The most popular development boards is without a doubt Arduino. It is open-source and it’s been around since 2005. There are lots of different models and libraries. My goal for now is just get started and see it in action. To achieve this, first stop is the official site where you can download the drivers and IDE. After download simply unzip the contents to a folder.

A great place to start playing with it is Adafruit. You can find the link for Arduino tutorials in the resources section below. I simply started with Lesson 1 and changed the speed of the onboard LED.

So it takes minutes to get started with it and comes loaded with a bunch of examples so they made it very easy for beginners.

Troubleshooting

Error: stk500_getsync() not in sync resp=0x00 This error means that Arduino couldn’t be found in the COM port. To resolve the issue:

• Use Device Manager and make sure Arduino is connected. It should be listed under Ports node. Note the COM port number
• Then from Tools –> Serial Port make sure the correct port is selected.

Resources

• Arduino Official
• Adafruit tutorials

Kodu is basically a tool for kids to develop games without writing code. You can select form a bunch of items to place in your “world” and use the visual programming language to program the actions. The best part is you don’t have to start from scratch. You can browse the existing worlds play with it and start editing it right away. For example below is a screenshot of a game developed by California Institute of Technology:

You can download any game, play and modify to your liking. It’s very easy and fun way to build games. Especially if you have young children or you are one!

Resources

• Official site
• Microsoft Research site

Soon after I started playing with Gadgeteer it became a bit messy. Components were dangling by the cables and there was no way of keeping them steady. But it is about to change as I have discovered the Tamiya Universal Plate.

Although it’s main purpose is not for Gadgeteer it works great with it. I bought mine from Proto-Pic for around £10 so it’s a small price to pay to keep my design tidy.

Here’s the link for it: http://proto-pic.co.uk/tamiya-70172-universal-plate-l-210x160mm/?gclid=CLT44pym1bgCFbHKtAoddxEAjw

And here’s how I can organize my Gadgeteer designs:

I bought 3mm screws and nuts to pin the components but saw some plastic long pins that can be used for the same purpose and would work better as screwing all components is a bit tedious. I’ll update the post if I find those pins.