Arduino/Rapsberry Pi

mtoutlemonde

I'm just doing a bit of planning (ICT) for next year and someone was telling me that Arduino are relatively cheap and easy to program - I have looked on Amazon but I find they are quite expensive and can only big packs - not what I'm looking for - I would like to get one for myself and see how I get on. Has used any of the above? I'm thinking of doing this with Transition Years as I like the idea of programming a board to do something 'away' from the computer. I did LEDs in University and didn't like that as it was in Networks and Communications which I wasn't a big fan off. Any information gratefully accepted.

SligoBrewer

There's chinese copies of the arduino that are cheaper.

Tom Dunne

While I haven't used them in a while (though I have one sitting under my TV at home), you can get the Raspberry Pi from Radionics Ireland. They sell them in kits, but you can buy an individual unit with power supply/memory card, etc.

mtoutlemonde

Tom Dunne wrote: »

While I haven't used them in a while (though I have one sitting under my TV at home), you can get the Raspberry Pi from Radionics Ireland. They sell them in kits, but you can buy an individual unit with power supply/memory card, etc.

Thanks - I'll check that out. Are they easy to program?

Tom Dunne

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Thanks - I'll check that out. Are they easy to program?

Not if you are doing Assembly Language



But yes, they are fairly straight forward for Python.

mtoutlemonde

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Not if you are doing Assembly Language



But yes, they are fairly straight forward for Python.

Yes - that was my fear - I havn't a clue what we were programming in those Networks and Communications labs all those years ago - didn't see the fascination with flashing LEDs and clock cycles at the time This was the only part of my degree that I hated with a passion.

I had TY ICT last year but not for the whole year and I did HTML, CSS, JavaScript and, Digital Storytelling and Scratch. I will probably do the same this year but will be adding animation and was liking the idea of programming hardware to raise interest in IT degrees etc.

I've just looked at that website and Arduino boards are actually cheaper.

techteacher

lots of arduinos on ebay for 4euro, for teaching resources try instructables and youtube you will find lots of great tutorials, raspberry pi zero would be the next step up? try cesi for code club meetups etc and to meet fellow teachers for further support

Treppen

I had a long reply but it timed out

Anyway my two cent is to not spend money on a bunch of Raspberry Pi's. They'll wind up unused in a box,see example above. There are simple solutions like the Arduino Nano for about €7 which should be enough computing power for a short course. Another option is to get an ESP32 (about 7eur on amazon) and flash it to accept arduino code, that has the option of wifi and bluetooth.

For TY modules buy a bunch of sensors like these on Amazon " ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit ". With the ESP32 they could get the data from the sensors and upload it in realtime to thingspeak. I haven't done it myself but randomnerdtutorials dot com is good for starting out.

If you had any student interested in a bigger woodword/technology project, Smart Mirrors are all the rage these days.

Microsoft have a good few teaching projects readily availble, just do a net search for "Hacking Stem". They're kind of moving over to the Micro:bit but again I'd stick with the arduino option and get a small cheap controller board rather than the recommended Arduino Uno.

There are a few Arduino / Scratch type interfaces out there but I haven't used them.

Paul McWhorter on youtube has an excellent introduction to coding using the Arduino IDE, it's long winded but good for a teacher to start with. he talks about Variables and Integers so

Treppen

Forgot to mention, your school might have just been allocated a new round of IT funding in the last few days, 200eur and access to computer room would see you nicely set up

mtoutlemonde

Treppen wrote: »

Forgot to mention, your school might have just been allocated a new round of IT funding in the last few days, 200eur and access to computer room would see you nicely set up

I'll remember that when I'm told there is no budget

Thanks for the advise above.

trihead

hi,

I would start off with micro:bits first - your money will go a long way. There are also kits suitable for school as well as a lot of lessons plans/projects already online - so less prep. Also good starter before advancing to Raspberry Pi

Kits - https://www.kitronik.co.uk/5618-bbc-microbit-with-inventors-kit-and-accessories.html

Projects etc -

www.Compsci.ie - portal for LCCS - has a section on micro:bits

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/bbc-microbit-beginner-projects/

https://makecode.microbit.org/projects

https://microbit.org/ideas/

https://codeclubprojects.org/en-GB/microbit/

am_zarathustra

Raspberry Pi, aduino and microbit are all easy to use and very easy to program, if you've done html5 etc before it will be no bother to you. I use Arduino and Pi, mainly for the number of resources and for the array of phats (multisensory boards, programmable baby pianos, 64 matrix led boards).

Check out pimeroni, great website and Sterling rate is amazing now. They do wholesale with up to 30% off for schools. A good start kit for raspberry pi will be about 65 Sterling, but this includes wires, chargers, heat sink etc, they add up if you buy them bit by bit.

If you go with Arduino they do an amazing kit with boards and all the setup bits with all the electonics you need and 15 step by step projects, all in, wholesale, I


I think they were around 65eu. Be a great place to start, even includes bits of sample code and work arounds.

Again the kits will be 30% cheaper once you register as a school and spend more than 100 so great value.

EDIT I'm a new poster so I can't post the links, sorry

Enright

Contact your local education centre, they have and would probably loan you Beebots, these are easily programmed, the PSDT run courses in Computational thinking.

In the mean time, Scratch programming will get the students up and going and its free

DublinDilbert

For learning the Arduino you can get the students to register for tinker CAD, where you can connect the Arduino, write the software and simulate everything.

This all can be done from a browser, students can even do work at home. Once everything has been simulated you can download the ino file, which can be compiled for a physical Arduino later on.

https://www.tinkercad.com

Even to get familiar yourself tinkercad would be ideal.

Radionics and Farnell will supply Arduino unos for €20 each, you’ll need usb cables too. They also do kits with motors / sensors for about €50

techteacher

here is a project that I am thinking of getting my students to do next term
https://www.instructables.com/id/Commodore-64-Revamp-With-Raspberry-Pi-Arduino-and-/

i wonder if there are a few more teachers interesting in arranging a meetup event to discuss some fun projects?

Treppen

techteacher wrote: »

here is a project that I am thinking of getting my students to do next term


i wonder if there are a few more teachers interesting in arranging a meetup event to discuss some fun projects?

A bit of time involved with that one there is. I didn't realise lego could be so handy either.

I cant post links but if you search for " Arduino-Marble-Maze-Labyrinth " in the same instructables website that's what I'm thinking of doing!

Maybe arrange a meetup through the CESI google group. Probably leave it till after Christmas when people have time to 'reflect on the learning intentions/outcomes' :pac:

DublinDilbert

techteacher wrote: »

here is a project that I am thinking of getting my students to do next term
https://www.instructables.com/id/Commodore-64-Revamp-With-Raspberry-Pi-Arduino-and-/

i wonder if there are a few more teachers interesting in arranging a meetup event to discuss some fun projects?

Make a really over sized NES controller using the Arduino Leonardo, hid library (as per above ) and some push buttons. It will come up as a game controller in windows. They could design it on CAD, develop drawings and get woodwork/engineering class to make the housing. Would look great during open evenings etc...

DublinDilbert

Also they could write their own instructable on the process, demonstrate a high level of understanding by explaining the process to others. maybe a group project?

Push buttons and Arduino Leonardo would be straight forward enough.