tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168103372024-03-05T21:46:29.580-06:00Random Thought GeneratorGeneral musings of nobody of importance.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-994002829977872692015-07-11T19:17:00.000-05:002015-07-11T19:18:49.416-05:00Now taking orders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxcdYq0MvGMbh5ef0ABPD_MNb5DS8NAakSDXMfzyevwL3Wam8-_0HG9dyB01t7LhVTp5yGWel3liCAXnCP22BvdamIvcxvgzB9AtiwTzWqLSAH1aN88iEnPh-EJfXjDIaG5JR/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxcdYq0MvGMbh5ef0ABPD_MNb5DS8NAakSDXMfzyevwL3Wam8-_0HG9dyB01t7LhVTp5yGWel3liCAXnCP22BvdamIvcxvgzB9AtiwTzWqLSAH1aN88iEnPh-EJfXjDIaG5JR/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now taking orders for the LT-1000 and the Arduino programming book. Visit <a href="http://www.landonenterprises.com/">www.landonenterprises.com</a> to place your order!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-35884971355425212592015-07-01T19:25:00.000-05:002015-07-01T19:25:50.272-05:00Post Maker Faire Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyF2j0qphoHB9FrHXI2fIbpg-wSiHpczfgeRclSBGKSEmhZUAw1p_MsbvaN2LZEILeAXTcunMMmGjZpZIefOmUhUhNQKLY1hbjJLMveNWEh9BARlUBJeQUgY74bewEaoGw10Bm/s1600/makerfairekc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyF2j0qphoHB9FrHXI2fIbpg-wSiHpczfgeRclSBGKSEmhZUAw1p_MsbvaN2LZEILeAXTcunMMmGjZpZIefOmUhUhNQKLY1hbjJLMveNWEh9BARlUBJeQUgY74bewEaoGw10Bm/s1600/makerfairekc.png" /></a></div>
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It was fun. It was frightening. It was exhilarating. It was exhausting. It was successful. It was disappointing.</div>
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It really was all of the above.</div>
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Most of all it was a learning experience. As I walked into Union Station on Friday evening to set up, I was of mixed emotions. I was doing something that I had dreamed of for years - representing my own company, my own brand, and taking what felt like a giant leap of faith. As my wife, daughter and I set up our little table and figured out how best to display the posters and fliers I thought about the steps it had taken to get there and what I learned along the way. </div>
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I had already learned how NOT to launch a Kickstarter campaign. That was flailing at a whopping 1% funded going into the weekend. I had learned that there was an interest in my board because most who had pledged had stumbled on it on the Kickstarter site and liked the idea.</div>
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I learned about writing a book, and about re-learning programming so I could teach it. I learned that sometimes the hardest part is just forcing yourself to write. Better words will come later, but the idea may not. </div>
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I learned about mass production practices for circuit boards both here in the US and abroad. </div>
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As Saturday morning rolled around and the Faire opened for business, I wondered if I was in over my head. People were swarming everywhere, my table included. I talked to people, I pitched my product, I answered questions and explained what it did and didn't do. I started to feel horse in my throat.</div>
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Then I sold a board. Then another. And more. I picked up on what people were getting and not getting about my board and refined my sales pitch. People kept coming, there was a lot of interest, people took fliers, they took pictures of the posters, they asked questions - and it didn't let up all day!</div>
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I also learned that not being able to take payment via credit/debit card was a bit of a problem. Not a major one but enough to address before the next time I did something like this.</div>
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By the end of the day I had sold over half my boards I had with me.</div>
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Sunday was a bit easier - it was not as crowded. I actually was comfortable letting my wife and daughter take care of the booth while I got a chance to walk around and see what others had on display. People were still stopping by the table and I was still selling boards right up until the end of the day. In all I sold 24 of the thirty boards I had come with. Had I been able to take plastic, I may have sold out. </div>
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Some little things I had realized during the process - the CD that had my Arduino learning book and the sample sketches on it didn't have a URL to my website. D'oh! My circuit boards at least said "Landon Enterprises" on it, which on the 3rd page of a Google search will lead you to my website. Like I said, it's a learning experience.</div>
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Some may wonder why I sold my circuit board while my Kickstarter was still going on. There were several things, really. </div>
