The Arduino thread

[booo]

I get to start with?

1. bread board ~Rs.40
2. good "temp controlled", "esd safe" soldering iron ~Rs350 (dont buy cheaper ones, you will not learn soldering with them) also buy a suction pump worth 15bucks.
3. multi meter ~Rs100 (if you can afford, get a better one)
4. tweezer set (preferably esd safe) ~Rs40
5. iso propyl alcohol ~??
6. eagle software ~free
7. buy components only when you have your design (idea) ready on paper.

 

[superczar]

I will definitely reach out to both of you incase of questions, but as stated above please point me in the right direction and what hardware should I get to start with?

+ 1 to what Boo said plus some
I suggest you start off with an established platform (my vote would be for mysensors) that lets you start small and allows you to scale up as you add components
FOr parts, eBay anyday because you pay only marginally more than aliexpress but get your stuff in days vs months from AE (by the time, you would have lost your interest )

 

[avi]

Requesting mod to merge current thread and also this one, into https://www.techenclave.com/community/threads/the-arduino-thread.125672/ This single thread can be a nice dedicated thread for Arduino, IoTs etc.

What say @Spacescreamer

 

[avi]

Thanks for the merge! Do merge this also, if possible: https://www.techenclave.com/community/threads/an-alternative-to-pi-odroid-c1.173676/

Bought Arduino UNO at 780 each, ordered two. It's a kickass deal: http://www.ventor.co.in/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=300

Stocks are limited, so order quickly. At first I thought it's a clone, but it's not. I confirmed from them before ordering:

@Jasku you may want to buy this. UNO is the beginner 'thingy' to get started on this.

@hotshot05 check this

 

[Jasku]

@avi thanks for the link, but have you bought/have the other stuff @booo suggested? Do I have to solder to get this stuff done?

 

[avi]

^Soldering is not required, usually. Also, I am not gonna get a solder now. I am more interesting writing code than electronics. I will get local help. But I have ordered some other stuff too. @booo was completely right. Ordering individual parts is cheaper.

I have now ordered stuff from:
probots.co.in
ventor.in
hacktronics
ali express

if you are interested in knowing what all I bought, then let me know, I will post my order screenshots.

 

[Jasku]

^Soldering is not required, usually. Also, I am not gonna get a solder now. I am more interesting writing code than electronics. I will get local help. But I have ordered some other stuff too. @booo was completely right. Ordering individual parts is cheaper.

I have now ordered stuff from:
probots.co.in
ventor.in
hacktronics
ali express

if you are interested in knowing what all I bought, then let me know, I will post my order screenshots.

Yes, please.

@booo are any of these DIY kits worth considering? I am interested in home automation, as mentioned want to start getting comfortable with
controller, sensors and the interface.

http://www.ebay.in/sch/i.html?_from....H0.Xbreadboard.TRS0&_nkw=breadboard&_sacat=0

 

[booo]

^too costly. The exact breadboard that shown in the picture of your list is what I bought for something like 40 bucks. the kit costs something like 400. try finding stuff in local market. try making a friend. in Hyd, I used to go to Haridas market in koti. trust me the components are so cheap that you will be surprised.

Btw, its fun to go to the local market and talking to the people rather than shopping on ebay. but if you dont mind about few bucks and want stuff to be delivered at home ebay is a good option.

on the other hand, for home automation, you will need some good sensors and you can get the latest and best sensors in through samples. for free.

Also after you validate your design and stuff on the bread board, you would want to make your own pcb with smd parts with very compact and high quality design. think about it.

 

[avi]

in Hyd, I used to go to Haridas market in koti.

Also, Gujrati Galli, which is near Koti as well. If you are in Bangalore, SP Road it is.

btw breadboards are no longer 40rs these days. prices have gone up. MB102 costs 90-100rs. Also, 90% of these shops, online or offline, source stuff from Ali Express and sell them here.

on the other hand, for home automation, you will need some good sensors and you can get the latest and best sensors in through samples. for free.

From where? Appreciate some links.

@Jasku as Booo already suggested you need sensors. What are you trying to do? @hotshot05 also can recommend you some stuff.

1. If you want lights to turn on when someone enters the room, you get door mat switch, which reside below the mat and complete the switch
2. Or you can get a PIR Sensor HC-SR501 (costs 100-120) and build your own circuit. Or you can get a readymade one like this. You also need a Relay (go with opto-coupler ones).
3. #2 sensor can be also used for intruder alert
4. You can get Ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04, which can be used to measure distance in near by objects.
5. If you want to control everything over internet, get ESP8266 - ESP 03. It's like a cheap ass arduino board with wifi built in. Costs like 200
6. You can couple ESP8266 with Arduino Nano (clone costs 200)
7. If you want to control stuff over bluetooth, get HC-06 (costs 200-250)
8. If you control wirelessly, get 315Mhz or 433Mhz Transmitter and Receiver RF
9. You can use IR Receiver and control everything using your Tv remote
10. Interested in gardening? You can use sensors like DHT-11, this and this for humidity, moisture, rain drops
11. Add ESP8266 with #10, you can water your plants online using some servos or something.
12. You can use a photo resistor which turns on/off inside lights based on sunlight/sunset
13. Using some push buttons you can make your TV turn on whenever your ass lands on the sofa
14. Use a solenoid lock and have your door locked/unlocked over internet, bluetooth etc.
15. Add a 4x4 keypad and make your door password protected

