[Lab] Arduino Courses, another perspective

Mon Mar 31 12:03:15 EDT 2014

I would definitely like to participate in this course/workshop. 

Please keep me updated. 

Jeremy Cossette
Sent from my HTC

----- Reply message -----
From: "Justin" <justin at slootsky.org>
To: "Amos Hayes" <amos at polkaroo.net>, "Aurelius R" <maxrowsell at gmail.com>
Cc: "lab" <Lab at artengine.ca>
Subject: [Lab] Arduino Courses, another perspective
Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2014 11:28
I too could benefit from a course like that 

On March 31, 2014 9:11:41 AM Amos
Hayes <amos at polkaroo.net> wrote:
I'm in the same boat as Bob. I can get a feel about what the
different simple bits are in a circuit from an educational kit. And I can
follow instructions to make things. But as soon as I imagine something new
that might require certain chips or any sort of more advanced part, it gets
overwhelming. Learning about the protocols would help. So would some
session where we dissect and then maybe implement a slightly complex
project schematic with an opportunity to walk through the circuit and, as
Bob suggests, look at the data sheets and learn the why behind every little
piece from someone who can explain it clearly. How did you know you needed
a resistor there? How did you know how big it should be? etc...

I feel like there is a real gap at that level. But maybe
I'm just not looking in the right places. I took a circuits course when
I was in engineering but it didn't connect any of the theory to
implementation for me. The labs involved following instructions to build
things from supplied parts. So not a lot of thinking about what to build,
sourcing the right components, and connecting them properly based on their
data sheets.
--Amosamos at polkaroo.net

On Sun, Mar 30, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Aurelius
R <maxrowsell at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for the feedback Bob, what you mentioned is what I do
every day. I had to learn the hard way about reading datasheets. At first
they seem overwhelming, but once you know what to look for they're
incredibly useful pieces of information.

I was thinking of doing part of the workshop on serial
protocols, a very key part of what you were talking about. Sensors (at
least most modern ones) are either in IC or TO-92 packages, and they almost
always use SPI, I2C or 1-Wire interfaces, all of which are different and
require some practice.

Also, breadboarding a project and having someone to
walk you through it, explaining why every step matters, can really
help.However, as you mentioned, the code is important as well.
I'm intimately familiar with AVR-C and how to use ATmega/ATtiny micros.
I only just got into Arduino recently, after spending a lot of time coding
exclusively in C, so I tend to blend the two together to get quick, but
powerful results.

What were you envisioning
specifically?
Thanks again for the
ideas!____________________
Alexander Max Rowsell

Frozen Electronics(613) 809-7163

On 30 March 2014
15:05, Bob <silicon at videotron.ca>
wrote:

I
think the Arduino classes would be a great thing, and a specific project
like the break beam alarm would allow people to learn while building
something they could use. I am confident that, as Darcy suggested, the
curriculum would be constantly tweaked as feedback from the participants is
received.

I would like to add my thoughts to the plan in the
hope that they can add to the course design. If this was already in the
plans, well, no harm done.

My suggestions come from my being a slightly different type of beginner. I
am an Arduino beginner, but I have programmed before, so understanding
where to use loops and if statements and other constructs is not a problem,
I just have to look up the specific C syntax. I am familiar with computers
and have my Arduino up and running and have coded some simple things by
copying projects on the web. I also have a pretty good idea of how I may
want to build my projects by using a simple drawing. I can figure out what
sensors I would need, optical, audio, heat and proximity for some examples
of the almost endless choices. I know what I want to do with the sensors’
data and probably how to do it in a pseudo kind of way.

                Finally to my point, I (almost) fall
completely apart when it comes to designing the actual circuit so that as
few as possible components fry. I think that a course on how to read and
understand the data sheets that come with every component and how to
calculate loads on the components, and I don’t just mean the actual
formulas, but why and where to apply the formulas,  would be like teaching
someone to fish as opposed to just giving them a fish. Almost any project
you can dream up has been done and resides somewhere on Youtube or
Instructables or even on the Arduino home page , but plugging components
into a breadboard and adding resistors and capacitors and downloading the
sketch is not “learning”, it’s a start, but not the end. 

                As well, a course on the various
electronic components used to accomplish particular tasks, transistors and
relays for example would help in the circuit design phase.

 I hope this
helps in some way.Thanks

Bob     

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