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#1, I was looking for around 1000 pledges on the Kickstarter, so 30 boards was not likely to make that big of an impact. </div>
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#2, Having something to sell meant I had a better chance of recouping some of the expense of having the booth.</div>
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#3, Selling the boards meant gauging the demand for my board - more-so than the feedback I was getting through Kickstarter.</div>
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#4, I have worked in retail and I do know a thing or two about impulse buying. The "I gotta have it" feeling can wear off quickly after walking away from the table when there isn't anything there to buy.</div>
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So. It was a start. And it was a good start at that. I'm happy with the results of the sales, but disappointed with the lack of the boost to the Kickstarter I was hoping for (although it is now up to 2% funded). While the Kickstarter campaign might not be successful, the product itself is going to be. That I am confident in. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-80059608825265712712015-06-08T17:51:00.000-05:002015-06-08T17:52:08.732-05:00Kickstarter is Live!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxFfyTpbFQIWMY7TqHixbfsJ_bL7HbRRoPnzCvzNsBWkVWKkL1U9aF-F6EbaCef2S5sNw0G-ubaBoIynSdmtKO1jI-Hvy7DCS65aEo4-6ZsV5QyfqupjqN46zymtKFoFgx9cT/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxFfyTpbFQIWMY7TqHixbfsJ_bL7HbRRoPnzCvzNsBWkVWKkL1U9aF-F6EbaCef2S5sNw0G-ubaBoIynSdmtKO1jI-Hvy7DCS65aEo4-6ZsV5QyfqupjqN46zymtKFoFgx9cT/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are go!<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/56129374/lt-1000-simulator-trainer-board">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/56129374/lt-1000-simulator-trainer-board</a><br />
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The project is live! There are only 30 days remaining! Please go and preorder your board so this can become a reality!<br />
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The book is truly in the final stages and should get to the printer in the next 48 hours (if I will have copies for Kansas City, that is)<br />
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Also don't forget the <a href="http://makerfairekc.com/">Kansas City Maker Faire</a> is now less than three weeks away at this point. Hopefully I will see some of you there!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyF2j0qphoHB9FrHXI2fIbpg-wSiHpczfgeRclSBGKSEmhZUAw1p_MsbvaN2LZEILeAXTcunMMmGjZpZIefOmUhUhNQKLY1hbjJLMveNWEh9BARlUBJeQUgY74bewEaoGw10Bm/s1600/makerfairekc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyF2j0qphoHB9FrHXI2fIbpg-wSiHpczfgeRclSBGKSEmhZUAw1p_MsbvaN2LZEILeAXTcunMMmGjZpZIefOmUhUhNQKLY1hbjJLMveNWEh9BARlUBJeQUgY74bewEaoGw10Bm/s1600/makerfairekc.png" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-90703639149401259752015-05-25T18:21:00.001-05:002015-05-25T18:22:34.637-05:00Kansas City, Here I come<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZpbVZ9C1y0nXHUUXx9UyXmEEihsUMFodtKmozblg7ekYZe2uHc14xovF2ODaaDR5IrO0A87ycQ97ry4HY7ZJpUI9rAYdeaguWnQaVQGzL0ZvNlOGf0cclRM5RDczf-MUZoe6/s1600/makerfairekc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZpbVZ9C1y0nXHUUXx9UyXmEEihsUMFodtKmozblg7ekYZe2uHc14xovF2ODaaDR5IrO0A87ycQ97ry4HY7ZJpUI9rAYdeaguWnQaVQGzL0ZvNlOGf0cclRM5RDczf-MUZoe6/s1600/makerfairekc.png" /></a></div>
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I have officially been accepted as a vendor at the <a href="http://www.makerfairekc.com/">Kansas City Maker Faire</a>! Do not know where my booth will be, hopefully in the main hall but in any case this is great news and a major step for this startup!</div>
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Now I just have to get the crowdfunding campaign going, and complete and edit the Arduino programming book to accompany it. I plan on having a limited number of boards on hand (small batch I made hand-soldering them) and hopefully some hard copies of the book as well. </div>
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In addition, I will have some hands-on demonstrations, including showing how this is a better learning system than breadboarding everything.</div>
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Hopefully I will see some readers there!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-70460541709454504512015-05-13T14:27:00.000-05:002015-05-13T14:33:57.104-05:00Frustrating day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9y9ULHcSegDWTbioWcWgXczAr6fPXLcWj8RJ0jMZoPRoLhTZVcBIS8dmSQzTv-N18PtKI_HR6-Pu8AqVwJnBy1s99CJ9aTqWF4MEPdJ4vRr-xs5IYUvUQBBUnpq39G1uAO8W/s1600/lt-1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9y9ULHcSegDWTbioWcWgXczAr6fPXLcWj8RJ0jMZoPRoLhTZVcBIS8dmSQzTv-N18PtKI_HR6-Pu8AqVwJnBy1s99CJ9aTqWF4MEPdJ4vRr-xs5IYUvUQBBUnpq39G1uAO8W/s320/lt-1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I took time off from my day job yesterday and today to get some work done on my circuit board project. Of course, today my web hosting provider has been having some major issues - email is non-existent and the site is inaccessible. I was expecting some replies to some request for quotes on my circuit board, but everything sent to the landonenterprises.com email is getting bounced.<br />
