Quote from Ron Rollo on May 21, 2022, 1:50 pm

Something that I should have been working on a long time ago was developing a better understanding of what the Arduino modules are capable of.  It was about six months ago when Jason asked me to help troubleshoot an issue he was dealing with and the biggest problem we both faced was my lack of basic Arduino knowledge.  This was the moment that I realized not only do I need a better understanding of the Arduinos, but we all do now that we are moving to the new v2.0 Jet45 software which uses Arduinos almost exclusively!

I  have been looking around for a pain free way to understanding Arduinos and finally came across this guy, Paul McWhorter who has a very easy and simplified teaching technique.  He has 68 tutorials specifically geared towards Arduinos taking you from the simplest process of lighting up a single LED to some of the more advanced topics.  If you are like me where you know next to nothing about Arduinos, this guy's tutorials might be for you!

https://youtu.be/fJWR7dBuc18

So far I have watched and completed the work in 17 tutorials (25%) and I feel that I have already built a better understanding of the Arduinos.  I also feel comfortable with suggesting to you that these tutorials are an easy way to go about learning Arduinos!  By the time I finish all 68 tutorials, if nothing else, I will have exposed myself to all four corners of the Arduino world.  Thanks to Paul McWhorter for taking the time to explain Arduino in this methodical and through way!

The end goal is to be able to work with the Arduinos with confidence.  The cool thing about the path forward with the new v2.0 Jet45 software is it's going to be plug and play, meaning there is no need to write code, but when there is an update to one of the Arduino modules, you will have to know how to upload the new hex file (Arduino sketch) on your own and do it like it's second nature.  You will most definitely have to do some trouble shooting,  aligning com ports, etc...  Whatever the issue, you will have the basic Arduino skills to solve the problem at hand.

One thing you will need in order to participate in Paul's tutorial without having to stop and find spare parts laying around is a Super Starter Kit Uno R3 Project by Elegoo.com  You can find the kits on Amazon for around $39 HERE:

Because I am a bit of a neat freak, I built a testing platform that has the Arduino Uno and the breadboard mounted to it.  This way it keeps all the wires from being all over the place but more importantly, it helps keep the connectivity of the jumper wire pins into the Uno and breadboard.  So far everything is working great and I am actually enjoying this.

Order the Elegoo kit, set a couple hours aside a week and give these tutorials a try.  Let me know what you think!  I will post my final thoughts after I get through all 68 tutorials a couple months from now.