These are some ideas and components I can think of now. As Booo said, use these things to prototype and then you can get a good quality PCB done*

---

Here are some of things I have ordered today. Do note that I already have breadboard, wires, relay etc. I have some project ideas, including home automation, so for prototyping I am getting all these. I want to learn some advanced programming (Machine Learning? Image Recognition? AI?) rather than get into electronics. Specially I want to learn C/C++, for these things embedded stuff is great. I also teach programming to noobs/kids (just basics, loops, controls, functions -- I am a noob myself ), so I bought some stuff in multiple quantities.

Ali Express:
Breadboard with power supply - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/MB10...oard-830-Point-Jumper-cables/32259571737.html
Just poer supply module - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Brea...ard-DIY-2012-New-Free-Shipping/577734407.html
0.96" OLED - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-96...ED-LCD-LED-Display-Module-for/2053302733.html
Bunch of LEDs - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100p...lue-Assorted-Kit-DIY-LEDs-Set/1952164521.html
Stepper Motor with ULN2003 driver - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2PCS...er-motor-note-the-blue-plate/32290477976.html
2 channel relay - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-...DSP-Electronic-10A-raspberry/32271123722.html
Bunch of wires - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free...o-female-and-female-to-female/1844403231.html

Ventor:

Probots:

Hacktronics:

---

I am also thinking to get this and internet component to it. Also, this same thing can be used as wireless relay which is even more safe than opto-coupler ones.

---

If I have posted any wrong information, please let me know.

*though I have no idea how it is done, how costs are cut etc etc.

 

[booo]

From where? Appreciate some links.

TI FTW http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/analog/sensors/overview.page I think almost all the sensors can be sampled. bonus points if you are a student i think.

on the other hand try searching for the components on jaycar/digikey/mouser and then find the company's site and check if they send samples. it usually works but takes a lot of google superpowers.

Image Recognition

afaik, MS's kinect api is the best thing in the world. there are some other based on IR cameras too. I dont recollect the name but there is a proper linux based library for this. something like identifying hand based gestures etc...

 

[superczar]

Talking from first hand experience of a system that has been in production after a lot of hit & trial

Temperature - DS18B20>DHT22>>DHT11, the reliability and accuracy of the 1-wire DS18B20 is beyond par

Motion - While I do use a pre -existing Wemo sensor too, the basic PIR sensors on eBay are almost as good - Using three of them to check for motion in porch and the less used rooms - Planning to add more in the garden

Power - SCT013 (non invasive) >> ACS712 (invasive) - The SCT013 is so accurate that my cumulative power readings are within +- 2% of meter readings every month - BTW I have an extra SCT-013-100 for grabs if in case anyone is interested

Control over the web- Strongly recommend using a linux based central controller on a dedicated board like a Pi2 - Also, working with the arduino for anything more than a standalone basic sensor/actuator processor is expecting a bit too much from the poor thing

Lights & Switch actuators are a different story altogether and there is no real one size fits all sort of a setup
Currently using a combination of Milight, LIFX and Arduino based actuators



TV control - if you use XBMC or any derivative of it, you can use a soft API hook to trigger mood lighting based on state of XBMC
If you also need it for regular Sat broadcasts, you can still use a ping based check to handle lighting based on whether your STB is on/off (assuming your Sat Box has a ethernet plug)

As for door control, strongly suggest using a standalone RFID/keypad based door lock from a reputed manufacturer like Yale (which I use) or Samsung
You really don't want to be stranded outside the house if your wireless router went bust or the RpI decided to play truant
A standalone RFID/keypad lock will suit every use case you can think of vs a mentally controlled one

On another side note, I repeat, playing with Arduinos is incredibly painful and annoying
The only reason I use them is to keep form factor small, costs low and reliability high for standalone sensors/actuators
Once they are setup, they are highly fault tolerant and reliable - The initial setup however is a massive PITA (debugging the code however requires a lot of patience to compile/upload/test each time vs the real time checks you get on a regular computing platform)

 

[avi]

On another side note, I repeat, playing with Arduinos is incredibly painful and annoying

Why so? I find fairly easy.