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What I have succeeded in getting done was getting request for quotes out (which I may have to try again) and getting a major start on the illustrations needed for my training book. Also, I have applied for a booth at the <a href="http://www.makerfairekc.com/">Kansas City Maker Faire</a>. Have not gotten a confirmation yet, but I have done my part.<br />
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Here is what I hope to have at the Maker Faire (providing they accept my application). In addition to providing information on my trainer board, I plan to have a hands-on showing about how much simpler it is to use my board over a breadboard, a way to get people signed up for my crowdfunding campaign, and a very limited supply of boards and books.<br />
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And right now I need to get back to work on getting those tings accomplished.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-746472408465321792015-04-02T14:20:00.002-05:002015-04-02T14:20:50.539-05:00The new website<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://landonenterprises.com/assets/asset-1427813810344.png?v=0.39280224591493607" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://landonenterprises.com/assets/asset-1427813810344.png?v=0.39280224591493607" height="40" width="400" /></a></div>
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I think it looks nice.<br />
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Of course, I'm biased. A, it's my website and B, I designed it. No it isn't finished, but it has a great start and is functional for now. In fact I expect to do very little with it over the next few weeks as I need to focus my energy on other things right now.<br />
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First, I need to find and nail down a source for my circuit board assemblies. Then I can nail down my costs and get pricing figures out for my intended crowdsource fundraising.<br />
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Second I need to finish my first trainer book. Not much is left for actual writing but there is that editing and formatting business to do. Not to mention illustrations that will be needed. I have found a self-publisher source that should be able to supply at a cost that will allow me to sell the book at a reasonable price and still make some money on the side.<br />
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I'm still looking into a booth at the Kansas City Maker Faire this June. At this point, it may coincide with the crowdsourcing campaign, which could provide a major boost. My only problem with doing that would be not as much time to spend visiting all the other booths.<br />
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Just in case anyone is wondering why I am taking so long to get this off the ground - I haven't mentioned this before and probably won't bring it up again. But I will just say that I am still working 40-50 hours a week at my day job, have a family with two kids, and play guitar with a band. My wife has been very patient and gracious in letting my 'honey-do' list slide a lot over the last few months (thank you, dear).<br />
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So here is the rundown on where you can follow this project:<br />
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Website: <a href="http://www.landonenterprises.com/">www.landonenterprises.com</a><br />
Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MicroTrainer">www.facebook.com/MicroTrainer</a><br />
Pinterest: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/landonenterpris/">www.pinterest.com/landonenterpris/</a><br />
Google+:<a href="http://plus.google.com/+Landonenterprises"> plus.google.com/+Landonenterprises</a><br />
Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/MichaelELandon">twitter.com/MichaelELandon</a><br />
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Make sure to share with others who would be interested!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-86746636628413959502015-03-26T12:38:00.000-05:002015-03-31T20:33:32.969-05:00SetbacksYou would think in this day and age setting up a website wouldn't be that big an issue.<br />
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Well, Murphy's law took effect in my first attempt to set up www.landonenterprises.com as my business website to help launch my trainer board. I didn't have much there other than a couple pages saying little more than "coming soon," but apparently I had chosen the wrong hosting plan and long story short they had to delete what little I had done in order to get me on the 'right' plan (of course, more expensive, but not enough to lose sleep over).<br />
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And of course that get's straightened out right before I start having some health issues that kept me from updating it.<br />
