Modkit Micro

[aubiecat]

I was looking on Sparkfun's website and saw this Modkit Micro. What do you guys think about this?
This looks very promising to a guy like me who doesn't have a clue about programming.

EDIT: Fixed the link.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

Looks like it's very much in the early phase (unless I'm missing something about the "will be funded in July" part of it). I would not put a lot of money into something that *depends* on it.

It appears to work with generic core hardware. Weather it does / will /might support the add on bits and pieces you need - who knows. A lot depends on how they plan to support things like relay cards and temperature sensors.

If you go this way, you will be very much a beta tester, likely for a couple years...

Bob

 

[aubiecat]

Honestly if I were to use Modkit it would only be to get me going with Arduino components for network fermenter control.
I am just afraid the programing will be a too overwhelming for me.
I may just buy an Arduino UNO and a wireless ethernet shield and start palying around with it to see what I am getting into.

 

[aubiecat]

Well, well. I just looked at my wish list on Amazon and someone has purchased an UNO rev3 started kit for me. Looks like I am in it now.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Honestly if I were to use Modkit it would only be to get me going with Arduino components for network fermenter control.
I am just afraid the programing will be a too overwhelming for me.
I may just buy an Arduino UNO and a wireless ethernet shield and start palying around with it to see what I am getting into.

Hi

Does the ModKit stuff support a wireless shield? If so does it support the specific one you bought? My guess is that there is an approved hardware list somewhere and it would be a good idea to check it ahead of any purchases.

Bob

 

[aubiecat]

On the page I linked above it shows the supported hardware but I don't see any wireless hardware on there.
The more I look the more I see that the code to get wireless up and running is already out there.
It's not really an issue as of yet because the only gear that I am getting right now is the UNO starter kit.
I am going to wait till I learn a bit more about this stuff before I make a decision about what type of wireless hardware to go with.

 

[Rbeckett]

Arduino Uno is a great starter platform. If you go ahead and get started reading the Arduino info for beginners or something like Arduino 101 you will be way ahead of the game when it gets there. I used Picaxe which is a similar system and had some very good results with programming it to do whatever I desired. The learning curve for Arduino is not too steep and there is a ton of code and different breakout boards available for their system. You can quite literally assemble exactly what you want with little or no engineering or boring resistor calculations. Ohms law is a must learn if you plan to do any circuit design or building too. I started teaching myself Basic Electronics about 2 years ago and have covered the All About Circuits text book and the University of Madras (India) You Tube series on basic and advanced electronics. I have a pretty good fundamental understanding of circuit building, why certain components are where they are and pretty good schematic reading skills now. Basic digital and analog electronics is a fairly easy skill to pick up if your really interested. In addition to being addicted to all things brewing related, I am also big into an electronics workbench and stock to build whatever I want without waiting for a parts order to arrive. So jump in. there are several very smart electronics and electrical guys who will be glad to help anyway possible. I am not much help, but I will be glad to try and help anybody anytime.
Wheelchair Bob

 

[aubiecat]

Hi

Looks like it's very much in the early phase (unless I'm missing something about the "will be funded in July" part of it). I would not put a lot of money into something that *depends* on it.

It appears to work with generic core hardware. Weather it does / will /might support the add on bits and pieces you need - who knows. A lot depends on how they plan to support things like relay cards and temperature sensors.

If you go this way, you will be very much a beta tester, likely for a couple years...

Bob

This is the website I should have linked to Modkit. That is the developers website.
The site I had linked to earlier was Kickstarter. That is a site people can use to market and fund projects like this project. Creators set up a fund goal and a deadline for that amount. If the goal is reached by the end of the deadline than that is when they charge your card. If the goal falls short no one is charged.
That is what "project will be funded on June 15th" means. They set a goal of $20,000 by June 15th. As if today they are at $40,000+ with 10 days to go.

 

[aubiecat]

Arduino Uno is a great starter platform. If you go ahead and get started reading the Arduino info for beginners or something like Arduino 101 you will be way ahead of the game when it gets there. I used Picaxe which is a similar system and had some very good results with programming it to do whatever I desired. The learning curve for Arduino is not too steep and there is a ton of code and different breakout boards available for their system. You can quite literally assemble exactly what you want with little or no engineering or boring resistor calculations. Ohms law is a must learn if you plan to do any circuit design or building too. I started teaching myself Basic Electronics about 2 years ago and have covered the All About Circuits text book and the University of Madras (India) You Tube series on basic and advanced electronics. I have a pretty good fundamental understanding of circuit building, why certain components are where they are and pretty good schematic reading skills now. Basic digital and analog electronics is a fairly easy skill to pick up if your really interested. In addition to being addicted to all things brewing related, I am also big into an electronics workbench and stock to build whatever I want without waiting for a parts order to arrive. So jump in. there are several very smart electronics and electrical guys who will be glad to help anyway possible. I am not much help, but I will be glad to try and help anybody anytime.
Wheelchair Bob

Bob thanks for the reply. Just in the last few days of researching I have found a wealth of information on HBT and further out on the web to make me feel a bit more confident about programing and Arduino.
Fathers Day comes on Saturday for me so I will have the whole weekend to play.

 

[carlisle_bob]

This is the website I should have linked to Modkit. That is the developers website.
The site I had linked to earlier was Kickstarter. That is a site people can use to market and fund projects like this project. Creators set up a fund goal and a deadline for that amount. If the goal is reached by the end of the deadline than that is when they charge your card. If the goal falls short no one is charged.
That is what "project will be funded on June 15th" means. They set a goal of $20,000 by June 15th. As if today they are at $40,000+ with 10 days to go.

Hi

Ok, that looks a little more like a software project. It still looks early though.

The gotcah with hardware like wireless is that the code to run one likely will not run a different one. The registers and the bits to go in them are different between different chip sets. If you want to stay away from code writing, you need a pre-written driver that works with your wireless chip set. The same is true of most hardware.

Bob

 

[aubiecat]

Well Fathers Day came early for me.

My son went through my favorites on Amazon and ordered a few things I had saved there. He wasn't sure what to get me but he did pretty well.
He got me the UNO rev.3 starter kit, a mega 2560, 4 relay module and a few other goodies.
He said he almost ordered the ethernet shield but thought better of it. I just told him he did what I was planning on doing anyway.
Got the drivers and software loaded and playing with it now.
Looks like I will be busy all weekend. :rockin:

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

Looks like a fun pile of stuff.

Enjoy!!!

Bob

 

[aubiecat]

These are coming in today so I'm about to get busy.
Joe Knows LED assortment and Joe Knows resistor kit

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

Blinking lights - always a good thing!

Think a bit about how to store all those resistors. *Finding* one can be tough if you don't have them organized in some way. You also probably will run out of a few values pretty quick. Buy more of them rather than bump up and down in the assortment....

Bob

 

[aubiecat]

Hi

Blinking lights - always a good thing!

Think a bit about how to store all those resistors. *Finding* one can be tough if you don't have them organized in some way. You also probably will run out of a few values pretty quick. Buy more of them rather than bump up and down in the assortment....

Bob

Good thing about these is they come in individual labeled bags so organizing should be easy. I have several plastic divider cases laying around that will come in handy for this.
Oh no doubt, once I figure out what values I need more of I will purchase accordingly.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

I've tried the plastic bag thing for resistors. It works for about three or four visits to the stock pile. You need something that is a bit more robust...

Bob