I need Kit Advice

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tnjeff
 
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I need Kit Advice

Post by tnjeff »

I am the parent of a high school sophomore who is in an engineering track at school and has participated in the First Robotics competition. He would like to do a little more on his own so I'm considering either a BOE Bot (Basic Stamp) kit or a BOE bot with Arduino kit. My impression is that the Arduino kit might be more flexible, but the "regular" BOE bot kit might be easier for a beginner. I was hoping for for a couple of opinions that would help me decide which to get. He has no programming experience.
Many thanks.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: I need Kit Advice

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Hi. I've coached & mentored First Robotics teams for 5 years now. I'd suggest the Arduino version. BASIC is a nice beginner-friendly sounding name for a language, but it is really not much easier to learn - and limiting in the long-run. The C/C++ based Arduino language is more in line with the languages that most First teams are using. (Robot-C, NXC, BrixC, etc) On top of that, the Arduino community is huge and helpful. :D

You might also want to keep an eye out for the Arduino Robot: http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2013/08/27 ... ino-robot/

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tnjeff
 
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Re: I need Kit Advice

Post by tnjeff »

Thanks for your reply. I am leaning toward the Arduino version. As far as documentation, I assume that this, http://learn.parallax.com/ShieldRobot is pretty much it. Are there any other resources, printed or web, that would be useful for the Parallax BOEBot Robot for Arduino Kit?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: I need Kit Advice

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That covers the BOEBOT platform pretty well. Of course all the Arduino documentation is applicable as well.
This is the on-line language reference: http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/HomePage
And some excellent books:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/263
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1019
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1457

The BoeBot kit comes with an assortment of simple sensors and such, but it is an pen-ended platform that can be expanded with additional sensors and other components. We have a whole series of tutorials on programming and interfacing various sensors and other devices with the Arduino: http://learn.adafruit.com/search?q=arduino+lesson

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tnjeff
 
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Re: I need Kit Advice

Post by tnjeff »

Thank you Bill, it looks like the Arduino version of the BOE Bot will work very well for us. I'll be ordering soon. Thanks again!

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