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Anyway, I have a web-site launching real soon (hopefully this weekend). I am also going to have dedicated business feeds for updates on Google +, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Possibly even for this blog. Soon. As they say in the south. "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise."<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-87227178171440529092015-03-02T18:15:00.000-06:002015-03-02T18:22:08.454-06:00March news!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10998865_357032171168527_2457136112938731450_n.jpg?oh=90089ae9ef405abaa3c764b6e329125b&oe=55925DBF&__gda__=1435623734_fc019ea2fce96fa392314bb0e9c17df4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10998865_357032171168527_2457136112938731450_n.jpg?oh=90089ae9ef405abaa3c764b6e329125b&oe=55925DBF&__gda__=1435623734_fc019ea2fce96fa392314bb0e9c17df4" width="320" /></a></div>
Played around a bit with connecting my board to a Raspberry Pi. It works quite well, as expected. Python is a really easy to learn programming language (reminds me a lot of programming on my old Commodore64!). I should have no trouble writing a book on learning to program that when the time comes.<br />
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The Arduino programming book is about 95% written! Have some text written for each chapter (11 in all), then there is just some editing, some sample programs, some diagrams, maybe a few more screen-shots, and one chapter needs a re-write thanks to the Arduino folks releasing a new version of the IDE since I wrote the chapter on that!<br />
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So the time has come to start spreading the word. Tell your friends and fellow microcontroller enthusiasts, STEM educators, science teachers and everyone else who may have the slightest interest in this board.<br />
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I'm going to try to put together a short promotional video to put on YouTube sometime in the next week, as soon as I can find some time (just hope it does not go viral for the wrong reasons!). It won't be anything fancy just a bit about the board and how useful it can be as a teaching aide and as a programmer aid.<br />
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You can also follow this project now on Facebook at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MicroTrainer">www.facebook.com/MicroTrainer</a>. I can add pictures easier there and short updates that do not require writing out a full blog post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-84717101575428285912015-02-08T15:14:00.000-06:002015-02-08T15:25:49.545-06:00Hibernation is over!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU8_-tacraT48xPJOFTg2MKLvRyj33rBOrJZPVj6BczzP57mgD3oGoM1AXhk9g-7J0fKKpTBDhWKfjdKc6XCVHhokHAGvAtjb5MCsoIoPquAPnEkLnKZw2o3y18YZ8kzykdtF/s1600/464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU8_-tacraT48xPJOFTg2MKLvRyj33rBOrJZPVj6BczzP57mgD3oGoM1AXhk9g-7J0fKKpTBDhWKfjdKc6XCVHhokHAGvAtjb5MCsoIoPquAPnEkLnKZw2o3y18YZ8kzykdtF/s1600/464.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a>OK, so it has been awhile since I had anything to really say. The holidays really bit into my schedule, and then I had several weeks of writer's block. The dam has not exactly burst, but it is leaking severely and I am making some progress. I had hoped to have the kickstarter going by the end of February but it the book is still quite a ways from being finished and it will probably be late march at the soonest.<br />
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That being said, I have not been completely idle and have started playing around more with the Raspberry Pi, which I hope to write a programming book for as well. And yes, the training board will work with it too.<br />
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I'm toying around with the idea of having a booth at the Kansas City Maker Faire to show off my training board. I plan to be there, booth or not, but having a booth would be nice. I do plan to have a booth at the Des Moines Maker Faire, but that is at the end of Summer so I have a lot more time to get ready for that.<br />
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So the project is not dead. It just went into hibernation for a while. And it is a little sluggish yet, but moving forward!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-28386648577042692512014-11-09T16:04:00.001-06:002014-11-09T16:05:24.786-06:00Book Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDVqDHRV_TUK8wh1GWadUYpUIbijMhsjn7w5Zyr_ZALNDW3i-83y_aOY0-bAzs4VcLhZBmpBlvF8r07HuyiALk7NG2pzfSSwnkdnTAgYqjzKkTRwITP2uiP9T0mePvoR99yZP/s1600/464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDVqDHRV_TUK8wh1GWadUYpUIbijMhsjn7w5Zyr_ZALNDW3i-83y_aOY0-bAzs4VcLhZBmpBlvF8r07HuyiALk7NG2pzfSSwnkdnTAgYqjzKkTRwITP2uiP9T0mePvoR99yZP/s1600/464.JPG" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
I apologize for not keeping up with the postings. Most of my free time lately has been spent writing my book, which has not given me much time for anything else. Part of what I am going through is trying to explain concepts that I have used so much they are like second nature to me for the past 30+ years. Think about explaining why 1+1=2 through writing and you get the idea.<br />
