Hello to everybody on the blog!
I love Dave's stuff! His BS blog on "Solar Roadways" really sold me. I knew it had to be BS just from the standpoint of durability! Have you seen the condition of most roads? There is a reason they make them out of cement!
So now that the pot called the kettle black, (my pet project is setting up automated gardens on Mars for the first explorers,) let me tell you of an effort I am making.
I work with an odd group of people on various other blogs about various subjects. They all tie into gardening though. Not just your everyday gardening, but usually "sustainable" gardening. You can read that as "Hippie" gardening if you like! It's actually got some good points, but is short on tech and long on labor. I have been trying for years now to automate sustainable gardening so that it can be tended to by more machinery and less people.
To that end, some of the Hippies are interested in my efforts and want me to teach some of my methods. Computers I get, electromechanical I have worked with, I even understand some basic coding, but my knowledge of electronics is limited to the board level. By board level I mean, "Hmmmmm, this board is bad. Take it out and put in a new one!"
Efforts have progressed to the point that I need to get educated, so I can educate. So here's what I am looking for.
Go back, way back to day one when you took your Mom's blender apart or shocked yourself trying to get flaming crumbs out of the toaster. Remember those days when you had enthusiasm but no knowledge? Ok, that's where the Hippies are and they want to learn about electronics. What would you recommend for them?
I want to put together a kit for them, cheap as possible. Any free or low cost books you can recommend would be greatly appreciated!
Kit needs a multimeter. Now they won't be measuring anything high voltage, so it can be a Chinese knockoff model. I will make sure and tell them to keep it out of the wall sockets! Auto ranger would be great, so they don't constantly blow fuses, misread numbers or blow up the meter.
I already have a list of simple components we will be covering in the class below. Can you guys take a look and see what's BS, what's good and what might need to be changed? I am guiding the series online through YouTube videos, so I will be there to explain the basics to these people.
1. An Arduino R3 Starter Kit. (Or an equivalent.) Comes with a breadboard, breadboard wires with terminated ends and a project holder for the breadboard and Arduino.
2. A 100 Ohm resistor. A 220 Ohm resistor. A 3,300 Ohm resistor. A 1 Mega Ohm resistor. (Rough value equivalents are fine.) One potentiometer.
3. Two red LEDs. Two green LEDs. A blue LED.
4. A 100 uF electrolytic capacitor. A small plastic film capacitor.
5. A set of alligator lead clips.
6. A multimeter. (Still working on the best model.)
7. A solid sate relay and a electromechanical relay. (Mechanicals are used in drip systems, etc.)
Again, this is a super simple, super cheap, "get your feet wet" attempt to introduce complete novices to electronics. As such, I want people to invest $100 US or less in the class- and walk away with stuff they can still use.
We are using the Arduino as a simple source of different voltages and later for sensing temp, humidity, moisture, etc and then doing something about it by actually opening a valve, starting a fan, etc. I could just jump to sticking sensors in the Arduino, but I want people to at least know what a resistor is, what a capacitor is, etc. The combination are needed in my opinion.
The eventual goal is to have automated gardens on Mars waiting for the astronaut explorers to harvest fresh vegetables!
But today's goal is a working knowledge of electricity.
Thanks for your help!
Jeff