Is there any software on Linux, which runs on Pi and it manages all the arduinos connected within the same network? Something like this:

- you have a Pi running, which is central hub
- all your arduinos are connected to same network (which Pi is on)
- Pi runs a web server and gives a UI
- and it lets manage all the arduinos connected (basical get heart beat, read/write pins)

 

[hotshot05]

Once your code for Arduino is ready, buy the microcontroller present on your arduino and program it using the Arduino ISP sketch. Then make your PCB and put the uC there. No need to deploy Arduino in actual place since you will need the uC with program only.

uC will cost around Rs.200 whereas one Arduino will cost 500-700
Arduino should be used only till prototype phase. For actual deployment, just use the programmed uC with its PCB or handmade circuit

 

[superczar]

Why so? I find fairly easy.

Is there any software on Linux, which runs on Pi and it manages all the arduinos connected within the same network? Something like this:

- you have a Pi running, which is central hub
- all your arduinos are connected to same network (which Pi is on)
- Pi runs a web server and gives a UI
- and it lets manage all the arduinos connected (basical get heart beat, read/write pins)

It is easy alright, i just find it painful (e.g. if i need to tweak any bit on my production controller on the Pi, I just have to SSH into it , make the changes in real time and done- The whole process for a deployed Arduino is a lot more long drawn and I just end up leaving them as is even if want to make any change - Also, God forbid if you forgot to file, save and give the right name to the modified code especially if there are many deployed arduinos
I coded My power reading sensor Arduino to send a reading back to the controller every three seconds which I later realised was overkill
Yet that's how it has been for 3 months now because I just cannot seem to find the final code I uploaded onto it (RMS AC calculations require some reasonably long drawn code and I can't be bothered to write the whole damned thing again - Of course on a Pi, you would have written a script that does it which I could have modified in a few seconds)

As for your query, head to my sensors.org
It's somewhat untraditional in that it uses 2.4ghz RF rather than your regular TCP/IP network (which makes logical sense because for the tiny data flow you need for arduinos, TCP/IP is overkill + arduino wifi modules are not exactly cheap while 2.4G RF modules (nrf24l01) cost less than 100/-
It uses one arduino as a gateway that connects to the other arduinos that could be working as sensors or switches or whatever else
The gateway connects to a Pi that acts as the central hub to read and process data/write data from/to the other connected Arduinos

It works beautifully well and a majority of my automation relies on it

Once your code for Arduino is ready, buy the microcontroller present on your arduino and program it using the Arduino ISP sketch. Then make your PCB and put the uC there. No need to deploy Arduino in actual place since you will need the uC with program only.

uC will cost around Rs.200 whereas one Arduino will cost 500-700
Arduino should be used only till prototype phase. For actual deployment, just use the programmed uC with its PCB or handmade circuit

While I did not go the whole hog of using just the uC on a board, what I did was use Arduino Pro Minis (around 350) instead of a full blown Uno
Did the cost testing on a Uno and then deployed on the Pro Minis

 

[avi]

^but 2.4Ghz can be interfered by other devices? I have never used it, time to get one

Anwyays, you don't need wifi shield. Check ESP8266 - ESP-03. Costs 200-250. 150-200.

I agree uC vs Pro Mini. For less quantities Pro mini clones comes out as cheaper and easy to manage and maintain

 

[superczar]

^but 2.4Ghz can be interfered by other devices? I have never used it, time to get one

Anwyays, you don't need wifi shield. Check ESP8266 - ESP-03. Costs 200-250.

I agree uC vs Pro Mini. For less quantities Pro mini clones comes out as cheaper and easy to manage and maintain

Possibly, but since the DTR is so low for an arduino, it probably won't matter anyway
In any case, give mysensors a try - The library is quite well written and works quite nicely with minimal fuss and effort
i currently have 2 PIR sensors, 2 DHTs and a SCT013 running on this secondary network
Range is on the lower side though so perhaps might try the ESP8266 too
BTW Good find on the ESP8266 - eBay shows it around 500, any other places to buy ?

 

[hotshot05]

@superczar Where did you get the NRF24L01 for less than Rs.100?
How many pieces did you buy.

I am thinking to do the same thing as you did. Been procrastinating on it for the past 2 years!

 

[avi]

BTW Good find on the ESP8266 - eBay shows it around 500, any other places to buy ?

try ebay.com or ali express. 160Rs each here

Where did you get the NRF24L01 for less than Rs.100?

60Rs each.

Buy some 15-20, cost significantly comes down. Like this one, 45rs each, for 20.

check this one also: NRF24L01+ ATMEGA48

@hotshot05 what do you say about signal interference of 2.4Ghz? I remember reading somewhere, but I don't recall. If I use 10s NRF24L01, will there be any problem?

also, each of those wireless thingies have some unique identifier? like wifi chips have IP

 

[booo]

@hotshot05 @avi & others:
can we ?
1. setup a project in github for your personal projects? (sneaky way of asking you to release your code as open source)
2. use https://waffle.io for tracking the progress?
3. share updates and ask others for help etc while developing opensource/openhardware for your projects?

 

[avi]

Sure, why not!

How to organise projects? A single repo which contains links to other repos containaing projects Or a GitHub organisation which hosts all the projects