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But I have <span style="font-family: inherit;">5 solid chapters at </span>this stage, and I have several more in mind, but not quite enough ideas yet to fill the pages I hope to have before the book is "done." I'm shooting for a finished book to be between 80 and 100 pages so I can sell a paper copy for about $10, and pretty much give away electronic versions (I'm trying to stay as affordable as I can with this).<br />
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After researching this a bit more, I do believe I can still release the book under Creative Commons via the noncommercial and no derivative version of the license - you can distribute my work as long as I get credit for it, you don't make any changes, and you don't charge for it. That way teachers can make copies for their students (either printed or electronic) and be completely legal. Sure, someone can put it on a torrent site but it isn't a lot of good without buying the board anyway.<br />
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Here is the table of contents so far:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-542521d2-9687-100f-f3eb-c292a17b5444"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chapter 0: The Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment - or “your programming software”). </span></span></span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-542521d2-9687-bc8e-3d15-d2f721819e5d"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chapter 1: Blink (Blink the LED)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 2: Variables and Traffic Lights</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chapter 3: Logic, Input from the Outside World, and If Statements (or If the World was Logical)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chapter 4: Boolean Math and More on the If statement (Not as hard as it sounds!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some other concepts to be taught will be sending serial data to the computer, </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; white-space: pre-wrap;">arithmetic</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> operations, more variable types, etc. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my book!</span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-72669926647253728662014-10-31T07:20:00.000-05:002014-10-31T07:24:28.730-05:00New stuff to ponder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjQ5z8jntEC0T8GFuzK3JcGGK-JfXRDxYM1Xe8B9KB1gAqSOouJ1VcHE_YWEI1fWuClToe78PXNkhyF8AtIOL0sycHncuetEVp2m1YIEf5ZlyL35pfmdIf8euImkMApI3f6DE/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjQ5z8jntEC0T8GFuzK3JcGGK-JfXRDxYM1Xe8B9KB1gAqSOouJ1VcHE_YWEI1fWuClToe78PXNkhyF8AtIOL0sycHncuetEVp2m1YIEf5ZlyL35pfmdIf8euImkMApI3f6DE/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
So I haven't been saying much lately. Got a bit overwhelmed and a case of cold feet and had to re-evaluate just what I needed to do.<br />
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So, in order to sell my trainer board, I realized that the simple lessons I had planned are not going to cut it. I'm having to write a book on programming the Arduino.<br />
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Now I know there are plenty of books out there, but what I am working on at this point is a short (80-100 pages tops) introductory with my little trainer board the only thing besides an Arduino Uno needed to learn a good chunk of programming. No kit of expensive parts, no tangents about getting parts from broken electronics, just basic digital I/O programming that can later lead to that other stuff.<br />
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So at this point I have chapters 0 and 1 written (0 deals with the Arduino IDE, 1 is the first actual program), at least a good draft of them. Plus I already know what is going to happen in the next three, and a good idea of what will be in the rest. The last chapter will be about how to use the board as a tool in writing and testing your own programs.<br />
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Because this is now turning into a book instead of what I thought would be simple lessons, I may not be able to release them under creative commons like I had intended. I want to support the open source movement and all but with all the work I'm having to put into this I want to make sure I'm protecting my work as well, so I'm looking into other options as I have the chance.<br />
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Please, share this blog with others who would be interested!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-28910676577190662572014-10-23T12:45:00.002-05:002014-10-23T16:29:41.460-05:00Production Prototypes are here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrT0ARJT8gWIv81ON7IgVwoSHeMEVP2spIyt1j00vequA2H4pvM4ov0TCtIMWMgWawwd2OKpiwk6_npPReecW7cWCi5Ga1kxoXXzj6Xt86Uh0iyew4RYd2dmW2ZdB4xLsCZvQ/s1600/Untitled+drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrT0ARJT8gWIv81ON7IgVwoSHeMEVP2spIyt1j00vequA2H4pvM4ov0TCtIMWMgWawwd2OKpiwk6_npPReecW7cWCi5Ga1kxoXXzj6Xt86Uh0iyew4RYd2dmW2ZdB4xLsCZvQ/s1600/Untitled+drawing.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Here's what the prototype board looks like when assembled! Cute little board it turned into.<br />
