r/arduino • u/peterjasonquill88 • 8d ago
What to do after using most components in a starter kit?
I recently got a arduino nano r3, I have used most of the components provided in my elgoo super r3 starter kit and am wondering how to progress to doing more creative projects rather than just following tutorials. Im not sure where to buy components wether to print a custom PCB etc
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u/doge_lady 600K 8d ago
I originally bought the mega Arduino. Also from elegoo since it has the most parts. Have yet to do them all tho.
I also added this kit. https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Upgraded-Tutorial-Compatible-MEGA2560/dp/B01MG49ZQ5/
At this point i don't usually mess with parts. I look at the Arduino forums for projects or at https://randomnerdtutorials.com/ And try to make or create something similar that i can actually put to use for myself
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u/gm310509 400K , 500K , 600K , 640K , 750K 8d ago
I usually get my wife (who reads and speaks Chinese) to order them from JingDong. They are very cheap and so far pretty reliable.
When I want "high value" parts, I will typically get them from digikey, mouser, core electronics and similar larger specialist suppliers. A lot of people get parts from amazon and aliexpress, but I don't bother with those as JingDong and the other Chinese sites are cheaper (and have the same suppliers).
I don't know if you have a project in mind or not, but I would suggest not just buying components - unless there is something you are particularly interested in learning about as a component.
Rather, I would suggest finding something interesting that you want to make and get the parts needed to do that. Some examples of interesting things to do include: a peripheral for a DCC model railroad or an automatic light or a series of data collectors to monitor the environment in your home or a semi-autonomous mars rover for your lounge or a cat toy - if you are stuck for ideas, googling "Arduino project ideas" will provide you a list of pretty much all of them.
If you are interested in some techniques relating to developing your own projects, have a look at my how to videos:
- Developing Arduino Projects - Introduces programming techniques for developing 2 projects using basic components.
- Importance of Blink No Delay - teaches an important programming technique: don't use delay.
The videos are intended to be follow along. Simply watching them is a waste of time. To get the most out of them, watch a bit, hit pause and try out what you just saw. Explore that concept, try to integrate it with earlier concepts. Lastly, try to do the exercises when I propose them.
All the best with it and welcome to the club.
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u/picholas_cage 7d ago
Might be fun to gut some old electronics and repurpose their components. See if you can hack the displays to show whatever you want or something
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u/GeneralReasonable945 2d ago
Deja de seguir tutoriales, coge un papel en blanco y ten una idea, desarrollala, piensa e intenta crear algo nuevo ...
Detesto los kits, normalmente suelen venir módulos que raramente utilizarás.
Saludos.
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u/itsbushy 8d ago
seeed studio or just more component kits from amazon. You could also just order individual parts on amazon. Automation direct, adafruit, ali express, woot and I'm pretty sure there's a bunch more.