other controllers now which one could be easy and affordable. Planning for a RPi... Hoping for the best
Second one, Quadcopter... It was great and a sooo fun that I cant say it. Every second of the flight was/is one unforgettable minute. Initially I used it at the Quad side, but later used it as a hand control which worked well.
I really thank (from the bottom of my heart) to element14 for giving me this chance!!! And hey you know what, I have started buying for my lab from element14 now... Phewww
But still looking forward for your support wherever necessary!!!