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So tonight I get to work on my lessons using this little board - got some ideas over the last couple days that I want to add to my overall plan.<br />
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More to come soon, and please share this with interested parties!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-45467192662293116822014-10-10T12:01:00.000-05:002014-10-10T12:02:13.103-05:00Prototype Boards have shipped!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjQ5z8jntEC0T8GFuzK3JcGGK-JfXRDxYM1Xe8B9KB1gAqSOouJ1VcHE_YWEI1fWuClToe78PXNkhyF8AtIOL0sycHncuetEVp2m1YIEf5ZlyL35pfmdIf8euImkMApI3f6DE/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjQ5z8jntEC0T8GFuzK3JcGGK-JfXRDxYM1Xe8B9KB1gAqSOouJ1VcHE_YWEI1fWuClToe78PXNkhyF8AtIOL0sycHncuetEVp2m1YIEf5ZlyL35pfmdIf8euImkMApI3f6DE/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
Got a twitter notification last night that my prototype boards have shipped! I should see them in the next week or so. Time to order parts for them!<br />
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Not entirely sure about my time-line, but I hope to launch a Kickstarter campaign somewhere in the next few weeks. Unfortunately it will not be ready in time for Christmas. Had I started a few weeks earlier, it might have worked. Sorry.<br />
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Anyway, I got a suggestion that multiple colors of LEDs might be a good idea (as opposed to all red like my first prototype). It won't affect the cost too adversely (I can still make my desired selling point). Multiple colors of LEDs got me thinking about possibilities for my lesson plan too.<br />
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Speaking of the lesson plan, I also looked into the cost of publishing of said plan in a booklet format, and that looks possible. Potentially be a value added stretch goal or even part of the main project.<br />
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That's all for this update. I will have some time to work on lessons plans this weekend, so the next couple of posts will probably be about those.<br />
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Don't forget to share this post with anyone who may be interested!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-46310484329935985592014-10-07T13:28:00.001-05:002014-10-07T13:30:16.374-05:00Don't Blink!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARZQJe_WMPz5NxtbZAU0bGGqezJGMW1JYzLhYDE7FWvt1fd1bmQ076vLDGLeBcYZoHxanN-fjg1lfEGE6FGnAM-bt2zHB90K4bixihqlhPGFUEaiJlRxKjjUAJl9OtsI_hM2U/s1600/20141003_122356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARZQJe_WMPz5NxtbZAU0bGGqezJGMW1JYzLhYDE7FWvt1fd1bmQ076vLDGLeBcYZoHxanN-fjg1lfEGE6FGnAM-bt2zHB90K4bixihqlhPGFUEaiJlRxKjjUAJl9OtsI_hM2U/s1600/20141003_122356.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Have the first lesson for Arduino use in rough draft format. It consists of some basic syntax of programming in the Arduino IDE and outputs with the program "Blink" (It is the 'hello world' of the controller universe). Lesson two is firmly in my head dealing with inputs and conditional statements with the program "Light on, light off" (push a button to turn the LED on, push a second to turn it off).<br />
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After that I intend to go into variables and such, but after that I'm still working on.<br />
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I intend to get a beginner's introduction with several experiments using my board with the Arduino, then start on a version for the Raspberry Pi. Beyond that I may do a version for the BeagleBone Black, but that is probably the end of my porting to other controllers (Not that I would be against others porting it to their board of choice).<br />
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I won't be posting every day, but I will try to keep people updated on my progress 2-3 times a week, and post polished versions of my lessons as I go.<br />
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Spread the word and leave comments about what you think on this project.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-82995541819717746132014-10-05T07:36:00.000-05:002014-10-05T13:49:38.366-05:00Prototyping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcahIKvZ-28JZW45VygVGP1_c_zn8jQY-I_DdTE2VudXUnOHERvtsrFSY5uCURbsq-YsKdhC5jVRN4UNOO-Z6pFhsGnmH6jZQY2bfxHGo2rzigw5GtG3iArYuPjtXxAEd3xq2/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcahIKvZ-28JZW45VygVGP1_c_zn8jQY-I_DdTE2VudXUnOHERvtsrFSY5uCURbsq-YsKdhC5jVRN4UNOO-Z6pFhsGnmH6jZQY2bfxHGo2rzigw5GtG3iArYuPjtXxAEd3xq2/s1600/trainer+prototype.png" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
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Bright and early today!</div>
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So this is the mark 2 prototype board I ordered a few days ago. I only ordered 10 boards, which I hope to let some people test for me as for their usefulness. I am dropping the RGB LEDs from this board - I have a second, more advanced companion board in mind if this one goes well, and it would deal with PWM and analog signals. I had included them on my prototypes because I thought it would be rather cool, but I'm not as sure at this point they belong on this board.</div>
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A second reason is that they are a bit on the pricey side. Granted, it's only a few dollars, but I want to make this board as affordable as possible and still make a little bit on the side. I hope to make this available at about $20. Something I could afford.myself. </div>
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It will be another couple of weeks before the boards get to me. In the mean time, I will be creating lessons and figuring out how to run a Kickstarter campaign.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-25294496534494897562014-10-03T12:28:00.001-05:002014-10-05T13:49:38.363-05:00More thoughts on what makes it useful.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikTCo73UWYA3hy3fequ17MMw3ImBQ4Zvvkp7DFVrvFQzjywPKADAFw3-Y8U4MuxscDwYTD_xEjsA10zWsbqVQYOWntgi19-H7eYMC-_5r9DltuQONVnS-gRkd0idJ2rwuz5u5/s1600/20141003_122356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikTCo73UWYA3hy3fequ17MMw3ImBQ4Zvvkp7DFVrvFQzjywPKADAFw3-Y8U4MuxscDwYTD_xEjsA10zWsbqVQYOWntgi19-H7eYMC-_5r9DltuQONVnS-gRkd0idJ2rwuz5u5/s1600/20141003_122356.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
You know the nice and neatly organized work benches where everything is in its place? I've seen pictures of them too. Like most people, I end up using the kitchen table in a sort of time-share program with the rest of my family and their projects. My daughter's Arduino and parts are kept inside of a small box with an assortment of zip-lock bags to keep her components in. Now unless you are really meticulous and focused, small parts will fall off the table and find a home somewhere under the fridge or get vacuumed up, never to be seen again, and probably not missed until the lesson requires that very piece. I had that problem when I was still in high school and teaching myself electronics. Sure I had a desk in my room, but I also had to do homework and other stuff on that desk, and it wasn't large enough for everything to have its own place. I was always loosing parts. And often finding them behind some papers in a drawer or lodged in the carpet long after I had biked over to Radio Shack to get a replacement.<br />
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Well, even though my trainer board is rather small, it is a lot more obvious than a resistor when it is time to clean up. It gets knocked on the floor, you will find it pretty easily (not the mention probably hear it fall). So there's another rather big benefit.<br />
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So I'm thinking educators might find it useful too. After all, can you imagine a class of high school students, even if they all were really interested in the class, keeping track of a box of parts for a whole semester, let alone a year? You might have that one kid that never looses anything manage but on the whole you are going to have to replace a lot of parts. Not to mention the slew of questions the students will have when assembling their first circuits (see my list from my last post!).<br />
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Anyway, my potential market keeps growing. Time to order some prototypes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-21479952888493188042014-10-02T13:33:00.000-05:002014-10-02T13:34:19.704-05:00So What?My little board doesn't really do anything, so what is the big deal?<br />
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Let's take the first general lesson from any number of micro-controller programming lessons - blink an external LED. And for simplicity lets also use an Arduino in our example. You need to somehow (maybe with a breadboard) connect an LED and resistor in series between the output pin and the ground. Not a complicated circuit, most engineers could do that in their sleep. But if the student has never done anything really with electronics before, think of the questions they may have. Does it matter which way the LED is going? How do you tell what is the right way? Why do you need the resistor? What resistor do you use? How do I find the right resistor? Does it matter which way the resistor goes in the circuit? Does it matter which side of the LED the resistor goes?<br />
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Well, with my little board it let's you skip over a lot of those questions and leave that for another day. My daughter wanted to see her program do something, not get a lesson on electronics. Eventually she will want to know how and why that works, but my board skips the boring stuff for now and lets her get on to with the 'making it do something' part. You know - the fun stuff.<br />
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So I'm thinking if this helps the learning curve for my daughter, what about others who are more comfortable at a keyboard than at a soldering station? Would others be interested in what I made as well? That's what I am looking into at this point. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-91732693955316979152014-10-01T10:14:00.001-05:002014-10-01T11:21:39.205-05:00More information<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43Hyl8TFlXca42EkHmyPYCqxtwoYenz9BQwoWMSqkzY1JymERQYYDkClGHvIbL8hPZ_YfcyKR7_BNS2YMB14KFgS7D7NlGyLuiWpqOg2LDfzcaftONfDX0BAWA5_MYKrY1S7k/s1600/trainer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43Hyl8TFlXca42EkHmyPYCqxtwoYenz9BQwoWMSqkzY1JymERQYYDkClGHvIbL8hPZ_YfcyKR7_BNS2YMB14KFgS7D7NlGyLuiWpqOg2LDfzcaftONfDX0BAWA5_MYKrY1S7k/s1600/trainer.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
This is the board I came up with. No, it's not much to look at, and it doesn't do much. Just 8 buttons, 8 red LEDs, and two RGB LEDs. But it makes the learning experience a little less time consuming. There is already a resistor for each LED, and all the commons are brought together for one connection to ground on whatever board (Arduino, RPi, etc.). You don't have to 'build' your I/O circuits, just connect them. (but you still have to have some understanding as to how they work).<br />
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Now this is just a start. I'm working on some lessons and examples using the Arduino Uno right now, and will start working on some Raspberry Pi examples soon as well.<br />
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Stay Tuned!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16810337.post-17454798377792964572014-09-30T13:07:00.001-05:002014-10-01T11:21:39.200-05:00Back from the dead and a new missionI haven't posted in so long I'm surprised that the account wasn't deleted!<br />
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Anyway, instead of posting on the random things in my life, I have more of a mission this time. I've been having some fun learning and teaching my daughter about the new wave of electronics experimenting boards such as the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, and so on. My introduction to electronics was through component-based kits of the 70's and early 80's, and I enjoyed them immensely and they pushed me to become the engineer I am today.<br />
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But somewhere in the late 80's and 90's these things fell out of popular view. More and more the idea of interest in electronics was associated with computers and programming than actually building something. Component level electronics faded as a hobby, and even though engineers lamented the fact is just became accepted.<br />
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The somewhere in the 2000's the Arduino was introduced. It really wasn't much - just a micro-controller with some support chips and a programming port (RS-232 at first, then USB and even Ethernet on some now) and the I/O pins brought to headers so one could connect buttons and LEDs to it and program it to do stuff. I'm still a bit fuzzy on what all happened because it didn't come across my radar until late 2011 when I had a project at work dropped into my lap involving one.<br />
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While I didn't like the project that much (I worked 24 hrs straight to get it done because some moron decided to add features at 4:30 PM the day before it had to work), I was fascinated by this little controller board - it was simple, inexpensive, powerful, and it was limited by imagination more than anything else.<br />
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So over the last few years I have been working with various Arduino boards and shields both at work and on my own, as well as designing a couple custom shields for work projects. I got a Raspberry Pi that I found Linux to actually be useful for something (have a few projects in the works for those as well). And one of these days I'll get to play with a BeagleBone as well.<br />
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Along the way I introduced my genius daughter to the Arduino with some interesting results. She liked the idea but found the dealing with components frustrating as a beginner. She understood the software side much more than the hardware and constructing a circuit to do what she wanted became too time consuming for her (she reads, writes her own stories, does volunteer work at a local library, and is also into soccer, running, art, chemistry, programming, and well, you see her schedule is a bit busy). So I looked for kits that would make things easier for her to try out her circuits. And what little I found was thorough, but also a bit pricey. There are some good kits out there if you can shell out the money, but what I was looking for was rather simple. And I didn't really want it to be tied to one platform either.<br />
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So I came up with a rather simple board with some LEDs and buttons. Nothing really fancy, but usable. So usable I think I might be onto something. I'll post more really soon!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321690046346334062noreply@blogger.com0